‘home’ através da música e do cinema

27 june 2013

Sábado passado, 22 de junho, trocamos um jantar com mesa reservada no restaurante brasileiro que abriu aqui em Southampton por um evento cultural na Aspex Gallery, em Portsmouth. A cantora Emily Barker e a artista e cineasta Patti Gaal-Holmes, que são amigas desde 2004, apresentaram uma programação cultural maravilhosa, de graça, na galeria.

O nome do evento ‘home’ sintetiza a idéia de que elas estavam falando de onde é e do que se configura o que elas sentem como sendo ‘lar’, ou onde pertencemos, ou onde nos sentimos em casa. Aqui na Europa esse assunto de procedência e identidade é muito forte, por conta do movimento migratorio que acontece.

Primeiro Patti compartilhou sua história. Em seguida Emily Barker falou e tocou, com os filmes acompanhando as canções. Alguns filmes foram feitos para as canções. E algumas canções ganharam o filme depois, nessa parceria criativa e brilhante. Foi a terceira vez que fui a um evento que combinava música com cinema, e achei fantástico. Adoramos o evento e os trabalhos das duas. Fomos antes a dois outros shows da Emily Barker [de quem sou grande fã], um em Winchester e outro em Salisbury; e de vez em quando encontramos Patti e o marido, Marcus, em shows. Povo inspirado, leve, talentoso.

Patti nasceu na África do Sul, para onde o pai húngaro fugiu da guerra nos anos 1940 com a esposa alemã; tem passaporte belga, é casada com um inglês e mora aqui no Reino Unido, em Portsmouth. Ela concluiu o doutorado em filme no ano passado. Faz uns filmes curta experimentais muito bacanas; e passou os meses de outubro e novembro do ano passado na África do Sul, num programa de residência acadêmica para a pesquisa dela, com a idéia de lar e de identidade. Me parece que essa é uma busca de vida.

Emily Barker tocou canções do disco novo e também antigas, com o filme. Ela é australiana, neta de holandeses, casada com um inglés, e mora aqui no norte, em Cotswolds.

Home foi um evento para poucas pessoas, não mais que vinte. Tomamos café e conversamos com elas na galeria depois do evento. Como iriamos no domingo para Londres procuramos um jantar prático e no nosso caminho. Jantamos no restaurante chinês no Gunwharf shopping, a alguns passos da galeria, naquela noite fria e de vento muito forte. Ah, que programa sensacional. Mil vezes alimentar a alma, hein. Hehehe mas hoje vamos ao restaurante brasileiro. Já tô sabendo que é bom o estabelecimento.

filme: as mulheres do sexto andar

16 feb 2013

Carnaval foi tranquilo e feliz. Descanso e tempo para minhas leituras, um livro de deleite e outras leituras da pesquisa. Beleza. 

No domingo de carnaval fomos almoçar em Campo Maior, cidade a 84 kilômetros de Teresina, na fazenda da minha prima Suzanny. O dia foi ótimo, com muita conversa boa. O almoço foi na fazenda do Pedro, tio dela, ali pertinho. Um sem fim de comida: carneiro, porco, galinha caipira, cozido e muita carne em forma de churrasco. Comida deliciosa, mas assim carne e churrasco eu não posso comer, ou só posso provar e pronto. 

Resultado: na volta a Teresina Kassandra me levou para o hospital e lá ficamos por mais de três horas, tratando de uma crise grande de pressão alta que os excessos me renderam. Me preocupei demais com essa crise e tô de consulta marcada com o cardiologista para a próxima semana.

Saímos do hospital direto para uma loja de dvds. Fazia dias que eu estava com vontade de ver uns filmes. Bom, era domingo de carnaval, de noite, e quase todos os lançamentos tinham sido alugados. Mas ainda conseguimos pegar três filmes legais.

E finalmente assisti “As Mulheres do Sexto Andar”, comédia francesa de 2010.

Título original: Les femmes du 6ème étage

Diretor: Philippe Le Guay

Autores: Philippe Le Guay, Jérôme Tonnerre

Na Paris do começo dos anos 1960s a vida de um casal muda bastante com a presença de seis empregadas doméstica espanholas no prédio. Um bom filme, com elementos da cultura pra gente aprender e entender mais sobre as interações e a sociedade francesa da época. Porém, muito do que se vê no filme me parece atual.

