Posts Tagged ‘cinema’
Kenneth Williams
I made the briefest of detours on the way home from work to see the new plaque dedicated to Kenneth Williams in Marchmont Street. Good to see lovely Kenny honoured with it.
Lost and Found
The local cat that was lost has been found. Hoorah! There were notices on lamp posts with a photograph and her owner posted on a local blog asking everyone to look out for her. Now, she has posted to say that all is well. Those notices on lamp posts make me feel sad. I am a wuss.
Very lazy day, watching back things I’d recorded over the last few weeks. This included The Pumpkin Eaters, starring Anne Bancroft. Wonderful study of a marriage and people’s motivations. Peter Finch was excellent; James Mason was suddenly and splendidly menacing. I think Anne Bancroft is beautiful and I find it difficult to take my eyes off her when she’s on screen. I know she’s no longer with us, but I use “is” because she’s still alive via her films.
For dinner I made spaghetti with prawns, chilli, garlic and rocket. Lush.
All’s Well, indeed
The National Theatre is running a series of events where it is broadcasting plays live to local and national cinemas (and some outside the UK, too). I didn’t know about this in time to see Phèdre in June, but found out about it the upcoming performance when we saw Dorian Gray at that cinema last week.
So, to east London to see the spectacle of All’s Well That Ends Well, which was fabulous. I had neither read nor seen the play before, so just wanted to delve into it with no prior knowledge. Set in a slightly fairytale background, Helena was a superb presence on the stage the stage in her scenes as was Paralis (the hilarious Conleth Hill). There was a fifties element (and even bunny girls) as the deception of Bertram took place.
It’s odd, because it wasn’t exactly the same as being at the theatre, and yet it was. You were involved in the performance, could hear all the laughter of the live audience and shared the interval at the same time. Splendid play, excellently staged. A tenner a ticket. We will be doing this more often.
And we’ve got tickets for Inherit the Wind at the Old Vic in November. I am very excited about this. Kevin Spacey has a superb subtle menace to him and I look forward to seeing it on stage.
Food and Film
The Harringay Food Festival was excellent, a really splendid local event. There was plenty of baklava and great food to try and buy (and ‘traditional’ things such as apple and cinnamon cake and some jams and marmalades). One stall, amusingly, was piled up with cans of Stella Artois. There were also community stalls and the Met were handing out goodie bags.
Outside the Yasir Halim patisserie, a klezmer band was playing and girls from the local shops were out dancing. Some of the men joined in and were moving round in larger circles. The crowd was enormous and a community police officer was pulling people in from the crowd. I stood for ages watching this.
Great pictures capture the mood of the festival here. The men on the penny farthings were ace! Local sources are saying 10,000 people turned up. Brilliant!
Later I went to east London to meet a friend and see Dorian Gray at the cinema. We had pizza beforehand and then took some wine in to the film with us. Excellently done (you can’t beat Oscar Wilde for a great line) and a good cast. Interesting to see Colin Firth as a baddie. I’ve always loved the story and how Dorian sells his soul even if you don’t quite see the deal being struck. I am also intrigued by the idea of a devil existing quite ordinarily in human form and moving among its peers (and equally the idea of angels in the same guise, particularly guardian angels).
The painting of the portrait itself was sensuous as the paints were squeezed onto the palette and applied to the canvas. Dorian was appropriately beautiful. As the painting festered in the attic, there were interesting nods elsewhere to the passage of time: from Hansom cabs to the motor car; swords to guns; portraiture to photography; the appearance of the Suffragette. And at the end, as I hoped, the picture reverted to its beautiful former image.
The National Theatre is broadcasting All’s Well that Ends Well to the cinema, so we’ve booked to see that, which should be excellent.
Reading List
On Woman’s Hour today they were speaking about writing about places and conveying that sense of place in your writing. They mentioned Nell Dunn, who I haven’t thought about for ages. She writes so well about London and the occupiers of various areas (Fulham, Battersea). I saw the film of Poor Cow at the Hampstead Everyman cinema years ago.
Also, my new Granta magazine has arrived (No 108, Autumn 2009). It is a special edition all about Chicago. Must remember to mention this to my pal, as her sister lives there. It lies fat, unread and full of potential on my living room table. I must sort out all this autumn/winter reading and viewing as it’s piling up now. Pleasantly piling up, though.
I’m very much enjoying Jen Morrison’s Realia blog. Its rationale is Pay attention – there’s a story everywhere you go, something which chimes very closely with me and this London Lives blog.
