I don't go to the cinema often.
Actually, that sentence is somewhat of an understatement - I have been to the cinema about twice in the past ten years.
This frequency probably hasn't been helped by living in a couple of countries where we didn't know the language too well, meaning instead of deciding we would like to go and see a film, it was a little more of a mission to find said film in English... Not too hard seeing as most films are in English, granted, so maybe that's just a very bad excuse.
Whilst I like watching films occasionally, the M.E. cannot cope with the smells of popcorn and fast food, the loud sounds, and the brightness of the screen, therefore I find going to the cinema is not the most pleasant experience.
Actually, that sentence is somewhat of an understatement - I have been to the cinema about twice in the past ten years.
This frequency probably hasn't been helped by living in a couple of countries where we didn't know the language too well, meaning instead of deciding we would like to go and see a film, it was a little more of a mission to find said film in English... Not too hard seeing as most films are in English, granted, so maybe that's just a very bad excuse.
Whilst I like watching films occasionally, the M.E. cannot cope with the smells of popcorn and fast food, the loud sounds, and the brightness of the screen, therefore I find going to the cinema is not the most pleasant experience.
The last film T and I saw was when we lived in Munich four years ago. The film, 'Inglorious Basterds,' was set in Nazi-occupied France and told the tale of a team of Jewish American soldiers trying to assassinate Nazi leaders. Although we saw it in an English cinema, there were still many Germans watching the film, and jokes we found funny didm't provoke any laughter from the rest of the audience, and vice versa, so it wasn't really the most relaxing experience...
I can't remember the film before that, but I can safely say it was watched in England, and the chances of it being an American film are pretty high.
The other day a friend suggested going to one of the English cinemas out here. One of them offers half price tickets all day on a Tuesday and, as it was minus figures outside thanks to the very bitter wind, it seemed like the ideal time to go.
The film we saw, 'About Time,' is a British romantic comedy with a motto to live each day and appreciate every single aspect for what it is. I like that sentiment - it is something I try to live by (although I fail probably four to five times a week...). It did also include a tad of time travel - but this was thankfully in a background type of way!
What struck me about the whole thing, and partly why I am writing this (even though the actual event of going to the cinema is so uncommon I feel the need to write about it), is that during our first few months of living in Montreal, certain sounds and scenes were, to us, straight out of the movies*. The police cars and fire engine - both in appearance as well as the noise of their sirens, most cars being automatic, the wide streets, the appearance of the sidewalks (pavements), those vans which are always used as 'baddie' vans - every time I see one, I wonder what trouble the owner is getting into...
Here we were, sat in the cinema in North America and watching a movie filmed in England.
Not only were some parts of the Cornish coast recognisable (having spent a reasonable amount of time down there due to T surfing...), their were other English traditions, stereotypes, and concepts: the chain of sandwich/fresh food stores I used to love (nowadays I only get to sample it at UK airports), the cups of tea, English beaches, red brick houses, the beautiful white Georgian terraced houses in London, and not forgetting the the rain as well as the simply delightful English accent.
We stepped out after nearly two hours transported back to England, into the big North American city, snow flakes falling, the diminishing light playing perfect host to Christmas lights as we walked along the sidewalk in the direction of home.
Our North American home.
Our North American home.
*But then Montreal is a film set. Hundreds of films have been shot in the city including: Catch Me If You Can, Life of Pi, Batman and Robin, The Notebook, The Whole Nine Yards, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and due out next year X-man: Days of Future Past. Those were a few I recognised! Apparently the labour costs for shooting exterior shots in Canada v California are much cheaper, as well as the Canadian government offering a generous tax credit incentive to producers.