Yeah Yeah, I know a week ago I was very much into avoiding anything too dramatic for the sake of my own sanity. It lasted for 8 days . The longing was too strong to resist. Off I grabbed pre-8th chemo papa and headed out for a little session of MacBeth – a classical and crunchy mixture of treason, murder, madness, you name it.
Now, you might wonder why I very regularly grab pre/post chemo papa to accompany me to the movie theater. Let’s say that cinema is the one big passion we share (despite his active attempts at making tennis another one – resulting in an epic failure). And let’s add that it became a common passion thanks to his numerous endeavours in the early 90s at making me watch something slightly more subtle than “Forever Young” .
I remember exactly what movie did the trick and where it happened. It was Ken Loach’s “Ladybird, Ladybird” at the Arenberg (now the Galeries).
This movie was definitely a revelation. It made me realize that cinema does not only have to be a tool allowing you to escape from reality. As a down to earth person, I actually LIKE reality – although I do not deny it is sometimes (often) frustrating, hopeless and even heart breaking. “Ladybird, Ladybird” made me understand that cinema can as well be a powerful denouncing tool, a way to make people think, discuss and discover realities they would have never even thought about otherwise. It could even become a means to make people want to change or act on these realities.
Believe me, when you understand this at 14, it feels life changing. Especially when it means that Mel Gibson loses, from one day to the other, most of the significance he has had for you until then. Let’s call it growing.
Now, let us set things straight. I am not a robot. I am only human after all. Sometimes, what one needs is a simple escape from the reality. Spaceships, aliens or superheroes never really worked for me (I seem to be too down to earth for that). What DOES seem to work for me is a Coen brothers’ movie. I can’t help it. These guys just make me laugh to tears. I am perfectly aware that this is not the case for everyone. I do have that memory of me and my friend Dina watching “A Serious Man” together. Me laughing wholeheartedly. Her, just not reacting at all. Looking at me as if we were on two different planets.
That was actually another revelation. Cynical humour is not universal. Apparently, not everyone would laugh like me when my boss tells me “I would suggest one simple injection that would solve your cat’s diabetes problem for good”. I love my cat. However, to me, when one is joking about the challenges he/she is facing (even in the darkest possible way), these challenges stop looking as insurmountable as they did a while ago. Lately it feels like a vast part of the planet would tend to disagree with me. My best bet is that it would either be utterly shocked at my boss’ joke or, even better, sue him for it.
So back to the Coen brothers. “Coen” was eventually the only word that convinced me to give “The Tragedy of Macbeth” a chance. I think it is obvious (at least from my latest post) that I am currently more on “escape” mode than on the “let’s rethink the meaning of humanity” one. Therefore, if you say Shakespeare, I say no thank you. If you say Macbeth, I would insist further that no, not exactly what I need at this stage. Only when someone smart mentioned the name Joel Coen did curiosity win over: Joel Coen? Like the one from Joel and Ethan Coen? Like the fathers of the Dude? But why and how on earth would he go for Macbeth?
And that’s how, a week later, you find yourself sitting once again in your comfy Aventure seat. The queue for tickets was bigger than a week ago. Seems like “Licorice Pizza” is a pretty big and unexpected success. Somehow, you find this fact very comforting.
I have to admit that it takes a bit of time (at least in my personal case) to accept what is on offer on the screen. At first, it seems like a quite austere production. A not very dynamic black and white square. A limited setting that does not allow for much distraction. The focus is meant to be on the actors. For the next fifteen minutes, you enter into a discussion with yourself: is there an added value to this? Why make a movie out of it, if it feels like watching a theatre play?
But then, slowly, it’s hard to explain how, it grows on you. The fact that the focus is not on any actor but on fantastic actors (Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, as Lord and Lady Macbeth) does definitely help a lot. The words pronounced, though you heard them hundreds of time (at least in parts and, let’s admit it, without really understanding them), seem to gain a new meaning, to make much more sense than before. Additionally, what you initially saw as an austere and restrictive framing turns into a limitless space for creative expression. That little black and white square, it is just incredible what you can do with it in terms of light, atmosphere and angles!
Conclusion is: it won me over, and that was honestly quite a surprise to me. Don’t expect Coen cynicism and humour though. Expect the dark Shakespearian tragedy it is – but with additional seasoning that definitely makes the difference (at least for me): stunning acting performances and that little Coen je ne sais quoi that makes something you thought you had seen many times, look unexpectedly different and original.
Klara's cinema 