O casal tem dois filhos arrogantes, que estão em escola de internato (boarding school). As espanholas terminam mudando totalmente a vida dessas pessoas, que levam uma vida estável, confortável, mas muito sem graça e sem vida, como a própria Suzanne (Sandrine Kiberlain) diz para as amigas. As mudanças maiores acontecem quando Maria vai trabalhar no apartamento do casal como empregada deles.

O ator Fabrice Luchini está excelente, mais uma vez, como em ‘intimate strangers’, outro filme francês que eu gosto muito. Eu adoro o cinema francês. Bom também ver a maravilhosa Carmen Maura.

E a pressão normalizou e o carnaval seguiu, tranquilo, como eu gosto. 

film: senna

about yesterday 16 june 2011

ontem fomos assistir o otimo documentario ‘senna’ no harbour lights. a producao franco-americana de 2010 mostra a vida e a carreira do melhor piloto de formula um de seu tempo, com cenas ineditas de videos da familia e muito mais. o filme mostra tambem os bastidores da formula um e suas reunioes, varias vezes tensas e que dao uma ideia da pressao que ele recebia nesse mundo que, como senna diz, eh cheio de politica e de dinheiro, diferente do comeco da sua carreira, ainda como o corredor de kart Ayrton Senna, que ele menciona numa entrevista anos aa frente de muito que passou.

varias cenas me fizeram lembrar do nosso senna e de como nos, brasileiros, estavamos inconsolaveis com uma morte tao prematura, absurda e anaceitavel, como se a morte pudesse ser inaceitavel. foi mais uma dessas despedidas dolorosas em que a gente fica querendo ser magico e bem poderoso para traze-lo de volta, mas a vida nao nos da esse poder.

eu fiquei pensando em como, quando ele ta ganhando um mundial de formula um, vencendo, tendo ultrapassado varios pilotos, ele ja se sabe vencedor e diz que foi Deus que lhe deu a vitoria. um homem que alcanca o sucesso mais almejado e grandioso, um titulo mundial, e diz que foi Deus, revela uma humildade que so as almas boas tem, a de nao se sentir Deus. achei muito bacana ele dizer que ainda tinha muito o que aprender como homem, que aos 30 e poucos anos de idade talvez estivesse na metade de sua vida, que a carreira de piloto poderia nao durar mais muito tempo, mas que ele precisava ainda aprender muito mais coisas da vida. nas entrevistas ele revelava o que sentia, nao se ocupava de passar imagem de grande. muito, muito linda a cena quando ele vence em interlagos e desmaia, tem dores insuportaveis nos ombros e mal consegue se mexer. a equipe o ajuda a sair do carro e quando, nos bastidores, ele ve o pai, pede que o pai chegue perto dele e lhe de um abraco suave. esse momento foi magico.

as vitorias, os milhoes e o sucesso nao tiraram o sorriso leve da pessoa integra e profissional que senna era. foi bom ve-lo tambem sabendo se proteger e se colocar, como mostra uma das discussoes das reunioes, e algumas entrevistas. antes e por tras de cada vitoria ha um mundo pra se vencer que a midia nao consegue mostrar; ofoco eh sempre em um aspecto apenas. muito bacana ver a tragetoria da carreira dele e as passagens pela toleman, onde estreou em 1984, depois a lotus, a mclaren e finalmente a williams, com muitas vitorias, de premios em paises diferentes e de mundiais. mas eu senti falta de saber mais sobre a vida diaria de treinos dele e do trabalho com o nuno cobra, seu preparador fisico.

o documentatio traz cenas do brasil muito miseravel daquela epoca, epoca de verdades ainda escondidas na nossa historia. eu fiquei chocada com o contraste e tomei um susto, de verdade. quando a gente nao ve a miseria com frequencia, se esquece que ela existe. nos, brasileiros, nao duvidamos que ela exista, mas o conforto da vida nos distancia dessa realidade perversa e contrastante que existe no brasil. o filme tem a participacao efetiva da irma dele, viviane senna, narrando fatos e acrescentando informacoes. ela aparece em imagens numa cena breve de familia e no final, no velorio. quando vi o caixao meu coracao doeu, parece sempre o susto do indesejado evento. chorei, chorei muito assistindo o filme, que tinha o pouco publico de quase sempre no harbour lights. e agradeco muito ao mike pela mao calorosa segurando a minha o tempo todo.

e a chuva, sua companheira maravilhosa? ah, a chuva!

