Film: The History of Sound & Canary Wharf Winter Lights Festival
Yesterday, third Meetup in a row, I was with Movie Roadhouse London, at The History of Sound, starring Paul Mescal and Josh O' Connor as two young Americans travelling around and collecting folk music in the early years of the 20th century. Showing at the Barbican, and the organiser wisely suggested we meet at the cafe on Beech Street - that building is a maze! (Funnily enough, on Saturday, when I mentioned this, some people thought I'd said "Ministry of Sound"..)
Google Maps threw a hissy fit, telling me how to get there - gave me several options involving catching the #47 and changing, then one taking the #47 direct - only to strike through that option.. and seemed to say my bus stop was closed, and the service cancelled! (Or at least I think so - it's hard to tell, they never specify which stop they're talking about.) The #381, on the other hand, which stops at the same place and runs the same route for a while, they were confident was running.. I decided just to head to the stop and see for myself. And sure enough, two minutes later, the #47 rocked up.
As I say, I had the option to change, which would have saved me some time - but staying on meant I could swing by Liverpool Street Station and pop into Boots, having singularly failed to access one on Saturday. And that is what I did. Seems bigger to me - or perhaps I just hadn't been in that bit of it before. Anyway, unfortunately, that did make me a little late to meet the others, but not too much.. and it had to be done. Sat in the cafe, chatted until it was time to leave - only three of those who had signed up actually met. And among us, we managed to navigate our way to the basement cinema (#1) in the basement of the Barbican, just before the film started. It was a little hard to see the letters indicating the rows, but I located mine eventually, and my seat - and in a pretty empty cinema, in an otherwise completely empty row, wouldn't you know it.. someone was sitting in it! I felt it was hardly worth arguing over it, and took another, a couple of seats away - only to have a couple sit right beside me, a little later. I did wonder whether I was in one of theirs..
This is a lovely film - one for the music lovers. Our protagonists are two such - they meet at the conservatory, and discover a shared love of folk songs, duly heading out on the road to collect them. Then their lives take different turns - one becomes a professor in the music department, the other a professional singer, at one point singing in a choir in Rome before going down the academic route himself, but in England. And the film provides its audiences with a host of music, from country music to ecclesiastical choral music. Gorgeous to listen to.
But for all that, it's not actually primarily about music! It's about the love story between these two men, and in the great tradition of epic love stories, it spans a lifetime. (Yes, they throw in a weepie scene right at the end, damn 'em.) And of course, they are living in an era of censorship, when the consummation of their love is actually illegal - which naturally inhibits their actions, and informs their choices. It does make for a memorable film - with a sterling performance, as usual, from Paul Mescal. And yes, that is him singing in the film.
I did think it was a teensy bit too long - it dragged for me at one point - but it is epic, it is memorable, and it is beautiful to listen to. Beautiful locations too - the Italian scenes were filmed in Tarquinia in Italy, not a million miles from Rome itself, and the Lake District cottage where Paul Mescal spends a night was William Wordsworth's old cottage! In America, they had to film in New Jersey for tax reasons, and even the English stately home depicted in the film is Skylands Manor, in New Jersey. The farmhouses are from farm museums, and the university interiors are in New Jersey too.
Lovely to watch, lovely to listen to, and great music - highly recommended.
Afterwards, I repaired, with the organiser, to the Cote Barbican for dinner. I had calamari, and decided to switch to the beef bourgignon for my main course. He had the steak frites, mercifully bigger than he'd had in The Archduke. My beef bourgignon arrived in a pot, which I'm not used to - but it was fine, despite the beef being blackened on the outside. Now, I don't think I've ever before come here to eat with just a man - and I have to say, I wasn't massively impressed with the way I was treated! All the attention was on him, the crux coming when the waiter asked about dessert, my companion ordered the pistachio creme brulee, and the waiter turned to leave! We had to call him back, whereupon I ordered the salted caramel ice cream (which I love). When the spoons were brought, I have to say, I was perplexed at why mine was so much bigger than his..
I was delighted with my ice cream - he less so with his creme brulee.. he'd expected the pistachio to be mixed into it, but no, there was just a layer on top.. To top it all, when it came time to pay (and yes, they automatically pointed the bill at him), he'd expected to pay the prix fixe price - sadly, it seems it only runs Monday to Friday. Well, never mind - we still had a nice dinner, and after that film, we were motivated to discuss life, the universe and everything.
No blog last night, was playing my phone game again..
Tonight, checked out the Winter Lights Festival in Canary Wharf - and my sometime companion decided to come too. Interestingly, the 45+ Not Grumpies also had an outing to there this evening - but I don't see the value in paying them £6 for an exhibition I can go around for free.. so I didn't..
