Celine and Julie go on too long. '60s playfulness has its limits. The sitting-at-the-end-of-the-row strategy was the right one and I left after a mere couple of hours. Yes, I think I did get the plot, but aren't the French didactic?
In the evening back to Ludlow for We Are Together on DVD in a very small space. It's about a South African home called Agape for kids orphaned by AIDS - a story that needs telling. There was a moment when I was disgruntled by the blown-out highlights. Another when I congratulated myself on recalling what Agape meant (it's unconditional, selfless love - not like Eros) only to have it explained on screen by a 'traditionally built' African lady (not woman, lady). The narrative thread may not have run smooth, and not for postmodernist reasons, but the story was so powerful that it overcame everything. The film-maker stayed firmly behind the camera and let the subjects speak. Never mind the technique, count the wet hankies. Wasn't cinema as experience what they were on about in Cahiers, or was that the senior common room facsimile of experience?
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