six plus four

2 - 3 june 2011

. . . and listening to radio 6 and eating creamy prawns with chinese rice, cooked by her, at his place, with strawberries and cream for dessert and drinking orange juice and diet pepsi and going to harbour lights afterwards to watch the very american 'win win', directed by thomas mccarthy and starred by paul giamatti, amy ryan, and bobby cannavale, they celebrated 10 (six plus four or six plus one plus one plus one plus one or five plus five) months together. . .

film: submarine

from yesterday, 28 mar 2011

submarine
Director : Richard Ayoade
Producer : Mary Burke, Mark Herbert, Andy Stebbing
Screenwriter : Richard Ayoade
Starring : Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paige, Sally Hawkins, Noah Taylor, Paddy Considine, Gemma Chan

yesterday mike and i saw this great film at harbour lights. set in Wales, Submarine, adapted from Joe Dunthorne’s novel, is Richard Ayoade’s debut as a film director. the film is a funny, romantic, and truthful portrait of teenage life in the 1980s in Britain, when we had no computers, social networks or mobile phones between us and contacts were mostly done in person and or by landline phones. this alone gives the film a particular charm. i saw the other day an interview on tv Ayoade and the main actor, Craig Roberts.

Oliver Tate’s (Craig Roberts) plans are to lose his virginity to his outspoken school sweetheart Jordana (Yasmin Paige); and to save his parents’ marriage. the schoolboy is more educated by his books than by his parents. From the beginning of the film Oliver reminded me of Salinger’s Holden Caulfield. i love the scene in which he gives Jordana three books: one by Nietzsche, one by Shakespeare, and Salinger’s ‘the catcher in the rye’. the books are the synthesis and the very essence of his thinking, I suppose. Oliver’s Dad (Noah Taylor) is a depressed marine biologist and his mother, Jill, (the great Sally Hawkings – see her also in Made in Dagenham) a frustrated civil servant who finds herself trying to be back to an old times’ relationship with her first love (Paddy Considine).

the film has made me laugh and feel light and delighted by the fantastic interpretations and use of colours and some special effects, like when Oliver is in his bed after Jordana breaks up with him and his bed is transplanted to the ocean.

photography is great. the effects and the colours give the impression that it is not a low budget / independent film. Carefully and creatively planned, Submarine is unique, lively, witty, and also about human pain and truth. it is delightful entertainment. i highly recommend it.

film: wasteland

13 mar 2011

it is a pity this documentary about brazil will have on run only, this coming tuesday at harbour lights. wish i could come to see it.

film: brighton rock

10 feb 2011

Brighton Rock

Production year: 2010
Country: UK
Cert (UK): 15
Runtime: 111 mins
Directors: Rowan Joffe
Cast: Andrea Riseborough, Andy Serkis, Dame Helen Mirren, Helen Mirren, John Hurt, Phil Davis, Sam Riley

we saw 'Brighton rock' at harbour lights. the film has a fantastic photography and some remarkable interpretations, like Helen Mirren's. my ignorance on the plot has made me choose to watch it, i must say. i thought at first it was a film based on a true story / crime that happened in Brighton in the 60s and the subsequent investigation about it. it is actually about the violent battles between Mods and Rockers. i was pleased to watch it anyway. again, the excellent photography, the wardrobe and the collors, oh and the music were all worth the while, really. also, it felt nice to see the places i have been to in the big screen: the brighton pier, the pavilion, and all the others sets from the movie. not a must see, though.

film: another year

11 nov 2010

Director: Mike Leigh

Writer: Mike Leigh
Stars: Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen and Lesley Manville
Jim Broadbent ... Tom

Lesley Manville ... Mary
Ruth Sheen ... Gerri
Oliver Maltman ... Joe
Peter Wight ... Ken
David Bradley ... Ronnie
Imelda Staunton ... Janet
Release Date: 5 November 2010 (UK)
for more check out imdb website

today we saw this film at harbour lights written and directed by Mike Leigh, released just six days ago. at first i told Mike i loved the film and am quite impressed with the actress Lesley Manville for her excellent interpretation of Mary, this all screwed up woman. but now i think back and have to admit Mike Liegh exaggerated in the blissful life of the forever happy couple Tom (Jim Broadbent) and Gerri (Ruth Sheen) (unlike the animation characters). the film portrays this couple's house as a magnet for friends and family for both good and bad times. throughout the four seasons of the year they are there for everyone.

part of Leigh's style is that much of the film dialogues are improvised. he is talented and makes ordinary people with ordinary life living ordinary events look remarkable. moreover, i do love the photography and the pace of the film, which is really worth watching. i like it, but i question the forever blissful happiness of the aged couple. 

