Film: The Marching Band
Today, I also planned film - headed to the Cine Lumiere. The film I was interested in was Au Revoir les Enfants, about a couple of schoolboy friends in an exclusive Catholic French boarding school, around the time of the outbreak of the Second World War. The secret that one of them carries, however, is that he's actually Jewish.. Now, it was on quite early, and I thought I might not feel like getting up for it, being so far away. So I didn't book - it wasn't selling out yet anyway. Next on the list was in the same place this evening - The Marching Band, again French, but contemporary, is a comedy I'd been meaning to see for a while. But when I checked last night, Au Revoir les Enfants was mostly sold out - so I booked for that. I also booked for dinner in the Zetland Arms, a pub just over from the French Institute, where the cinema is - for a time that should suit me for either film, being in between! In the upstairs room, which I thought might be quieter. I tried to move the booking forward by an hour, to no avail.. ah well, I was in no major rush anyway. At that stage.
Now, I actually left before Google Maps said I needed to - so much for that! I needed to get the Tube, that far out - fair enough. Had to get to London Bridge Station - decided to walk, which was just as well, considering that on my walk, no bus passed me that I could have taken there! And the Tubes came swiftly enough - still, Westminster, where I had to change lines, was very crowded, one escalator still out of order, and even having left early, by the time I reached the cinema, it was about 20 minutes past Google Maps' estimate. (Getting slightly lost on the walk from the station didn't help, with Google Maps sending me the wrong way to the entrance.) I raced in - it was still only 10 minutes past the scheduled start time, and the cinema advertises that films don't start before that. Raced up to the screen and sneaked in.. to discover that I was at The Piano Teacher. Snuck out again, and checked the website.. sure enough, my film was in Screen II, and I hadn't a clue where that was. I did discover it's in the vicinity of the toilets, but by that stage it was even later, and I said this obviously wasn't meant to be. And left.
So, back to Plan B - The Marching Band. But that wasn't on until after my dinner reservation, which was itself hours away. I needed the loo, so popped into the nearby Hoop & Toy - but it was too packed to sit at a table. Unwilling to head to the Zetland Arms this early, but already hungry, I decided to pass the time in Pret - where yay! they had my favourite, milk chocolate bars! I found a table down the end, and occupied it for the next couple of hours, watching stuff on my phone. Headed off to the Zetland Arms - slightly early.. my reservation was for upstairs, but there was no-one serving there, so I went down again and queued, only to be told to head back up again. Eventually found someone, and was seated.
At the table beside me sat a young-ish couple, she of Japanese heritage, talking about, as I gathered, the fact that he wanted to move to Japan for a year (something about work opportunities), and he must have just broached the subject, because, oh golly, she sounded irate. Didn't want to take a career break, had no guarantee of decent work over there, or here when they returned, and these were her "principal earning years".. and she had plenty of siblings to look after her elderly mother in Japan, thank you. Heh, no way was he getting away with it. "Maybe", she conceded, "in years to come, when we're both slowing down a bit.." Her strident voice meant I could hardly avoid hearing, and it provided the soundtrack to my dinner.
I needed some distraction. My waiter had praised the roasts, and indeed, I had roast chicken. She also wanted to know whether I wanted cauliflower cheese - nope - or Yorkshire pudding, only coming as standard with the beef, but available as a side for an extra charge - nope. She seemed miffed that I just wanted it as it came. And sure enough, when it did come, it was a full plate - mainly of veg, a small amount of slightly rubbery chicken, and some nice gravy, but nothing special. All a bit meh, to be honest, and I don't think I'd eat here again. Happily, they had my favourite wine though.. so I sat there and drank that until it was time to leave for the cinema again. After I eventually got the bill, having had to ask two people for it..
Visited the toilet on the way out - and it is pleasantly appointed:
Made the cinema in time, got a ticket - this one still wasn't selling out - and headed upstairs again. So, the plot of this film concerns a famous classical music conductor diagnosed with leukaemia, who, when his sister goes for testing for bone marrow and isn't a match, discovers that they aren't blood relatives at all - he's actually adopted! (You find out in Ireland as soon as you need your birth certificate for anything, because they substitute your adoption certificate.) Now, finding your birth family seems a lot easier in France than in Ireland, and he's soon having tea with his adopted brother - who turns out to be the trombonist in the local brass band, with perfect pitch, and they discover a shared love of jazz. They bond, and the conductor helps the brass band improve their lot.
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