Film Review: All The Way Through Evening

When I went to bed last night, I was still on a high from watching the new Bond movie (Skyfall, for anyone who's been living in a cave lately)......but now I'm in a whole new place.

Just returned from a screening of the absorbing musical documentary "All The Way Through Evening", an independent film directed by Rohan Spong.  Still love James Bond, but this movie.............this movie........  The bare bones: it tells the story of Mimi Stern-Wolfe who has produced 20 annual concerts in New York, in celebration of the lives of men.............enormously talented musicians, poets, singers who died because they contracted HIV.  Their stories are told with honesty and compassion by people who were so close to them - partners, friends, family.  Through their stories comes something of Mimi's life as she relentlessly rehearses to ensure the most perfect performance of their works to honor their memory.

I loved the way the film is shot - the focus on Mimi's hands as she gestures to accompany her conversation, the graceful movement of her hands as she draws the music from her piano.  Images of the East Village are cut between stories of the musicians, Mimi walking in the street, stopping to acknowledge a place where someone once lived, her salutation to its windows before she moves on.  Her apartment is overflowing with books, papers, folders, videos; the couch is covered in cushions and rugs, the top of the piano is covered in music scores.......

The film is personal, its made with love and palpable warmth and consideration.  And the music is powerful and amazing.  I want it. 

Friday Fill-ins

1. Why is it that chocolate fixes so much?
2.  ...and why is dark chocolate better for you (and I don't like it).... that's what I want to know!
3. Hold on to your dreams.
4. Reality can set in all too soon.
5. Do you hear what I hear?
6. Go out and live, don't be afraid to laugh, see love in all sorts of unexpected places.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to an early night, tomorrow my plans include seeing "Skyfall" and Sunday, I want to catch up with Rita!

Friday Fill-ins

1. Oh, I am so lucky to have the great friends that I do.
2. The big bowl of crunchy chips was my favorite part of the big meal yesterday.
3. Where does all the time disappear to?
4. Today was filled with laughter and tears in equal measure.
5. This weather makes me want to stretch out like a cat.  (Its a glorious sunny autumn day in Melbourne).
6. Good health, great friends, laughter and a sense of wonder; these are some of the things I wish for my loved ones.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to a gig with friends (a belated birthday present), tomorrow my plans include refilling the frig and Sunday, I want to sleep in!

Friday Fill-ins

1. If you always do what you've always done, you'll always have what you've already got.
2. When I forget the words, I find myself singing la la la
3. I have to ask you to overlook the dust.
4. I don't think I have any vices; my habits, on the other hand, are too numerous to mention.
5. I didn't have time to finish these by Friday.
6. My family is something I love beyond all reason.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a quiet evening, tomorrow my plans include sweeping up a huge pile of leaves and Sunday, I want to finish the apples I started! ....and I did.

Friday Fill-ins...

1. One time, I want to finish the job I started.
2. Sunshine is something that makes me smile.
3. Seven words I love: read, silence, smooth, yellow, purrrrr, precipitation, chocolate.
4. The one thing that will never happen here is snow; the closest we get to extreme is a dense fog.
5. I looked out the window today and saw a magpie looking in.
6. Its nearly finished and that's saying something!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a bath, tomorrow my plans include getting to the "trade-your-stash" market and Sunday, I want to buy a present for Liz!

Thoughts on a book....

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Another book put in my reading stack by virtue of being chosen for my Book Group.....  Its a "happily-ever-after" sort of read but with a grittier heroine than usual.  Victoria has pretty much survived the foster care system, if you don't count the big issue of personal space and what extremes she goes to so that other people are kept at a distance.  As an adult she is released into the world, armed with little more than a deepening affinity with flowers, a large appetite and a small amount of money.  Her knowledge gets her a job with a prickly but kind florist who just happens to have a sister with a spare room, and a mother who serves large meals and delivers babies.  Customers are beguiled by Victoria's bouquets that awaken their senses, calm their fears and open doors to new beginnings.

Gradually we learn about the one loving family Victoria spent time with, and how silence and guilt and misunderstanding forced her away from them.  The fairy-tale aspect of the book begins when the mysterious flower wholesaler who shares her understanding of the language of flowers turns out to be someone from her past.  Of course he will fall in love with her and she will reluctantly be drawn to him.  Their future is a certainty despite obstacles real and imagined that litter the path like discarded thorns.  

We'll see if this book survives the discussion next week, otherwise, it is destined for The Merchant.

Movie Review: Le Chef

I don't want to go to the movies to be depressed. I make a choice to spend money to see a film: its an event complete with friend to laugh with, a glass of wine or a coffee afterwards while we dissect what we've seen..........  Tonight we went to see Le Chef.  Its what I call a small film - a story without huge significance, with just a few quirky characters and a little tale to tell.

Jean Reno plays a famous chef about to lose his restaurant to the whim of a nasty young man with no style but plenty of opinion, and whose father's company owns the business.  Michael Youn plays Jacky, a novice chef with a passion for food and a deep reverence for Reno's character and the fabulous dishes he has created over the years.  Jacky lurks around the thin edge of the ASD scale, cant keep a job and exasperating his girlfriend at every turn.  Together the chefs work to keep the third Michelin star which will allow the restaurant to survive.

There is nothing untidy (or real) about the story - Beatrice gives birth without wrinkling her cardigan or messing her hair, Jacky survives kitchen disasters without raising a sweat, chefs in a nursing home happily take instructions on how to cook from a painter leaning in the second-floor window......... but I loved every silly minute of it.  Who cares if you have to read sub-titles and suspend disbelief?  Paris is beguiling, the accents make you melt, and the love stories (of COURSE there are love stories) work out as they should.  See it.

Mmmmmaybe 7 out of 10?