however, i am also - have to confess - disappointed to see how miserable he portrays Janet, the woman at the beginning of the film, who is so lost she can't even remember a happy moment in her life. Mary herself is so lost. she buys a car, which instead of leading her to new places brings her lots of problems and makes her get stuck and have get tickets and all sort of troublesome stuff possible. a bit too much? anyway, Manville's interpretation of Mary is outstanding. Ronnie (David Bradley), Tom's brother who becomes a widower comes into the picture towards the last part (last season) of the film. i like him very much. Ronnie does not pronounce many words, he only displays Bradley's talent to say much with his presence and pass along all the feelings of the character. 'Another year' was filmed in Derbyshire,UK.

film: the secret in their eyes

25 aug 2010

o filme e a chuva

Hoje fomos pro cinema e cheguei em casa agora, quase meia-noite. Tava chovendo, uma chuva fina e insistente, mas eu nao ligo. Aqui eles reclamam muito do tempo, que pra mim eh as vezes muito bom. La pisamos em pocas de agua andando no estacionamento a caminho e de volta do cinema, mas foi divertido. Um povo vindo atras da gente fez o mesmo na pocinha de agua. Foi legal, mas eles acham que o dia eh horrivel. Horrivel pra mim tem que impossibilitar o transito ou outras coisas, o que nao vi acontecer aqui ainda. Era uma chuva fina, gostosa.

Assistimos o filme do diretor argentino Juan José Campanella 'el secreto de sus ojos' - 'the secret in their eyes', um suspense policial muito bom, que ganhou oscar de melhor filme em lingua estrangeira. A sessao comecou 9.20 da noite. Eh a historia de um funcionario da justica aposentado que resolve escrever um livro contando uns fatos, incluindo um pouco da vida dele e da investigacao de um crime. os aspectos tragicos de um assassinato nao desvendado e a propria vida de Benjamin Esposito se misturam muito bem no filme. Humor cinico e um final surpreendente. Adorei o filme.

No filme passou meia hora de comerciais e de trailers de outros filmes. Teve um comercial de um crème pra espinha de rosto de uma moca. Ele riu e eu perguntei se ele acredita naquilo. Ele disse que nao. Em seguida uma propaganda de cerveja, perguntei de novo se ele acredita naquilo, sim! Hehe

Ah, encontrei um povo conhecido no cinema. No banheiro encontrei a Jenna, que eh inglesa, so conhecida, nao amiga, apesar de ja ter ate ido a um pub com ela. Falamos oi e tal. Ai vi a Agota (hungara), que andava com a Jenna e mais um povo. Falei ligeiramente e subi pra ver o filme. Na saida vi uma professora daqui, acho que ela eh italiana. Com chuva, 9.20 da noite, e varias pessoas no cinema. Gostei tanto disso. Caminhando pro cinema, do estacionamento, eu cantarolei 'rain, I wonder why, today that such a different sky. . . Are you sad because you know my heart no longer sings. . .' trechinho que a sarah vaughan canta de versao de uma musica brasileira.

eu gosto tanto da minha vida aqui, e isso me da tanto medo aas vezes. Gosto dos amigos, alguns tao intimos e preciosos, com quem tenho conversas profundas e interessantes, sobre nossas vidas. Eh um povo proximo da minha sintonia. Gosto dos lugares, da cultura, dos ares, e da chuva. O frio eh triste, mas nao se pode ter tudo. Ah o medo nao eh so aas vezes, acho que preciso pensar um pouco mais sobre isso pra nao atuar e nao me deixar viver, o que ja fiz demais e causei danos aos meus sonhos nessa vida.

film: julie & julia

3 july 2010

Definitely for me the book should come before the movie. The movie is fine, Meryl Streep is phenomenal, but the film, which of course is another, completely different language from the book, presents only bits of the real story. I don’t understand why some film producers and or directors feel the need to change details in recent facts. I’ve read somewhere that important bits about Julie’s life were left out of the film. Oh well, it was good to watch, anyway. The said part to it is that now I don’t feel like reading the book. But I do believe it is important that our knowledge about the story doesn’t limit to the selected information presented in a film. Although I am not a movie expert I dare say the director could have made better use of the rich material available. Oh, I loved to see Shakespeare and Company, the great bookstore in Paris in the film.

film: “Brasileirinho: grandes encontros do choro”

5 june 2010

Brasileirinho - Grandes Encontros do Choro (2005)

Director: Mika Kaurismäki
Writers: Marco Forster & Mika Kaurismäki
Release Date: 23 March 2007 (UK)

