Seen in recent days:
-- Far, far too many clips of campaign rallies and politicians spewing campaign gibberish (both American and Spanish). The nightmarishly long campaign season is gaining momentum in both countries (officially out of the gate just recently; long, long underway in reality) and ignoring all the hot gas is becoming trickier with each passing day.
-- A self-talker moving along one of the barrio's main drags. The sighting is nothing special -- Madrid is liberally sprinkled with individuals talking to themselves, to imaginary companions or to the general public. This one, however, was speaking French. That was a first.
-- At least once a day during the last week, I've passed someone walking along immersed in a book. How they navigate successfully is a mystery to me. (Now that I think about it, my one and only ex-wife used to do that, without a single mishap that I remember. What a sweetie that woman was -- wherever she is, I hope she's having a great life.)
-- A film by Italian director Nanni Moretti, Aprile. Gently comical -- so gently, at such a relaxed pace, that I wondered at first if it might be a case of movie never getting off the ground. A goofily eccentric documentary -- like a series of diary entries written by a perplexed clown (minus white make-up and plastic nose. and funnier.) -- that veers between the Italian national elections of that time, the birth of Moretti's first child, and various projects that Moretti and his crew attempt. It kicked in for me one of many scenes where Moretti's crew is trying to get him to focus on work -- something completely beyond him during the pregnancy and birth of his child. Sequences showing a crew growing ever more desperate, every individual onscreen distracted and perplexed, all for different reasons. And in the middle of one particularly desperate, distracted bit of comedy, I realized that I was watching an Italian version of my best friend stateside -- also a director, also tall, bright, funny, dealing with work-related conundrums and a family that brings him joy, perplexity, distracted desperation. Making it funnier.
One sequence: after watching television consisting of campaign-season Berlusconi producing some especially spewings, Moretti ponders all the letters of outrage he'd written to politicians and political organizations but never sent, realizes he has to get them out of his system or it will drive him over the edge, but has no idea how to approach that unloading until he remembers Speakers Corner in London. Cut from warm, sunny Italy to Moretti wandering through crowds clustered around ranting individuals on a cold, gray London Sunday, carrying stepladder and wad of undelivered letters. Finds a spot, sets up, begins unburdening himself in gratifyingly melodramatic fashion. I -- having seen and experienced some fairly madcap things at Speakers Corner on various occasions -- liked it.
...the best nursery schools in the world!...
Comedy: an underrated cure for a whole lot of things. Remind me to indulge more often.
-- runswithscissors is sufficiently caffeinated.
España, te quiero.
rws 11:00 PM [+]
Comments:
This is the first year I've actually considered voting for 'none of the above'.
I don't know who he is but I like his campaign strategy.
Now wouldn't it be amusing if someone actually changed their name to 'none of the above' and ran? I bet it would be a landslide.
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I don't know who he is but I like his campaign strategy.
Now wouldn't it be amusing if someone actually changed their name to 'none of the above' and ran? I bet it would be a landslide.
