Film: The Salt Path
I'm back in Ireland for the weekend - it was booked already, and I continue to have stuff to do here. It was another palaver to get here, mind - with a nice, late flight, I had plenty of time, and arrived at Liverpool Street early. Which was just as well.. when I looked at the departures board, it was full of delays and cancellations on the Stansted Express! No further information, so I checked online - it wasn't a Stansted Express problem per se, but a level crossing that was broken; the trains were running slowly as a result, for safety reasons. "How slowly?" I wondered.. I had my answer by looking at the arrivals board, where I saw the 6.08 arrival hadn't come yet. It was now 7. Nah, there was no way I was waiting for the Stansted Express, if that, or more, was the delay. The bus, assuming I could get one straight away, would only just get me there in time - no, Uber it had to be.
..which I ordered in double-quick time. It's really so handy - detailed directions on how to get to the pickup point, information about how far away the driver is, and once they're nearly there, the car reg, make and model, and the driver's name and picture. So it was quite stress-free, and the car was v comfy. And he got me there in double-quick time too. Of course, it wasn't exactly cheap.. what can you do?!
Arrived in time to have a bite to eat - not a large bite, so I went to Pret. She asked whether I wanted it to take away, but I said I wanted to eat in - whereupon she warned me they were closing at 9. Good grief, it was only a little past 8! They should be boarding my flight by about 9 - as I said to her, "I'll definitely be finished by then!" Not least because they didn't have the chocolate bars I love, damnit.. Anyway, as it happened, the gate was announced about 10 minutes before I was ready to leave. Happily, and rarely, it was one of those you take the shuttle to! Still, by the time I arrived at the gate, Priority - my group - had already boarded. I joined the queue, didn't have long to wait.
On board, I was still peckish - had Pringles, pre-ordered before we took off, which means you get it before the trolley comes around. And the flight was otherwise pleasant enough - except I couldn't nap, as I usually do, because of the screaming toddler in the seat behind me. We did beat the ETA - mercifully, no trumpet sound as they used to do - just a rather smug email today to remind me that's what happened..
I'd made a good note of where I'd parked the car in the huge carpark - still, in the dark, it took me a small minute to find it. The major problem, of course, was when I was trying to get out - the ticket I'd prebooked online hadn't worked on the way in, and sure enough, didn't work on the way out either. The person on the other end of the helpline was more proactive this time, contacting me without having to be asked, and it didn't take too long to get out. Honestly though, you're not even supposed to need the ticket, it's supposed to recognise your reg.. which has never worked for me.
Now, when I was here last, there was talk of meeting cousins this weekend - no word on that subsequently. So, off I went to the cinema - and what came up was The Salt Path, starring Gillian Anderson, who and whose husband, facing their golden years, suddenly find themselves both homeless and broke! Could happen to us all, as they say. So they decide to walk around the coast of Britain. Earlier showing was in Ennis, so I headed there.
Just as well I checked before I left, because they bumped the time forward a bit.. I also noted that, despite the weather app assuring me the rain would dry up after the morning rain I'd heard when I woke, sure enough, it rained on me - and heavily - during the drive. Not for long, though. I parked in the nearest free spot I could get, and off I set on foot for the cinema, navigating my way past a really inconvenient roadworks site, no way for pedestrians to cross easily. Jaywalking through traffic required, but hey, they can't speed through Ennis anyway. I should know, I learned to drive there!
Arrived a little late, but they didn't show ads beforehand, so I didn't even miss any of those. When the preamble to the film opened, as it cycled through the various logos for the production companies involved in the making of the film, I did note that it was still silent - but they often are, and I didn't think much of it. I did when the title sequence to the film started, and we still couldn't hear anything. And I especially did when the lead characters were pictured on a moving bus, and she was talking, and we still couldn't hear anything! There were quite a few others in the screen - one went to complain, and came back to say they were sorting it. Give it five minutes or so, and the sound came back - complete with audio description! They soon changed it to the regular audio, and we were fine from then.
So, those of us who couldn't lipread were kept out of the loop at the beginning - but I don't think we missed much, it's all revealed through flashbacks: how they came to lose their home, how all their income was tied up in it, and how the husband was also diagnosed with a degenerative neural disease that, of all things, caused him to limp. Great, at the start of a long-distance hike. Mind you, apart from that, it's a great, proactive idea if you become homeless - they dumped what was left of their possessions with a friend, and off they set.. it was coming into summer anyway.
This is actually a true story, as is explained at the end. And wow, they did get a raw deal.. but this is a pretty standard long-distance walking movie, where they have bad days, where everything that can go wrong does, balanced by good days, where they experience the good side of humanity, which was so little in evidence when they lost their home. This particular route takes them around the Cornish coast - and the story is based on the book written by the woman played by Gillian Anderson in the film.
It's a beautiful coastline, with picturesque villages - mind you, we're left with no illusions as to how difficult it can be, with steep hills all over the place and, of course, variable weather. I did find it amusing that they were passed a couple of times by walking groups, forging busily ahead and disapproving of their more leisurely pace. There's also a fun couple of occasions when the husband is mistaken for a poet, pictured on the cover of his latest book wearing a similar outfit, and bearing some resemblance to him..
It's a very feelgood movie, appealing characters, and really inspirational in the end. Recommended - although it didn't really inspire me to copy their journey..!
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