Cast
the great brazilian musicians and singers: Teresa Cristina, Paulinho da Viola, Ademilde Fonseca, Zezé Gonzaga, Guinga, Paulo Moura, Luciano Rabelo, Elza Soares, Marcos Suzano, Trio Madeira Brasil, Yamandu

Runtime: France: 90 min
Country: Brazil / Finland  / Switzerland
Language: Portuguese
Filming Locations: Brazil
Company: Marianna Films
Source for info above: imdb

To finish up well a difficult day I decided to stay home and watch a movie. It is the documentary “Brasileirinho: grandes encontros do choro” . the great film directed by Mika Kaurismäki is a pearl among the good documentaries about Brazil and about music. It tells of the beginning of choro, and shows some big names telling stories. It is nice to see the new generations wanting to study and play choro. it wa so nice to listen to the stories and to the fantastic sounds of the music of my Brazil. it might be obvious, but especiallythat day it was super nice to watch the film. if i am not mistaken they did not talk about chiquinha gonzaga, which was a bad surprise to me.

anyway, i was impressed by the young musicians learning from the older generations and much into the spirit of the music. i love Yamandu. i would love to be able to play a musical instrument, preferably the guitar. wish i could sing, too.
*sigh*

film: 'kitaj'

30 may 2010

Kitaj

Last night I watched a documentary about the life of R. B. Kitaj . He was a Jewish painter who lived in the US and in Europe for many years. The documentary is mainly based on his own account of his life. It was very interesting to hear him telling about his ideas of turning a story from the thing he saw or stories people told him into a painting. He was an influential painter, born in 1932 in Cleveland, Ohio. He died in Los Angeles 2007. Kitaj pointed out that a painting should be used for both intellectual and sensual communication. lots of nudity in his paintings.

I watched it at home, by myself. It felt nice to be under the sheets in the cold night. It felt like being somewhere on a lazy holiday. Thanks a lot for lending me the film, Diana. I loved it.

film: 'bande a part'

30 may 2010

‘bande à part’

released as ‘band of outsiders’

Production year: 1964
Country: France
Runtime: 97 mins
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Writer: based on Dolores Hitchens’s novel “Fools’ Gold”, written by Godard
Cast: Anna Karina, Sami Frey, Claude Brasseur, Daniele Girard, Louisa Colpeyn
Music: Michel Legrand

Last night I watched the film ‘band à part’. As far as I can remember it was my first nouvelle vague film. I like it very much. It is about this girl (Odile), who meets two guys (Arthur and Franz) at their english class. Both guys become interested in Odile, and she is more interested in Arthur. They go the cafes, dance, and when Odile realizes it is too late and she is involved with the plan of robbing the money Mr. Stolz keeps at home, the home where Odile lives with her aunt Victoria. From there problems arise.

I love the film, the scenes in Paris, the black and white effects, the whole natural atmosphere. According to one of the people who worked in the production of the film, in an interview in the extras, Godard said he didn’t do films, he did cinema. i read i think on wikipedia that godard said 'bande a part' is an 'alice in wonderland' meeting Kafka. LOL. ironic and so true. perfect definition.

i watched the film alone, at home. nice and cozy in the cold night.
Thanks a lot for lending me the film, Diana.

godard can wait

21 may 2010

subhead: off track. again? what's the point?

RE: godard

Lima K.S.D.
Sent: 21 May 2010 17:55
To: popescu d.i. (dxxx)

di,
i also want to apoligise for emailing only now, but i was in this meeting. this friend is helping me out with readings for my research. . . it seems so confusing as of today.
sorry )-: really
big hugs,
kalina

RE: godard
Lima K.S.D.
Sent: 21 May 2010 17:50
To: popescu d.i. (dxxx)

diana
i am so very sorry to say i am not going to come for the film today. diana, i feel burned out and overwhelmed with the volume iof things i have to do but have not done. . .

i just left from a meeting with a friend with whom i talked about my research . . . looong story. i do need to write something new and send it to ros by tomorrow bc we meet on monday. by the way we met today by chance at Hartley library and Ros said 'see you next week'. truth is i have not done as much as i should. . .

plus, there is the teaching job. i also have lots of things to do about it. these next weeks are crucial for both job and academia. i can't stop for full 2 or 3 hours today. i came back in the library now (am here now) just to get a book and to write this email to you.

very very sorry. i'll just try and do some work still today. we'll have plenty of time for fun, movies, parks, picnics, . . . please just help me out now. i am getting stressed out.

