Social & Film: Tomorrow's Freedom

Well, yesterday was the only day this month that suited Ivan and James for our monthly meeting - I invited Martin too, but he never did get back to me. James fancied neither the walk I was on earlier, nor the lunch after, and Ivan couldn't meet us until his band rehearsal finished. So I said, why drag them to Clapham? We could meet around Victoria, handier for James to get home, and Ivan could meet us there later - no point in dragging James all the way up to the studio, he'd not have time before he had to leave.

So, I got the Tube up there to save time.. James had gone wandering, and suggested we try Victoria Taps for a change, so we did. Found a booth, and got to drinking and chatting. And a good evening was had.. it was hours, of course, before Ivan made it, and that just before James had to leave. But they spoke, briefly. Which then left Ivan and me - honestly, I can't remember much of the conversation, considering I was on effectively my third bottle by then. I do remember him seeing me off.. I could take buses from there. And I made it home safely - no way I was going to have the energy last night to blog, though!

And I couldn't leave it too late to leave today - it was film again, as it's planned to be twice more this week! And all in the Curzon Bloomsbury, too.. always a great film listing there, but honestly, it took me so long to find out what was on! Their website never, never works.. it literally took me days to get the full picture. Anyway, I now have the app, which I should have installed ages ago, and which does much better.

Today's film was Tomorrow's Freedom - and the only showing I could make all week was there, at 2pm today. Couldn't book it - I hadn't yet installed the app. But it wasn't selling out anyway. Unfortunately, I left it ever so lightly late to take just the bus - it's so much more awkward since the #188 doesn't go there any more. So, Lordy, I was on the bus, followed by Tube.. and wow, does the prerecorded voice in Russell Square Tube station have the plummiest accent! I did make it in good time in the end. To the sight of a gang of schoolkids, sounded like foreigners, all wearing red baseball caps for identification. Quite a sight.. pity I didn't have time for a photo..

I was parched, so instead of a wine, I had a lemonade at the cinema, as well as their moreish chocolate honeycomb bites. Most satisfying. I also had a word with the guy about their website - sounded like he'd heard this one a million times before. Sure enough, he suggested I use the app - which I now do.

Well now, this is a documentary about Marwan Barghouti, formerly a member of Fatah, and imprisoned in Israel for the past 22 years. We get a lot of footage of him - he's apparently very popular, and indeed reminded me somewhat of Volodomyr Zelenskyy. Many speak of him as a potential future leader of Palestine - apparently, figures show that he'd have a landslide victory.

Lawyers seem to agree that his trial was fatally flawed, so much as to be rendered invalid. he wasn't formally arrested - he was effectively kidnapped, Israeli soldiers arriving undercover in an ambulance. He was not offered due process. And at his trial, the judge opened by calling him a "terrorist" - something that the trial was supposed to prove or disprove.

As to the specific charges against him - I found it very interesting that an Israeli ex-defence minister, interviewed during the film, remarks that Barghouti is a man driven by despair (following the Israeli failure to adhere to the Oslo Peace Accords) to acts of violence, but Barghouti is not someone he would describe as a terrorist. Many see him as the only effective way forward for a peace agreement. In fact, he's been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize SEVEN times! (twice by former Peace Prize recipients, one being the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu). Well, I can't see him being freed in the current political climate, so it's kind of a moot point.. wouldn't it be lovely though, if someone competent could be found to lead a path through such a contentious jungle..?

Outside again, and looking for food, I was out of luck - my two staples for this cinema were a no-go; Nando's is under renovation, and GBK "wasn't doing anything on the menu involving chicken"! which was exactly what I wanted. So I walked on, and headed for Ciao Bella, which was about the closest. Again, a place I was last in nearly two years ago. The joint was hopping with a succession of family parties, but I was seated without trouble. Service (apart, possibly, from the lady with the card machine, in due course) was terrific, really friendly. Interestingly, I caught sight of her peering over another customer table later.. turns out she was looking for a specific bottle of wine, among the hundreds lined along the side. So they're not just for show, then!

And what I ate for starter and main course, I would never eat again. The garlic bread comes in a basket - it's garlic pizza bread, far too much for one person, and pretty bland if you don't get a topping, which I didn't. For main, I had the saltimbocca alla Romana.. nothing like the gorgeous dish I got in Il Castelletto, this was, well, not quite as tough as old boots, but pretty chewy. Not a successful meal at all - however, they have a good dessert menu, and I had the most gorgeous chocolate tartufo, which even the chatty chappy at the next table admired! I wonder whether they still have what I had, the last time I was here.. if I do come back, I'll look for it.

An early evening then.. and a really packed bus, which I was glad I'd gotten onto before it had filled up so much. OMG, I'm finally up-to-date! Right, so what's coming up next is..

No Meetup for the coming week, unusually - tomorrow, I'm at Hampstead Theatre for Between Riverside and Crazy, about which I've heard good things. Cheap tickets available from CT.

On Tuesday, back to film - and this time, it's a German film - The Teachers' Lounge is a drama, centred on a young, female teacher, who has some money go missing from the teachers' lounge. Woe betide her when she decides to investigate, however - she has no idea of the trouble she's unleashing.

On Wednesday, our occasional work social is taking us to the funfair - Fairgame recreates funfair-style games! So, that'll see me back in the office, first time in a while, although that evening, we'll be heading for Canary Wharf. Well, back home-ish for me, then.

On Thursday, last film of the week - and finally, The Zone of Interest, which I originally booked for months ago. This is a recreation of the story of the Höss family, living a normal family life in the shadow of Auschwitz (Rudolf Höss was the commandant) - stars Sandra Huller. And then I'm back in Ireland for the weekend.

On the 13th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Cutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Art at the Arcola - a timely topic, with funding being cut all over. It's a collection of short plays about the question of whether artists should be political.

On the 14th.. ooh, looking forward to this one: I'm back with CT, who have cheap tickets for an exhibition called The Art of Banksy! Runs till 8pm, entry any time.

On the 15th, The London Movie Club has their May social - back in the BFI Riverfront Bar again.

And on the 16th, with CT again - and back with the Backyard Comedy Club! About time..