A Snapshot of Friday Night in Charlottesville

I want to write, but I can't seem to think of a topic decent enough worth your or my time. I could possibly talk about my week... but that would be too personal now, wouldn't it? Well how an epic film I just finished watching... That sounds a lot more like it!

Its Friday night. I had the option of partying, but that hobby seems to have lost its flare. Instead, I hopped on my bike, paddled quickly to the Downtown. I was hoping of spending a couple of minutes in the Mudhouse before it shutdown. To my dismay, I missed out on a much-craved-for oatmeal cookie and gun powder tea. I decided to walk.

Walking down the main avenue of the Downtown never seems to amaze! So, in the blistering cold, with my headphones on, I strode along puffing clouds of vapor out from the cold. I passed by all the shut down ma' and pa' shops. I was definitely an outlier at this hour (it was 11:30pm). I was there for the leisure of a walk to clear my mind, contemplate emotions and events, and to have some time to myself. Everyone else was either drunk or "lost". At this hour, the Downtown had lost its aestheticism and beauty. It was dark and shady. I decided to depart. To return in the morning when it was cheerful and sunny.

I biked just as quickly home and made it back before midnight. Since I wasn't that drowsy, I decided to put on "Les Amants Reguliers," an indie French movie I checked out from Clemons yesterday. I actually checked it out randomly. I wanted to watch an intersection of an Indie movie and one that was foreign, so made the cut.

After injecting it into the DVD, I was amazed by how nostaglic I'd gotten. The protagonist reminded me of myself a couple of years back. He plays the role of romantic revolutionary during France's near-revolution in the 1960s. He falls in love and strives for a Marxist revolution. Ultimately, he discovers that these ambitions are mere delusions.

More than anything, this film is a piece of art. With beautiful urban scenes in Paris, 1960s vogue lifestyles, and the humanistic behaviors of artists, poets, and loves, this is indeed a masterpiece. The movie, shot 2005, is in black and white to simulate the milieu of the 1960s. Every scene, lull, and dialogue in the movie is a artwork in and of itself. The soundtrack, cinematography, and photography of the movie lets you live this decade I once aspired to live and emulate.

This is a film where the viewer is not merely fed the events and emotions. Instead of witnessing what the characters feel, you feel it with them, and at times, for them. The despair of failed ambitions is a common theme I feel I can relate to. Also, the dichotomy between idealism and realism is a case in point of the human experience. Anyways, I shall not give the movie away. In fact, I can't since the movie is an abstract painting; a wide range of inferences can be drawn.

The Vinegar Hill

The Vinegar Hill has just become my new sanctuary. I've found myself tracing my steps every Friday back to it. The Hill is a local theater Downtown that views Indie movies. Its the kind of vintage theater with creaky doors, salient popcorn-butter stench, and an old-school tickets counter... just what I'd been looking for!

Lately, I've realized that I can't stand mainstream movies, or mainstream anything for that matter. So this is been my haven when it comes to film-watching. Moreover, I like the ambiance there mostly because of the solitude. There's something about the theater being almost completely empty except for one or two viewers whom I always see there. Something about the dust particles circulating around the beam of light giving life to the screen in complete darkness makes it all so surreal...

I've come to love this cinematic environment. Its almost addictive. Especially when the film has a plot entailing the sequence of a Greek tragedy. What strikes me though is the existential nature of many of the film plots. At some points it frustrates me because its almost as if I know what's going to happen next. There's the introduction, the climax, and the conclusion. Its a pre-ordained script that the characters follow. They're fictitious. But this isn't representative of reality. We don't live life according to some script; or do we?

Unlike the characters in the films I watch, I believe that we are liberated creatures. Our actions define our identity. We can always break out of the script and improvise according to our own free-will. The possibilities are infinite!

So just last night I viewed a movie I'd been anticipating for quite some time. I caught the 9:45 pm showing of the movie, Bright Star. The movie is a romanticist rendition of John Keats' life story. I had only vaguely heard of Keats' poetry before, so I wanted to discover who this poet really was...

Watching the movie made me reminiscent of a the romanticist phase I had endured at one point in my life...well that point still preoccupies me sometimes. I still aspire to become a writer sometime. The movie was a case in point of the little appreciation people give to the creative and literary culture. Some eloquent phrases from the movie that truly struck me were:

-"Poetry needs understanding through the senses."

-"If the poem does not come as natural as the leaves of a tree, then it better not come at all."

Some of these ideas were truly moving... Keats hit the spot for me because I am a great admirer of Romanticist poetry, especially that of Wordsworth and Coleridge since I'd taken them in High School. Nowadays, I mostly indulge in mystical poetry, such as Rumi and Hafiz since they complement my quest for soul searching...

The rest of movie was tailored to those seeking a romantic/love story, which was fine but it was sort of a fantasy fairy tale, which detracted from the authenticity of the Keats' story...

Also, coming up next month is the Virginia Film Festival, which is due to take place in Charlottesville, so I'll definitely be looking forward to that..

What do you know, I've found myself a new Charlottesville tradition...