thanks a lot. see you soon. i might work in avenue over the weekend. if you're there we have coffee. or highfield. . . don't know now, but i'll be working somewhere and if we're near we have coffee, ok?
hugs,
kalina
_________________________________________
From: popescu d.i. (dxxx)
Sent: 21 May 2010 10:58
To: Lima K.S.D.
Subject: RE: godard

Okay!! I'm sorry that Mathilde can't make it!
I'll see you at my house at 7! Godard is awaiting :)
HUG

film: 'a single man'

18 may 2010

A Single Man

Production year: 2009
Country: USA
Cert (UK): 12A
Runtime: 99 mins
Director: Tom Ford
Cast: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, Nicholas Hoult
 
i just got back home with mathilde. we went to watch 'a single man' at the susu on the highfield campus. price of the ticket: £2. the filme, set in 1962, tells of a day in the life of George (Colin Firth), an English professor who is filled with sadness because his partner, Jim (Matthew Goode) has suddenly died in a car accident. jim's family prohibits george of attending jim's  funeral. george is then lef to lead a lonely, sad, and empty life, despite the work as a teacher and a nice friendship with charley (Julianne Moore). george plans to go about his routine for the day in Los Angeles and to put an end to his life later on.
 
i loved the film, slow at times, beautiful photography and superb interpretations, specially Firth's and Moore's interpretations. i love old movies or movies set back in time, where there is not much of technology, only humans struggling with their lives and make ups. Julianne Moore is fantastic as a recently divorced alcooholic. i do recommend it. i love the in which charley is putting on make up to get beautiful for the night with her friend george. the scene shows she nearly finished with one eye, now with a heavy load of make up that makes her look ver different and upbeat, in contrast to the other side of hers. she looks at the mirror and says, as if her voice were coming from an outsider: 'very beautiful'. i might be wrong about the precise words she pronounces, but i think i am right, and this is the idea, anyway. she is half astonishingly beautiful and half the original, raw, charley.

when we left the cinema we met with yuki (my japanese friend) and hamish (my english brazilian friend), who by the way were together :-)
i chatted with hamish for a while and mathilde with a german friend of hers.  hamish is planning to move back to brazil as soon as he is finished with his phd here. he has dual nationality because he is born to a brazilian mother and a scottish father. he is cute and funny. it's always a good chat whenever we meet up.

they invited us to go to the stag's head, this pub right there on campus, but we said no because we are very (ir)responsible people who keep working. we talking standing outside susu, facing the pub, but still resisted temptation. am i growing up? i doubt it, but there is hope. mathilde, isabella (german girl), and i were then headed to the interchange to get the bus home. at the interchange i met with najima and we discussed our problems with our research. . . readings. . . first year presentation. these conversations are important.

for some reason everyone is on the same boat of being a little too slow, not so happy about production, and worried about deadlines. this defines me at present.

film - 'walk the line'

about yesterday, 1 may 2010

. . . from highfield diana and i walked to her place, on kitchener road. there we met with agota and chatted chatted chatted bla bla bla bla bla. about what? our course here, our home countries, our life here, men (oh!), traveling, films, friendships, you name it. of course, relaxed and great talk, as always. i went to sleep over, as i said before.

the next door neighbour came buy the window to say hello. he is from goa, india, brought up in dubai. very young and nice guy. we invited him over to watch the film with us. the film we watched was 'walk the line', from director James Mangold, based on the book 'johnny cash', about the singer's life. Joaquin Phoenix plays the role of johnny cash and Reese Witherspoon plays june carter. we all liked the movie very much. love, alcool, dreams accomplished, hearts broken, and a beautiful musical career, spiced up with a love story he lived with june carter. even the most tragic event, when on screen, is softened. it all becomes a little surreal. i can imagine the pain he went through many times in his life, though.

oh, we prepared veggie salad and a tomato and cheese salad. we also had stone baked bread and grapes to munch. superb! we went to bed at about 2 o'clock in the morning. a tv at home is a great programme, especially in these chilly nights.

um trago, pra comecar o dia

sobre 1 may 2010

nao resisti a oportunidade de brincar com o nome do pub. 'trago lounge' eh um pub novo em portswood road, onde antes havia uma pizza hut. o pub eh parte de uma rede de bares / restaurantes que eu gostei muito de conhecer. o lugar ta todo renovado e com um ar muito legal e frequencia idem. a otima localizacao tambem faz do lugar uma possibilidade.

