Film: To a Land Unknown

I was in Ireland for the weekend - no films left for me to see there. Had a slightly eventful flight back, when our plane was caught in turbulence from the plane ahead - we had to circle, before landing safely. Tonight, and back in London, I decided on film again - and what came up was To a Land Unknown, a drama about emigration, which I meant to see previously but never got around to. Showing in the Garden Cinema.

Happily, it was on late, which gave me time to get some other stuff done. Happily also, I knew that Nando's Holborn is very close - which I didn't have to book. And happily again, all my buses came nice and quickly, leading to what was an easy night for me! The only problem with Nando's - where I was very well fed - was the door, which, regardless of whether the people passing through it remembered to close it, hardly ever closed properly, leading to an awful draught.. which was frigid when it came in my direction.

Service was really quick though, and I headed to the cinema in excellent time. Where I bought a ticket - hadn't needed to book this in advance either - and headed downstairs to their cosy, Art Deco bar. Lots of intimate booths - I just took my drink to a table. They don't do Sauvignon Blanc here, but the house white is fine. I'd barely started it, mind, when we were told we could go in - and as we could take in our drinks, I went straight in.. I was the first there, for once! There were only a handful of us altogether.

It's gritty, this film, and not very uplifting. Set in Athens, which I loved when I was there - but this isn't tourist Athens. This is set in the backstreets, among the junkies and petty thieves - and there we find two Palestinian cousins, set to get fake passports and get themselves to Germany, and a better life. We learn that the older, and cleverer, of them left his family in Gaza to come and help his feckless younger cousin, a junkie.

Nothing has a good outcome here. In constant fear of the authorities, living in squalor, few resources apart from his wits, drug dealers all around, helping people to stay in the cycle of hopelessness.. he does what he can to get his cousin out of there. But, beset with problems at every turn, he finds himself thrown from one desperate situation into another, clutching at whatever scheme he can, and trying to pretend, on the phone home, that everything is just fine.

It is truly suspenseful, and pretty unpredictable.. throw in a couple of compelling performances from the cousins, and you have a very watchable film. It is based on real-life stories, though -  and there but for the grace of God go we all. Not one that you'll come out of smiling, but a story that you will enjoy.

Tomorrow, I'm headed - for the first time in years - to join Kensington Classical Music Meetup at a concert called Nordic Journey, at the Leighton House Museum - tickets only available by contacting the organiser directly, as advertised on the Meetup event page. 

On Wednesday, we have another work social! Back to Fairgame, which was such a hit last time - and I see this one is sold out.

And on Thursday - I'm accompanying my sometime Meetup companion.. to Switzerland! She's a big fan of Jakub Józef Orlinski, who's appearing in Agrippina at the Zurich Opera House on the 9th - and as she's never been to Switzerland before, and I'm dying to see it again, we're taking a few days there. We're flying Swissair from London City, conveniently (well, she's coming back on Easyjet), which I booked with Booking.com - and we're staying in the Aldstadt Hotel, booked through Vio. Ooh, the sheer luxury of having the means to travel in Switzerland without having to stay in a hostel!

We'll do a bit of sightseeing too, of course - but the only thing we've actually booked is a tour, with Viator, to Interlaken and Grindelwald, on the 8th. Because I can't imagine going to Switzerland without seeing them again..

We fly back to London next Monday. My boss approved my days off pretty quickly, last week. And I have to say, Swissair customer service is excellent, with us having received confirmation emails detailing the menu, the baggage allowance, and even advising us where to go when returning, because of construction works in Zurich Airport. Ah, I feel so comforted..