Culture/elle : film

So there has been a profound lack of content where there should be posts. I will blame this on being home and being sick. The culture has sort of fallen out of my life a bit, so here is a post from last month that I wrote and then... Well. Forgot to post.

I went to the cinema with a few friends - sadly not the studio cinema - to see two films in one week. Madness, I know! Here's my write up on them both. Mea Culpa - the first film - was actually really sad and quite harrowing with an ending that wasn't happy but was very good. With some distance between me and the film I can see a major hole in the plot where an explanation should be, but I'm not sure if that's just because I was finding it a bit difficult to follow at the start.

The very next day, we saw the new version of La Belle et la Bête. Of course I was prepared to love it from the start, being a fan of all things fairy tale, and my feelings were not betrayed. The film was gorgeous - delicious scenes of greenery and stone and rose petals, and all in all it reminded of everything I love about fairy tale illustration. The relationship between Bell and the Beast did feel as though it was moving way too fast: the director did not make any use at all of those wonderful cinematographic techniques that indicate the passing of time and this really affected my reception of the story. Talking to my friends afterwards, it would appear that I was not the only one. I also had a problem with the Beast's curse - it was a plot point, and to an extent it was thought out, but not nearly well enough to satisfy close scrutiny. But that apart, it was a film I loved, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone thinking to go and see it :)

So, old post aside, last week saw us getting some sun. And I do like a bit of sun! Especially here in Tours :) I've done a lot of sitting by the river and drinks outside of cafés, which has been nice.

I also passed through Paris again. Here is Gare d'Austerlitz, photographed at around eight in the morning on the walk across from Gare de Lyon.

It is not very clear, but it the bottom of the photograph is a boat upon which there appeared to be a party that was still going on. In retrospect, that seemed to be most of what I saw in Paris that morning.

Little Newman

Over and out!

Scandilands

Midway through last month, I made my first foray into Scandinavia. I stayed in Sweden's south-west, near Malmö, and it was gorgeous.

I moved to France last September, to a tiny town called Tours, in the Centre region of France. I won't withhold the town it's charms - it is beautiful in the sun and there are a ton of chateaus and museums to visit round about. But it is a very difficult place to travel from. By plane, I can get to five destinations pretty easily - London, Manchester, Dublin (sometimes), Marseille and Morocco. To get anywhere else, pretty much the only way is through Paris.

So I took my almost two hour journey up to Paris, wondering the whole time why the engines of French trains, even the fancy and costly express service I was on, sound more like something you'd find on a plane. (I still don't know why this is. Another French phenomena to add to the list.)

I was met at Gare Montparnasse by a friend who had recently moved to Paris, and we took the métro back to her place.

I'd always imagined that my first trip to Paris would be a little more touristy but sadly this was not possible. I managed to be impressed only by the long walk from Gare Montparnasse to Montparnasse Bienvenüe, the métro stop.

Above, my photography skills exerted on Montparnasse.

I stayed one night with my friend, quietly with a pizza and Archer and the next day she left for work and, with some delay, I left to get my plane.

I was very worried about everything, to be honest. I'd never been to Paris before, wasn't quite confident about how I was getting to the airport, nor how long it would take and the airline I was flying with didn't allow me to check in online.

And then, to top it all off, I got back to Montparnasse, where I was getting a coach to the airport, and realised I had left my card in my friend's appartment.

Honestly, I could have cried. I was imagining all the things that could go wrong, all the charges I could possibly be subject to. My friend was at work, and probably would be there until late: there was no way for me to get my card back.

I made my way to the coach stop, hoping my poorly printed ticket would be accepted. It was, but that, in some ways was another layer of worry: what if I got to the airport only to find out that I couldn't board if I hadn't checked in online? That I had to pay something like Ryan air's 70€ late check in fine? No coach ride should be so fraught with worry.

I arrived at the ghost town that is Paris Orly Airports after dark well before check in opened, which only gave me more time in which to worry and be nervous. I seemed to see some people with official looking documents that I didn't have - did I need them?

I was so nervy when check in finally opened and I got to the desk that my French and my English both failed me and the attendant looked on at me with obvious pity.

