By 9.30 ‘RISK IT FOR A BISCUIT’ was finished.
Goody and I hugged and off she went to visit her fiancee in Carshalton Hospital.
I walked by the river, the sun warm the sky blue the air cold. Thought about going to see ‘AN EDUCATION’ at BAFTA. If I got a seat I would need my BAFTA membership card. So I walked back to the flat, wakened Jim, kissed him to go to sleep again, got my card and took the 170 to Victoria.
I arrived at work feeling a lot less tired than yesterday.
The show was female football, child credit and assimilating to life in a new country, we finished with music which went on longer than it was allowed but it was lovely. When I finished the show I went walking to Piccadilly.
Into BAFTA and I had been allocated a seat. C13.
BAFTA is full of film folk. Computers at the ready, lap-tops everywhere. Chat about funding, chat about casting and all the while the teas, coffees and wines keep coming. The bar staff are wonderfully helpful. I was hungry I knew a small bowl of chips would be perfect but not enough.
‘What shall I have with it?’ I mused aloud, ‘SCAMPI’ said the barman with his back me and he was right. The scampi was delicious the tartare sauce crunchy and the chips fried to perfection.
Members can buy a cheap meal and sit with a glass of vino before parking themselves in the red seated auditorium
I had a perfect cup of coffee and a lounge in one of the deep leather settees.
We were called to the auditorium at 6.00 the film went up on time, at 6.15. The seat I sat in was behind two donated by ‘Working Title’ and Mr Harvey Weinstein
The lights went down and the opening credits rolled, the sound is superb it has to be since Bafta members are all in the bizness and very picky.
The movie was marvellous. I laughed, cried, cried some more and laughed again. The acting is perfectly placed, the design, including Battenberg cake and custard-creams, is accurately authentic, the lighting and the direction are just the perfect kind of moody. Rosamund Pike is subtly dim, Alfred Molina, hugely warm and entertaining, Carey Mulligan sensitive and bang on the money with her teenage angst. But its not really fair to pick out any actor as they were all good. I was pulled back to being 12. Nick Hornby wrote the screen play and he’s quoted as saying that 1961 was nearer the war than the seventies, and so the film speaks of austerity and control, depression and order.
The scenes set in Paris were so romantic, the Danish Director, Lone Scherfig managed a tinge of sadness that made for a mildly melancholic fable.
I loved it.
I grabbed a quick hug from Mr. Molina since i’ve known him for nearly 40 years. He’s as humble as he ever was and adds a gentle gravitas to the piece. Any girl born in the 50’s must see it indeed any girl born at all must see it.
100 paces to the bus-stop a very punctual Number 19 got me to the Battersea Pont in no time. I paid a quick visit to our new trattoria-cum-deli in the Square. Met up with three locals I knew . I think I feel more alive in London than I do in Sussex, only its being in Sussex that keeps be alive at all.
The old git is home and I’m ready for me bed.
It’s Dr. Who on Thursday, not the programme the man. The last time I met Mr.Tennent I was all shy and unnecessary, can’t gaurentee I won’t be the same tomorrow
You’d better listen to find out
Hello again Jeni, how wonderful to read this. You sound so much more relaxed & I’m glad you enjoyed ‘An Eduacation’, I hope to see it next week.
I was at my Theatre History class at the V&A yesterday, it’s fascinating stuff & I’m loving every minute of it. The tutors are Giles Ramsay & Malcolm Jones, perhaps you’ve come across the? They are terrific; so enthusiastic & fun.
I definitely feel more alive when I’m in London & I NEED to live there. I have to find some way of making it happen in the next year or two.
Looking forward to the gorgeous DT on your show today. Have a good one. Hugs.
Sorry, it’s me again. I forgot to say that we discussed Chekhov in the theatre class yesterday & it was a huge help to me. I’d said in a previous comment that I didn’t get him, but the fog began to lift yesterday. I’m going to get the scripts of ‘Uncle Vanya’ & ‘The Cherry Orchard’ & work through them. Will let you know if it works. 🙂