|
He loved movies. |
|
He loved The Big Sleep, |
|
The Big Chill |
|
and The Big Easy. |
|
He loved Al Paccino, |
|
in the godfather |
|
and Rita Hayworth, |
|
in Gilda. |
|
He loved the Golfmatch, |
|
in Goldfinger |
|
and the shock twist, |
|
in the Crying Game. |
|
He loved Westerns |
|
where the morality of the hero was suspect, |
|
and romances |
|
where her true love was there in front |
|
of the heroine from scene one. |
|
He loved period Drama |
|
and Samurai Epics |
|
and political Thrillers |
|
and Detective Features, |
|
but most of all |
|
He loved Movies |
|
of his wife. |
|
Our firm always gave him the most |
|
personal of attention. |
|
And by the time he died, |
|
none of his friends were left alive. |
|
So as junior partner i got to spend a week |
|
in his Primla Court townhouse, |
|
sifting though books, suits, furniture |
|
and sixty-three cans of super 8 film. |
|
He was known to sit in his study |
|
into the small hours, |
|
alone with the flickering screen, |
|
a glass of wine |
|
and the quiet chattering of the projector. |
|
Each reel had a date inscribed in careful black ink. |
|
I watched them from first to last, |
|
in that same study, |
|
where the curtains drawn and a pot |
|
of darjeeling by my elbow, |
|
they were all studies, |
|
portraits if you will. |
|
In the early sequences she is shy, |
|
hiding behind doors. |
|
Raising her hand above the shot, |
|
her plain gold wedding-band prominent. |
|
After a spool or two she relaxes |
|
and begins to play to the camera, |
|
spinning in the garden, |
|
swirling a scarf around her head, |
|
blowing kisses and pointing her stern finger. |
|
The subsequent reels are the most intimate, |
|
as she learns to forget she is on film. |
|
We see her reading at the window, |
|
nibbling her nails, |
|
talking on the telephone |
|
and slowly, dreamily cowing her hair. |
|
In one feature length sleep sequence, |
|
she barely moves and eyelid. |
|
But the cracks begin to show after ten |
|
or eleven spools, |
|
where once she was relaxed she is now |
|
uncomfortable in the frame. |
|
Her expression, |
|
her whole body language, |
|
becomes defensive and strained. |
|
Still the images continue, |
|
recording her in the same locations |
|
around the house, |
|
the same outfits. |
|
With a hand on her hip, |
|
she lectures a point beside the camera. |
|
She waves at him to stop filming, |
|
yet the footage continues unyielding |
|
and the reels stack up. |
|
Repeatedly shot after shot after shot |
|
she leaves various rooms. |
|
Trapped for a few seconds she screams |
|
in silence taring at her hair |
|
and eventually she throws things. |
|
Their marriage lasted eight and a half months |
|
and for thirty-seven years afterwards |
|
he sat until late in his study |
|
feeding the projector and blinking in the half light. |
|
He loved those movies.He loved movies. |
|
He loved The Big Sleep, |
|
The Big Chill |
|
and The Big Easy. |
|
He loved Al Paccino, |
|
in the godfather |
|
and Rita Hayworth, |
|
in Gilda. |
|
He loved the Golfmatch, |
|
in Goldfinger |
|
and the shock twist, |
|
in the Crying Game. |
|
He loved Westerns |
|
where the morality of the hero was suspect, |
|
and romances |
|
where her true love was there in front |
|
of the heroine from scene one. |
|
He loved period Drama |
|
and Samurai Epics |
|
and political Thrillers |
|
and Detective Features, |
|
but most of all |
|
He loved Movies |
|
of his wife. |
|
Our firm always gave him the most |
|
personal of attention. |
|
And by the time he died, |
|
none of his friends were left alive. |
|
So as junior partner i got to spend a week |
|
in his Primla Court townhouse, |
|
sifting though books, suits, furniture |
|
and sixty-three cans of super 8 film. |
|
He was known to sit in his study |
|
into the small hours, |
|
alone with the flickering screen, |
|
a glass of wine |
|
and the quiet chattering of the projector. |
|
Each reel had a date inscribed in careful black ink. |
|
I watched them from first to last, |
|
in that same study, |
|
where the curtains drawn and a pot |
|
of darjeeling by my elbow, |
|
they were all studies, |
|
portraits if you will. |
|
In the early sequences she is shy, |
|
hiding behind doors. |
|
Raising her hand above the shot, |
|
her plain gold wedding-band prominent. |
|
After a spool or two she relaxes |
|
and begins to play to the camera, |
|
spinning in the garden, |
|
swirling a scarf around her head, |
|
blowing kisses and pointing her stern finger. |
|
The subsequent reels are the most intimate, |
|
as she learns to forget she is on film. |
|
We see her reading at the window, |
|
nibbling her nails, |
|
talking on the telephone |
|
and slowly, dreamily cowing her hair. |
|
In one feature length sleep sequence, |
|
she barely moves and eyelid. |
|
But the cracks begin to show after ten |
|
or eleven spools, |
|
where once she was relaxed she is now |
|
uncomfortable in the frame. |
|
Her expression, |
|
her whole body language, |
|
becomes defensive and strained. |
|
Still the images continue, |
|
recording her in the same locations |
|
around the house, |
|
the same outfits. |
|
With a hand on her hip, |
|
she lectures a point beside the camera. |
|
She waves at him to stop filming, |
|
yet the footage continues unyielding |
|
and the reels stack up. |
|
Repeatedly shot after shot after shot |
|
she leaves various rooms. |
|
Trapped for a few seconds she screams |
|
in silence taring at her hair |
|
and eventually she throws things. |
|
Their marriage lasted eight and a half months |
|
and for thirty-seven years afterwards |
|
he sat until late in his study |
|
feeding the projector and blinking in the half light. |
|
He loved those movies. |