The themes of destiny and identity were followed up in another film I saw yesterday, 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'. Nick, Paul and I went to the Nova to see 'Frost/Nixon' on the cheap, but sadly it was sold out. We took the gamble on 'VCB' (Woody Allen can be such a risk!) and happily it paid off. This film was shot SO beautifully (I found myself wandering off the story at times, so taken was I by a camera angle or sound choice), and made me remember just how much I loved Barcelona. It follows two young women on holiday, exploring different ideas of love and 'what they want'. I loved the way the script juxtaposed the ideas of creative spontaneity and sensible stability and found both lacking and tinged with regret and uncertainty. A really clever and worthwhile film, and strangely uplifting, despite the bittersweet feeling with which the characters leave.
We did also see 'Frost/Nixon', by the way. Yup, over four hours of film in one day- we are HARDCORE. Completely different to 'VCB', but 'Frost/ Nixon' was also an excellent film and again had me considering different realities. For me, born in the early 80s, this film focuses on an essentially historical event. There's no personal connection, but I wonder how the film would have effected me had I been old enough to have lived through these events? I think the enormity of such a moment escapes a younger audience, and causes us a completely different experience of the film. I also wondered about the unreal image we have of public figures, and how the disconnection from them as a human being makes it so much easier to vilify them, and hunger for the 'kill', so to speak. 'Frost/Nixon' (and presumably the interviews themselves) were incredibly humanising of Nixon, and left me feeling undeniably sympathetic. I'd love to know whether older Americans found themselves moved (by the film or the interview), having felt a much closer to the subject matter. I imagine the whole affair would exist in a completely different reality for them.
