More on the Film Festival

Image Courtesy of Les Films du Tambour

One of the things that makes a festival fun is being in a group with other people who are going, even if that group is just one more person. 

As in the case of living here, we invite each of the three other men, but they have more interesting things to do.

Rebecca said let's watch the Palestinian movie, and so we did: Gaza Mon Amour (Tarzan and Arab Nasser, 2020). There were lots of uncomfortable moments, the uncomfortable moments that make human beings laugh at themselves.

The movie was going along so charmingly, I was afraid it would take a turn and that all my hopes for a happy ending would be dashed. This idea really comes to me when I see tropes of chain links fences, are shadows of lines cast on the floor by venetian blinds. I turned to Rebecca and said, “That’s it, there are too many signs that things are going to go wrong.

I guess it's all in people's perception about how things go wrong. I loved the ending of the movie. As the credits rolled by, I heard an opera song which I couldn't identify. Rebecca was quick with it. “Mimi’s Song from La Boehme.“

I told her that answer was in the back of my mind and that I was just bringing it forward. She said, “It is easy for me, I have an app and when I turn it on it it identifies the music and even which version I'm listening to. I got that with just one click of the thumb.”

Well, that takes a little bit of the unknown out of life. 

No mystery about what I am hearing anymore.

I'm going to recommend Gaza Mon Amour with more than a thumbs up, maybe 5 stars (that is because this was a good chance to visit the Gaza strip). Watching it in my group of two was really fun. 

Here is a review from the Hollywood Reporter.

Arta  

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

We had pre-purchased tickets for Star Wars: The Force Awakens yesterday. The day has been circled on the family calendar for weeks, Duncan sometimes going to that blessed Friday and just pointing at it, as though all of us were participating in his anticipatory pleasure. We left without Alex, since he wasn’t home and by the time we passed over MacKenzie, Steve was asking Siri to phone Alex. Sure enough Alex’s voice was heard on the phone, “I came home in time to see you drive away.” We circled back for him and then proceeded to get Ben who lives well downtown. Steve was apologizing to the boys about being late, but we had 3 minutes to spare – which really means we had 15 minutes to spare since the trailers for upcoming movies take that long. Steve pressed snack money into the hands of all three 6 foot plus teenagers and out to the foyer they ran. Alex had asked for cheap treats at the theatre which made both Steve and I guffaw – the word cheap cannot be applied to movie concession stands in my mind.

COSTUMING
beige trousers and top
double belt slung low on hips
cut away arms at the shoulders
criss-cross paneling on the bodice
fantastic hair-do -- hope it becomes stylish

I saw some costuming on the theatre patrons: a man in a long black flowing coat, and a woman dressed as the new protagonist – Rey. That was fun. As well, I sat by a man and his son, and as I settled in, he welcomed me to the event. Soon he was pressing his cell phone into my view, telling me that what he was about to show me was the best spoiler of all time. I read the one-liner – lucky for me that I knew so little of what was to go on, that I didn’t catch on to its significance until the movie was over.

On the way home we tried to think of the best one liners in the script. I liked Finn’s job description. But you will have to see the movie to know what that was. And I thought Rey’s occupation was equally fun. Not a lot of costume changes in the movie. But watching it in 3-D was wonderful. I was sure that I was hit a few times until I got used to ships coming in from behind me, over my left shoulder.

When I arrived in Victoria a couple of months ago, these tickets had already been bought and had names on them. In the course of time, some people had to drop out and that is how I got to one of the first showings of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. By the time the new sequel comes out, I just might have my own costume ready to wear. Why not join those for whom a movie of this proportion is a cult event.