Film: La Infiltrada (Undercover)

Tonight was film again - and again I was tempted by Movie Roadhouse London (MRL), who were going to La Infiltrada (Undercover), another fact-based film about a Spanish police officer who worked undercover in ETA for eight years. Only showing in the Ciné Lumiere (ironically), and we were meeting in the cafe there beforehand.

I know this cafe. I know how bad the service is - so I decided to find somewhere else to eat. Happily, the area isn't short of them, and I decided on Hoop & Toy, just around the corner from the station - a Greene King pub, so good food is pretty much guaranteed. It being Friday night, I anticipated it to be busy, and booked a table.

This far away, it had to be Tube - I found it a bit easier to squeeze on the Jubilee Line, interestingly, by standing by one of the single, end doors, rather than the more popular central, double doors! And, as usual, got a seat no problem on the Circle Line. Arrived a little early to a heaving pub - they immediately seated me at the teeniest, tiniest table near the bar! Well, I was on my own, it wasn't a problem.. I could have ordered from the app, but I was so close to the bar, I did it that way - got my wine quicker, certainly. I had the steak & ale pie, which is a perennial favourite of mine at Greene King - and wow, was it delicious. I think I made the right idea to have it with mash rather than chips - there's simply less food, and I think I filled up slower. For sure, I finished the pie, which I don't usually do..

And so to the Institut Francais, which houses the cinema. Now we were supposed to have a table booked, but the cafe was so intimidatingly busy, I took a seat in the lobby until another arrived, and the organiser a little later. We had indeed a table - where we could have played scrabble!

We were prevented from ordering at the bar - although one person managed it, but had to return to the table to receive her order. The rest of us lived on in hope. Meantime, another, Spanish-speaking, group that the organiser - well, organises - arrived.. and pretty much kept to their own clique at that end of the table thereafter. 

The waiter eventually arrived - and they didn't have the Sauvignon Blanc I wanted. Fine, I had a carafe of Chardonnay - which came in a cute glass bottle, in a cooler. Nice. I had to drink it fairly fast though, to be ready in time for the film. We actually couldn't believe it when they arrived with food menus, about 15 minutes before we were due to go in..! As the organiser exclaimed, now, if they'd arrived with those at the start.. it was tapas, apparently in line with the theme; seems the London Spanish Film Festival is having a kind of pre-festival Spring Weekend, this weekend. Well, she had a small dish - which was fine, although the sauce, apparently, wasn't right.

Anyway, we went to the bar to pay, figuring that'd be quicker. When my turn finally came, I didn't want to pay the service charge - quite naturally, I thought. Well, if I'd known the palaver that'd cause.. the inept lady taking my money was shocked, asking me why, what was wrong with the service - when I told her it was the speed, she simply gestured around her to the busy cafe. As if I was a moron who hadn't noticed it. Now, I could have told her that it's exactly as slow when the place is practically empty - I've experienced it. Anyway, it was such a palaver, apparently, to deduct the service charge (jeez, I knew how much I should have paid without it, she could just have removed the extra from the bill), that I said all right, I'd pay it. Had to shout, simply to stop her wittering on! At the end, she offered me a free drink - "no, thank you". "Next time," she said. There won't be a next time, as I told her - I wouldn't ask for so much as a napkin from them ever again. I think you have to be brain-dead to work there.

And so upstairs to the cinema, where I was in the back row - it'd been nearly sold out when I booked, so I had a choice of the very front, or the very back. There was a short speech beforehand instead of ads - and by the time the film started, I had already submitted a scathing Tripadvisor review of the cafe. I mean, it goes without saying that the service was better in the pub.. which was even busier.

The film was terrific. Made the right choice with this! It's intense, it's almost immersive - as I remarked afterwards, I nearly expected to see signs in the Basque language as I headed back. That can happen when I become engrossed in a film. We first meet her as she's about to graduate from the academy, and is recruited - part of their reasoning is that, as a woman, she's less likely to be suspected. And from then on, it's almost all her story - as she lives as a supporter of Basque separatism, in the rain-soaked surrounds of San Sebastián / Donostia.

I spent a couple of nights there once, for a U2 concert. It didn't rain, as I recall - but it certainly does rain here more than most places in Spain. I recognised the beach, but not really anything else. But then, I wasn't looking for Basque separatists, as she was.. this is a gritty, grimy, and perpetually tense film. Every so often, she checks in with her handler, in great secrecy. And it takes something like six years before she's even entrusted with meeting an ETA operative!

Towards the end of the film, things intensify - leading to the events that mean she has to be extracted. In particular, we meet the nastier side of ETA, in the form of a hardened terrorist that comes to stay. An entire team of police are ready and waiting for our undercover agent to get some information - and towards the end, the story becomes as exciting as any cop thriller you've seen. In all of that, there's a human element - and some humour too. And BTW, a cat! I'm loving the prevalence of cats in films these days.. and how they're used to show us who's a good guy and who definitely can't be trusted (the one who mistreats the cat).

Seriously enjoyable stuff, tense and beautifully acted. Highly recommended.

Oh, and when I got home, I ran into the guy who's always walking his dog.. I got to give her a treat tonight.. I think she got the smell of cat from me..

Tomorrow, my now-monthly walk with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies! This one is Secrets, Sophistication & Scandal. So I need to get to bed - it's already too late for me to be up, damnit.

And afterwards, I'll be joining - yes, MRL again, for Flow, a gorgeous-looking animation centred around a cat (yay!), fleeing a flood with a group of other animals. Very Noah's Ark, but without the humans, it seems. We're seeing it in Curzon Soho. So I'll be hoping to dredge in that direction.

On Sunday, the Crick Crack Club - another Sunday afternoon at the British Museum, lovely! This one is The Heart of a Hero: The Epic of Banu Hilali, as told by the excellent Chirine El Ansary. And afterwards, the only time this month I could squeeze in a social with my ex-colleagues - well, James, at least; Ivan can't make it, and Martin hasn't yet got back to me. Anyway, we're thinking of heading to Il Castelletto.

On Monday, I was thinking of heading to The Alto Knights, a new Robert de Niro gangster film, yet again based on real-life events. Also stars Debra Messing. The Curzon Aldgate is the closest to me, and I could eat at Cote St. Katharine Docks. But wouldn't you know it, its rating has now plummeted.. sure enough, I wasn't much impressed by the trailer. So I'm considering Santosh instead, which is an Indian film about a woman who inherits her husband's job as a police officer when he is killed on duty. Looks quite good, and is showing at the Curzon Bloomsbury.

On Tuesday, back at last with Over 40 Living the Life, for dinner at the Greenwich Yacht Club. They've had a few of these lately, but they've always clashed with something.

On Wednesday, more storytelling - this time, back at Folklore Hoxton, tickets through Dice again. And again, I'm eating at the Blues Kitchen Shoreditch.

On Thursday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for (This is Not a) Happy Room, at The King's Head, Islington. And then I'm back to Ireland for another long weekend.. this being the weekend of Mother's Day.