There I was, with a plan to leave work at a certain time so I could travel by bus to meet her at a certain time.. and then she rang to say she was about to leave, and what time she'd be there, and that she was starving, and could we eat first? So I said sure, downed my tools 20 minutes early, and took the Tube to get there in time. Got there before she did in the end.. and whatever it is about Canary Wharf Station, I can never exit the right way. Never mind, I got to see my first light installation - comes complete with music. Again, sorry, videos just don't work on this platform..
It's terrible how my phone signal goes when I get to Canary Wharf - I spent some minutes getting myself in the right direction. Anyway, at least I'd dressed warmly, so wasn't cold. I did eventually find my way to Caravan, where we'd agreed to eat - she called to say she'd be five minutes, and I took a table inside. I would have ordered a bottle of wine to be going along with - but of course, the service moved at a glacial pace, and nobody had come to me by the time she arrived - 20 minutes after she'd predicted (it's easy to get lost here). They appeared when she'd taken a seat; we ordered a nice, light verdejo, and perused the food menu:
I had the prix fixe - might have had the schnitzel, but my companion said it had been rare when she'd had it before. In retrospect, I should have had it - she likes her meat more cooked than I do anyway. Instead, I saw "pulled braised chicken", and decided to have that - with the croquettes that I know are excellent. Now, if you read the menu, further down the description of the "pulled braised chicken", it says "aromatic broth" - in other words, it was a soup. As the waiter explained to me when I ordered. I decided to have it anyway - how bad could it be? Added some fries, which are extra.
My companion was having lamb, and wanted it well done - so it took forever. The idea had been to have my croquettes with the main, as she wasn't having a starter - but it was taking so long, we asked for them to come out immediately: which they did, and were delicious, accompanied by a lovely saffron aioli, which, happily, was left to us. My broth? Ugh. I picked at it and left it - but that was my preference, I suppose, I'm not necessarily saying others wouldn't like it. My fries were cold - I complained and sent them back, and the next batch were piping hot. I used the aioli on them.
For dessert, she had a tiramisu that she described as the worst she'd ever had.. I wanted ice cream, and had to have it without sauce, because the sauce had coffee in it. And look, I got two spoons:
And of course, everything took forever. Yeah.. I won't be back. Next time, I'll explore one of the many other eateries we passed as we traipsed around the lights. (Oh, they gave each of us a £10 discount voucher for a future meal.. up to the end of next month. Not gonna be used.)
We didn't bother with the explanations for most of the installations, but by and large they were pretty; some, such as this, where your hand movements are captured on the large display, are interactive - there's also a wall that lights up according to your movements:
In fact, it tended to be the sound of music that alerted us to the fact we were approaching another installation. Of course, some are permanent installations now:
We came upon the statue of a whale, made from plastic recovered from the sea:
And, as always, the city lights put on their own show:
Yes, a good evening, as ever here. Tomorrow, back at the cinema on my own - I'm biting the bullet and seeing Stalker. I've heard this described as one of the best films ever made - certainly, I found the trailer confusing enough that I did a lot of research before I decided to see it. Made in the late Communist era, it involves a surreal journey through the Zone, where normal laws of physics do not apply, to the Room, where a person's deepest desires may be granted. If they are proven worthy. It's thought to be a metaphor for the frustrations of the failure of the Communist system. Anyway, showing in the Close-Up Cinema.
On Wednesday, got another cheap ticket - this time with CT - to Our American Queen, a dramatisation of the life of Kate Chase, daughter of a powerful politician at the time of the American Civil War. She herself was very active politically on his behalf, despite not having a vote herself. Showing in the Bridewell Theatre, and I'm eating beforehand in The Old Bell Tavern.
Next, a couple of Meetups: on Thursday, back with London Museums A-Z (yay!), who are, unusually for them, doing something midweek - specifically, a late at the Cartoon Museum - which should be walking distance from the office, where I'll be that day. I got the second-last place in the group, phew - takes longer for the midweek ones to fill, obviously. It finally filled up shortly afterwards.
And on Friday, back with The Hideout for Primate, about your typical tropical paradise, where a group of youngsters have come to party, and there's a pet chimp. Unfortunately, he goes from sweet to savage when bitten by a rabid animal, and carnage ensues.
Saturday was the day that suited best for me, James, Mark, and Martin to meet.
And on Sunday, Over 40 Living the Life is planning a trip to the 7 Wonders of the World Immersive Exhibition, which sounds good. However, I baulk at their trip for a few reasons - firstly, the £4 per person she's charging on top: secondly, the tickets she's bought don't include VR, which you'd have to buy separately: and thirdly, it's too damn early! I've bought my own ticket (VIP - includes the VR) for later in the day.
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