But I made it through. It was kind of shocking, after the wasteland of dead space I'd become used to, to be in Orly's boarding lounge with it's reading area, games room and banks of computers for public use, but it was the kind of shock I could definitely get used to!

Boarding went almost smoothly - except for when the boarding gate was changed without any announcement being made - but even when I was on my plane with it's fairly plush seats and free wifi for all passengers I couldn't properly relax.

My arrival in Copenhagen marked the end of step two of my journey. Although the plane landed early, it was still about eleven, and I was by no means close to port.

I felt a moment's reprieve from the stress of the day as I got into arrivals and saw my partner waiting for me, but it didn't last long - we barely had time to hug before we were rushing to catch the train across the Öresund bridge and into Sweden. Sadly it was dark, and so I was unable to pay any attention the this beautiful journey, but I'm hoping to get more opportunities in the future.

My stay in Sweden wasn't very touristy. My partner took me to his favourite spots in Lund and Malmö and I marvelled at a country that functions even when it snows.

The Kings Park in Malmö, so called because it's the grounds of a castle. Possibly the least castle-y castle I've ever seen: from a distance it looks like one of those fire stations built in the sixties that are scattered around London. I'm sure up close it would be much more impressive.

I'm a person who is always impressed with waterways. Having grown up with the Thames, which is probably one of the ugliest rivers I've ever seen, it was nice to see such a beautiful, clean, large waterway - with ducks! London's canals are lovely, yes, but I was charmed by Malmö.

My stay was only too short, and I would love to wonder around Sweden some more in the near future, to see more of the towns of Lund and Malmö as well as the much smaller town where my partner lives.

So, fingers crossed for the future!

Culture/elle - Cinema

So, although I haven't posted, I've actually been doing a lot of thinking about my general life improvement plan that I talked about last month. The idea was threefold: I'd actively make use of my time abroad; I'd actually read (and finish) 50 books; and I'd improve my health. I feel like an ideal name for this project would be Culture/elle - a silly little jeu de mots on the French word culturel, which becomes culturelle when feminised, and elle, the French word for she. How has this been going for me? Let's do a review!*

In making use of my time abroad: my friend and I decided that one cultural activity per week would be enough, and from the very beginning our definition of 'cultural' activities has been very broad. We've been to a lovely independent cinema here, Studio Cinémas, twice - once to see an indie French film called 2 Automnes, 3 Hivers and the second time to see Hayao Miyazaki's Le Vent Se Leve. French film is probably the aspect I appreciate and enjoy most about French culture, outside of the gastronomy, of course. Ever since the Nouvelle Vague years, there has been an emphasis placed on artistry in French cinema that simply isn't present in dominant American cinema culture. The Studio Ciné is nice because it does show films like 2 Automnes and not just every mainstream American release. I found the film to be a lot more experimental than I'd been expecting: a love story presented as a documentary. But it was down to earth and, aside from a strange moment near the end where the characters started singing, it was actually sweet and enjoyable. Another great thing about Studio Cinéma is that almost all of their films are VO unless otherwise stated. That is to say, all their films are subbed. I've never been a fan of dubbing. Even when I don't understand the original language (as was the case with Le Vent se Leve), I'd much rather read the subtitles and listen to the original actors voices. Of course, reading subs in a language not my own provided a slight challenge, but honestly it wasn't nearly enough to impede my my appreciation of the film, or to stop the transmission of sad feelings from it to me. I don't know that I'd actively recommend either of these films, but the Miyazaki was definitely my favourite, although somewhat different from his usual style.

Given the threefold nature of Culture/elle, and also my lack of posts for an entire month, I will split my review up. Hopefully this month I'll do better and post as things happen so that my review can really be just that: a look over the months achievements.

This, then, has been film. I have watched other films in French (I'm counting La Reine des Neiges), and am taking two film classes this semester which have proved very interesting. I also have a loyalty card for Studio Cinéma so fingers crossed for trips to come!

Next Culture/elle will probably coming very soon, and I'll be talking about my trip to Sweden!