Hereford’s Borderline film festival is coming up. Our choices have been made: 20 movies over two weeks. In both 2018 and 2019 we managed 22 but matching the movies against the locations, dates and times is like playing three-dimensional chess and losing badly.
Also there’s Ian, our 6ft 4in grandson. Wherever possible I need to find him leg room.
Ian, VR and I each make our choices and I have the unenviable task of combining the three lists, chopping out those that are impossible. Fairly, that is. Ian makes a special plea for Pain And Glory, the latest by Spain’s great director, Pedro Almodovar - a choice we all share. But it’s only on at three places, all on the same day. One is 31 miles away from our home and another village, equally obscure. We opt for the village hall at Michaelchurch Escley. Because we’ll be arriving there latish we reconnoitre it during daylight. Gonna be difficult.
Booking starts promptly at 10 am at Hereford’s Courtyard Theatre. I arrive at 9.45 and sort of hang around, establishing my presence. “Is there someone ahead of me?” I ask. “Him,” says the booking clerk. I chat with my competitor who’s a good sport and has done Borderline many times.
However, two extra booking clerks have been added and my competitor and I start “even Stephen”. More info about leg-room is now available for the Courtyard where most of the movies appear; I get everything I want and a large sum of money is deducted from my credit card to cover the sixty tickets (see pic).
I email the result to Ian who lives in Luton. He says, “I look forward to seeing the delights of Michaelchurch Escley in the pitch dark.”
You three are going to have so much fun. Twenty movies over two weeks. That's quite a commitment.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like it's going to be quite the cinematic adventure. Good job getting those tickets.
ReplyDeleteWhat a jolly time with your wife and Ian that will be... Stay well and lay in the eyedrops!
ReplyDeleteColette/robin andrea/Marly: This is perhaps our tenth Borderlines. It's my fault if I've suggested it will be fun. The concentration is too fierce. Once the languages would have been comparatively familiar: now they include Mandarin, Japanese, Persian, Polish, Korean, Turkish, etc. Of course there will be sub-titles but expressiveness and emotion depend on what is spoken and this can be cumulatively fatiguing. Length can also be a factor: Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (Turkey) lasted 4 hr 30 min. Plots often reflect national culture and untying them can be difficult. Having said that the experience is enriching and - more frequently than one might expect - funny.
ReplyDeleteMoney well spent as they'd say where I was born.
All: Might I have misled you? Ian is 31.
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