Film: The Long Walk

Yesterday, The Hideout was off to see The Long Walk, based on the short story by Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman. It was actually the first thing he ever wrote, and deals with a dystopian future in which a walking contest sees the losers executed, and the winner achieve whatever he desires - for the rest of his life. Excellent book - was intrigued to see how they'd do with the film! We were seeing it in the Vue West End, meeting in Victory House beforehand - and of course, I booked to eat in Bella Italia again before that. And given that I'd be having chicken with garlic there again, I should really have had the pie on Saturday - ah well..

I was late for the bus - so was delighted, when I got to the stop, to see it was still stuck in traffic, further down! The driver let us on before the stop, saving us a few minutes more standing. Unfortunately, the traffic that had let me catch the bus then held us up considerably.. but I was optimistic. An American-sounding guy across from me was arguing with his wife that they were going in the wrong direction, considering they were supposed to be heading towards Elephant & Castle, which they had just passed through - she was positive the bus would loop around.

He was berating her for never listening to him, and I was debating whether to try and help, when the driver, who had just stopped for the usual change of drivers, announced that the bus would now be stopping short (at Aldwych, as usual). Why does that always happen..? Anyway, she helpfully suggested that anyone wanting to carry on to the end of the route would be better to change buses here, so I hopped off.. only to realise we'd been so delayed that I'd now be very late if I took the bus. I wasn't far from Waterloo.. so hopped on the Northern Line. And when I saw the pouring rain that greeted me, I was so glad I'd done that, rather than the original bus taking me all the way - I was now much closer than I'd have been. And just as well, with me wearing the shoes with no grip, that slip on wet surfaces..

As someone said to me on the way, how fast the weather has deteriorated! I made the restaurant just in time for the booking, and sat at my usual table, just inside the front window. Not a chance of anyone sitting outside yesterday - despite the large umbrella outside the door, the wind was blowing the rain onto the tables there. They could have skipped putting out the tables and chairs there yesterday - you couldn't possibly have sat outside without getting drenched! I had my usual.. and it was so comforting.

A short walk then to Victory House, where the organiser had taken tables around the side of the bar - we had a large group coming. I got my drink and joined them.. and sure enough, soon the place was heaving! We chatted merrily, and when I wanted another drink, we had some reorganising to do to let me go out. Unfortunately, the bar staff were all busy with other things - there seemed to be a manager there, whom one person was showing something - there was only one other person behind the bar, who was busy making coffees.. it must have been five minutes before anyone even acknowledged my presence! No apology either - they really have a lot to learn about the service industry, here.

Well, when the time came, off we trooped to the cinema. I didn't fancy another drink, just headed straight downstairs - walking down the escalator, as every one of the four escalators joining the ground floor to the basement and first floor was out of order. Downstairs were the screen - and toilets. Which had a dreadful queue - all the bins seemed to be overflowing too, and I got a stall early when the lady in front of me entered and came straight out again - no toilet paper, she explained. I didn't mind, so got out a bit earlier than I might have.. and at least the hand dryers aren't the annoying ones that give you a 10-second timer, then the time starts flashing before your hands are even dry..

And so to the screen - where the seats do recline, but only by pressure, so when you lean forward, the back springs back again. Quite annoying. Trailers for some films I might see, and others I wouldn't touch with a bargepole. And so to The Long Walk..

Yes, they did a good job with the story. I mean, it's so much more about the journey than the end prize - it's weird, both in book and film, how oblivious the contestants seem to be to the fact that literally every one of them is going to be shot, apart from the winner. Who would be so crazy as to take that gamble? Goes to show, for a valuable prize, people will tend to ignore the odds.. There are quite a few at the beginning - note how the numbers dwindle as they go on. You can't stop - at all: or even slow below three mph.. they're all wearing trackers to check their speed. And you can't suddenly change your mind - if you leave the route, they'll shoot you asap. They walk for days, with no rest breaks - the accompanying soldiers do provide them with water, at least. Food, they bring with them - but have to eat it on the go. They show them going to the toilet without breaking stride - God help you if you have some kind of upset tummy. You are actually allowed to stop briefly - at which point a soldier comes up behind you and issues a warning, while pointing a rifle at you. Three warnings, and you're dead..

As always with Stephen King, there's terrific character development - we really get to know them, and it's heartwarming to see them helping each other, when it would be more in their interests - numerically, at least - to see the others fail. We don't really hear, or see, much about the dystopian society that led to this contest being established - just a remembered snippet from the lead character's life, about his father dying. That, and the miserable-looking people that appear sporadically along the road, watching like buzzards expecting roadkill. Oh, and there's a really irritating sergeant-major (or something - played by Mark Hamill, would you believe!) barking words of encouragement as he faces them from the lead vehicle, trundling along in front of them. Also stars David Jonsson.

It's imaginable. You could see it happening in our world - it's not a huge leap. Or you can take it as a metaphor. But whatever meaning you ascribe to it, it is a very watchable film, with a variety of characters among the walkers, some you'll like, some not so much. They do change the original ending, by the way - but the group seemed quite happy with the rewrite, in general. They also left out a couple of the darker elements of the book - probably just as well. It works well as a strangely life-affirming film - in which most of the characters actually die. Recommended.

Afterwards, we fancied more drinks - having dragged ourselves up two non-working escalators, we were to discover that, as usual, the cinema bar was closed. Someone baulked at going back to Victory House, thinking it was too expensive, and we we headed off to our previous haunt, Clubhouse 5.. now rebranded as The 3 Lanterns. Hasn't changed though - still primarily a sports bar, where we found ourselves surrounded by largescreen tvs showing American football. And we spent an excellent evening! Roll on the next one.

I was way too tired to blog last night - but I have to say, I had the best night's sleep in ages. Completing a trio of Meetups, tonight I'm back with Up in the Cheap Seats for the only non-film of the week - we're seeing a female-centric version of Dracula at the Lyric Hammersmith.

Then a few more films coming up - tomorrow, thinking of another Palestinian documentary; this one is From Ground Zero, a collection of short films made by Gazans. Produced by Michael Moore. I saw the trailer when I was in the Curzon Bloomsbury, but this week it's showing in the ICA.

On Wednesday only, the Cinema Museum is showing The Big Heat, a film noir with Glenn Ford. Eating beforehand in the Toulouse Lautrec.

And on Thursday, back with Movie Roadhouse London at The Garden Cinema (complete with member's discount) for a murder mystery called Islands, set in the Canaries. We're eating in Caravan beforehand - never heard of it, but as he's how I found out about the Toulouse Lautrec, I'm happy to give it a shot!