no sabado, ontem, eu conversei com a diana. tinhamos combinado de eu ir pra casa dela pra gente ver um filme, conversar e eu ficar la ate hoje, domingo. esse negocio de dormir na casa do povo nao eh super atraente, mas nao tem onibus depois de uma certa hora. entao, minha opcao eh ou ficar pra dormir, ou ir beeem mais cedo pra la e terminar os assuntos a tempo de tomar o onibus, ou tomar um taxi, ideia menos atraente ainda. mas acho - tambem - que dormir na casa das amigas eh uma pratica suuper bacana e torna a gente mais proxima das pessoas. fazia muitos anos que eu nao vivia isso, mas aqui em southampton eu ja fiz umas vezes na ines, umas vezes na hilra, e agora na casa das meninas - diana e agota. tem la dois rapazes, que dividem a casa com elas.

todas as vezes que eu dormi na casa dessas amigas foi uma festa especial. ah, to achando tao curioso que eu vim escrever esse post so pra contar que encontrei com a diana pra gente almocar em portswood e depois ir pra 'may day', a feira em highfield, mas to falando eh de outra coisa. ah os caminhos do inconsciente!

sim, o plano era a gente almocar, ir pra feira em highfield, trabalhar um bocadinho na biblioteca - socoooorro!!!! e so depois vadiar, gargalhar, ver filme, falar em homem, sonhos, planos, ver o filme (que filme?) e comer alguma coisa. porem, quando chegamos em portswood pra almocar ja era pouco mais de duas da tarde (eu fiquei um tempao em casa falando com minha mae ao telefone). ficamos no trago lounge ate umas 4.30, quando a feira ja havia encerrado. hehehe. comemos tapas: tres opcoes de comida e mais pao ciabata, aa escolha do/a fregues/a. como eramos duas, pudemos escolher seis: patatas bravas, hummus with paprika, mushroom, crayfish in tomato sauce. pimentao recheado de queijo feta (o grego) e nao lembro os outros. mas eh fato que comemos muito. de sobremesa: sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream. Deus eh mais!!!

o papo, como sempre, foi super agradavel. conversamos sobre a vida academica, a vida pessoal, viagens, pesquisas do nosso doutorado, e qualquer abobrinha que apareceu no assunto. de la fomos ao waitrose comprar alguma coisa pra gente comer em casa. comprei um pao assado na pedra e um antipasto de alcachofra, cogumelos, cebolas, azeitonas, abobrinha, e azeite de oliva. diana comprou queijo e vegetais. fomos caminhando pra casa dela.

eh muito bom esse negocio de poder caminhar na cidade inteira, basicamente, e com seguranca. claro que nao da pra viver contando apenas com a sola do pe, porque a cidade eh grande, mas muita movimentacao eh possivel, sim, de ser feita caminhando, principalmente se ha uma paradinha de vez em quando no caminho. que a paradinha no caminho nao se de por conta de uma pedra :-) amem!

alice in wonderland

17 apr 2010

Today Diana, Mathilde and I went to the Odeon cinema to watch Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland in 3D. In the movie Alice is 19 and decides to follow the white rabbit exactly as she is proposed by the ungracious son of a friend of her father’s. From this point she starts her fantastic adventures, as she used to dream of them as a child. Mia Wasikowska plays Alice, Helena Bonham Carter is the Red Queen, Johnny Depp is the fabulous Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway is the White Queen. They are all fantastic. By the way, I love all the characters, although I found the smiley blue cat a little spooky, but that’s me. Alice can only prove she is Alice when she defeats the monster. I loved Burton’s film, and the 3D was a super plus. It is great entertainment and offers loads of representations of the self and the human relations to be interpreted. I love the fact that she has different sizes as she encounters different people. Mia Wasikowska did an awesome job. As I was watching the film I thought I had seen her somewhere. Yes, she played Sophie, one of Paul’s patients in the American series In treatment. We three did not like that she comes back to her real life and sort of gives people advice. After all, life is a dance which can be felt by each one of us individually, I’m afraid. I am not certain we learn from what others have experienced.

