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Another Walkout
There are as many kinds of beauty as there are habitual ways of seeking happiness.
-- Charles Baudelaire
Saturday, May 27, 2000
One year ago: Limbo
Two years ago: War Zone
Three years ago: Harvest of Sweetness
I started today with a nice zig-zag walk to the Harvard Exit theater, at the northern end of Broadway. I like taking the side streets on Capitol Hill -- there are so many cute or interesting houses, with lots of flowers around. Most rhododendrons are past their peak bloom, but roses and other perennials are taking up the slack. I met A---- and R--- at the theater. R---- is A----'s friend who moved to New Mexico last year. She was able to come back to town for a few days and see some movies and meet with friends. She'd moved because her husband (an astronomer) was working on a particular telescope, so she had plotter printout drawings of the scope to pass out to buddies.
- At Midnight and a Half
(IMDB page for this film) Venezuela-Peru co-production. Tidal waves are expected, but not in a realistic way, so I suppose it's symbolic. A man can't leave town -- his car keeps breaking down. He crosses paths with a little girl. A woman, a photographer and conceptual artist, is also involved -- the man's ex-lover? There is lots of repetition, and the reels after the first could have been rearranged without making a difference. Finally it just ended. I was intrigued by the woman's art project, though. Her paper-box model of the town was the most interesting part!
The three of us took the bus downtown. I suggested we get something to eat at the Westlake Mall food court, since it's close to the theater, it's quick, and everyone can get whatever they want. I got my usual dish there -- polenta with goat cheese and marinara sauce. Funny, there are so many alternatives, but I almost always get that from World Wraps, or McDonalds!
When we got to the theater, we sat near the front because we'd arrived a bit later than usual. The venue manager made the usual announcements (how to fill out your ballots for the Golden Space Needle award, please turn off beepers and phones), then included special strictures about not talking during the movie -- she said she'd gotten complaints at Russian-language screenings in the past, so apparently her comments were directed to Russian expatriates in the audience!
- Khrustalyov, My Car!
(IMDB page for this film) Oh. My. God. This was a surreal black-and-white story set in Stalinist Russia. The camera was moving constantly. I'd have given this more of a chance but the film was mis-framed such that the heads of all characters depicted standing were cut off! The story was supposed to be something about a brain surgeon, but I couldn't make head or tail of it. Almost Anna Akhmatova bad!
I realized there were any number of other things I'd rather be doing downtown, so I bolted. I cruised through the Body Shop (I really like their Oceanus scent!) and the Nordstrom Rack, then the Pike Place Market. I stopped at the Soap Box there, and bought bergamot and geranium oils. I'm low on basic scents like that, so I'm trying to stock up again. I also found shower gel and cologne from an Italian company, Compagnia Delle Indie, in the Incenso delle Indie scent. Bagno schiuma sounds so much better than "bath foam," don't you think? The store is dropping that brand, so I got a good price!
- Vénus beauté (institut)
(IMDB page for this film) This was charming! A woman working in a beauty salon in Paris is looking for love, but is afraid of connecting. A lot of the film is about the interactions between the coworkers. Director Tonie Marshall said afterwards that lead Nathalie Baye often plays the French "everywoman," in lighter movies (a "good girl"), so she wanted to feature her as a strong, tough woman with depth. I thought the ending was a bit off. A guy lecturing another filmgoer a few rows away expressed my reservations -- the dumped fiancee's unhappiness unbalances the film. (But Sunday someone pointed out to me that the ending incident was a repetition of a theme: the same thing had happened to the main character's mother, then to herself. So I guess it's justified for story structure.)
- When the Rain Lifts
(IMDB page for this film) aka When the Rain Stops. Japanese title: Ame agaru. This was Kurosawa's last script. The director used the actors that K would probably have cast, and K's usual crew. So I guess it's as close to Kurosawa as you can get without actually being a Kurosawa film. I really liked it! you don't see very many cheerful stories about the samurai. Gorgeous settings, very satisfactory acting. I especially liked Yoshiko Miyazaki as the samurai's wife. A--- laughed when I said that this Kurosawa film that wasn't directed by Kurosawa reminded me of the Firesign theater joke about Benjamin Franklin, the only President of the United States who was never President of the United States.
After the last movie, all four of us (A----, C---, Y--- and myself) were waiting at the same bus stop. I told A--- that he didn't have to wait on my account; he lives downtown and wasn't going to be getting on the bus. But he was enjoying chatting with the rest of us. Again, I was hiding behind the monstrous teddybear bronze statue to keep out of the wind and moisture. Buses arrived for C---- and Y--- and me at the same time. The two different buses took different routes, but arrived at the crossroads of Broadway and John at the same time. I waved, but I don't know if they saw me!
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