Finished the movie we walked to this Italian restaurant on Above Bar Street called Bella Italia. it offers a variety of Italian dishes. There we had pizza and wine and chatted and chatted and chatted. Mathilde, my flatmate here at the uni hall, is Belgium. she is here for a semester only, an Erasmus student. Diana is from Romania, i might have said this already. we're friends from uni. she is doing her PhD in the representations of the Holocaust. her research is super interesting and we have talked a lot about it already. We talked about trips, safety in different countries and many other things. It was indeed a very nice night out.

the pizza was a bit cold, which might imply it was not really fresh, but still good. wine was superb. Above Bar is a street where there are lots of other pubs. it was funny to appreciate the girls 'nearly dressed up' to go to these pubs. no matter how cold it is, they are always very brave to face the night with very little clothes. it was a chilly night and got the bus back home.

the monday market

23 nov 2009

every monday we have this nice market in highfield. they sell various goods: cookies, sausages, cheese, fruits and veggies, and there is this big stand with films and books. i've bought quite a few books in different occasions. this time i bought this one: 'lost in translation' (more to come on the film whenever i watch it).

why is it always a woman who sells the cookies? i bought one once, but it was not so good. i like moist, soft cookies, not the crunchy ones.

when i was checking the films out to choose one or more, i asked the man for the old movies. he said he had no clue where they are in his big table apparently well organized. he answered so quickly both informing me that he was not prepared to answer his potential client's quesion but also that he does not care much about his goods. it was a schocking surprise at first but then i recalle he had given me this sort of same answer long ago, maybe last year, when i came by and bought a different movie. he looks like somebody who will be able to deal with the clients and talk a bit on the products, but no, he is just there to get the movie for the films and hand the films over to the clients. very interesting way of making business.

this same 'help yourself' strategy i find in many shops around here. it is difficult for us who come from a culture where the client is informed of everything, including false promises about prices and delivery dates is that's the case. here they beleive that if they are after you to show you jumpers, trousers, sneakers, or whatever, they are bothering you. rather you should be left to make up your own free decisions. this was say to me by a friend who worked in a shop here. this distance from the client gives me the impression that there is no financial crisis going on in this country.

but this past monday i bought fruits and vegetables. the products are neatly displayed in a format that resemble a labyrinth, we walk through it already in the queue. i like the display of it, the planning and everything. we walk towards the cashier doing the shopping. i bought this 'use reuse recycle' cute bag because i had no other bag on me this time.

another point is that in many shops here they do not give us any bag anymore. we do have to pay for them. i see quite often people say 'no, thanks' for the offer to buy a bag. they bring something from here.
yes, let's do our little share in saving the planet.

movie "Sukkar banat" or "Caramel"

this is the view from my window, and my feet resting a bit :-)

19 Oct 2009

i should be at uni now doing more reading and writing my literature review. instead, i decided to stay home and watch this very nice lebanese movie called originally Sukkar banat and Caramel in English, about the life of five lebanese women living in beirut. 

i do love and recommend the movie. it is very interesting that through cinema we have the chance for a flavor of other cultures and their peculiar perspectives on life. 'caramel' tells of the life of these five lebanese women who have different personal needs and possibilities and how they struggle in life. it also points out the common things between them, the beauty parlor being the main stage for this. the beauty parlor - with its sweet 'caramel' - i reckon stands for femininity and the inner search for outside look of ok & acceptable & attractive appearance that gives everyone, we all included, the impression that the situation is pretty much under control. but this is not enough, of course, to guarantee that life is indeed under control for them. that is clearly stated throughout the movie, so beautifully expressed in the song that talks about their search for identity. the song that plays in the end was, according to karen, a lebanese girl who is my flatmate, especially composed for the movie. this musician is married to Nadine Labaki, the movie Director. She plays layale, the main character in the movie. caramel is a must see movie.

the soothing song goes a little little this:
'mirror on the wall
listen to my story
tell me who i am'

another point that has drawn my attention is the language. i had no idea the arabic they speak in lebanon would sound very soft and display an enormous french influence. it actually has some french words incorporated to its daily speaking. 'merci' for this extra piece of precious information about the lebanese culture, nadine.

from the movie:
Sukkar banat or Caramel
- Director: Nadine Labaki
- Writers: Rodney El Haddad (writer)
             Jihad Hojeily (writer)
- Awards:3 wins & 2 nominations more
- Cast (Credited cast)
Nadine Labaki ... Layale
Yasmine Elmasri ... Nisrine (as Yasmine Al Masri)
Joanna Moukarzel ... Rima
Gisèle Aouad ... Jamale
Adel Karam ... Youssef
Sihame Haddad ... Rose (as Siham Haddad)
Aziza Semaan ... Lili
Fatmeh Safa ... Siham
Dimitri Staneofski ... Charles
Fadia Stella ... Christine
Ismaïl Antar ... Bassam

cheers,
Kalina