In
the Movies
Sari
and I were going to see a movie with a colleague of mine. My colleague
had chosen the movie with his wife, who joined us. I didn't know anything
about the film, except that it was an American comedy targeted for
teenagers.
We
met in the lobby. My colleague had already bought two tickets, but
Sari and I didn't have seats yet. As we queued for the tickets, our
friends went inside. We followed soon but didn't manage to get seats
in the same row.
The
seats were arranged as in any other movie theatre, except that there
were tables and chairs in the middle of the audience as if we were
in an American bar. The screen was not in the front but at both sides
of the theatre. People fetched drinks and popcorn from the counter
and got seated.
The
audience consisted of teenagers and young adults. I tried to locate
my friends, but I didn't see them in the rows next to us.
The
lights dimmed and the movie started.
A
black farmer stands in a vinyard. He opens the lid of a barrel, and
a twine appears. The leaves of the twine are green but the shape is
unusual. The plant looks like a series of ant hills tied together
with a rope. The farmer grabs the plant and puts it back to the barrel,
having made sure that the twine is in a good condition.
Another
man appears and asks why the farmer keeps the plant in the barrel.
The farmer answers that the twine grows best there. "In the barrel
the berries get squeezed so that you get ready-made cider which can
be drunk without any further processing." "Cool," the
man says, "Can I have a taste of that home-grown cider?"
The farmer answers that he doesn't want to waste the precious berries.
Instead, he offers him a bottle which looks like Budweiser. "This
is genuine stuff," he says, "without any artificial substances."
The man takes a sip and clearly likes the cider. But as he looks into
the etiquette he sees the entry:
Made
out of apple extract. Contains: acidity regulator E245, stabilizer
E247, flavour enhancers E231 and E234.
"This
isn't any genuine stuff!" the man shouts. He accuses the farmer
of cheating and adds, "And you don't make cider out of berries.
Cider is made out of apples and pears."
The
audience laughed at this point of the movie. In my opinion, too, the
beginning of the movie had been interesting. But the plot soon moved
to a more conventional direction.
The
man is still angry at the farmer. Nevertheless he buys two bottles
and walks to a road, where he jumps into a big Cadillac full of young
people heading to a party in a mansion nearby. The teenagers ask the
man to join the party. The man is excited and displays a tape full
of ecstacy disco. He says this will suit well to the party. Everyone
is happy and chats cheerfully.
The
young people park the car in front of the mansion and step inside.
There are a lot of people but the atmosphere is formal and stiff.
It is only when the man puts the cassette on that the party gets started.
The music is catchy and hypnotic, and people start to dance. Particularly
the man is excited. He dances eagerly doing all kinds of movements
with his hands and feet as he wears a chicken mask, jester's hat,
monster face, penguin beak. The outfit changes rhythmically to the
beat. Everyone marvels at this performance, which reflects the transcendental
atmosphere of the ecstacy disco.
There
are white and black revellers in the party. Also the pop icon Madonna
is there, although she has gained weight so much that she cannot be
considered very attractive. This is purposeful, however, since Madonna
is only one of the party people, not the star of the film.
Sari
and I watched the movie with increasing boredom. After a great start
there hadn't been too much depth to the story, only flat lines and
superficial feel-good atmosphere. We yawned and glanced at our watches,
as the other spectators clearly enjoyed the movie. Judging from the
happy faces and frequent laughs, I understood that this was exactly
the kind of movie people wanted to see.
Looking
around I still couldn't find my colleague nor his wife. I noticed,
however, that the theatre had many floors. Perhaps my friends were
in the balcony, where the rich people sipped cocktails. Dressed in
tuxedos and evening gowns, they clearly enjoyed the movie just as
much as the common people downstairs. But I didn't seem my friends
there.
The
movie didn't improve, so I rose from my seat in order to find some
snacks. Just about to reach the aisle, I had to stop as the side doors
opened and a number of young ladies rushed in. Hired to assist in
the performance, they took positions at both sides of the hall and
asked the audience to take part in the atmosphere of the movie. Dressed
like the movie characters they swang their arms encouraging the audience
to do the same. One assistant held a rope, which could be used for
swinging from one side to the other. I was asked to jump in, as I
was already standing. Why not, I thought, mayde this might cheer me
up. So I jumped into the rope and let the assistant slide me across
the big screen to the other side of the hall.
In
the movie the day has turned into evening, and the characters are
getting romantic. The music is soft and the characters are talking
to each other, getting increasingly open and personal.
At
the same time I'm swinging across the screen serving grapes and other
fruit to people at each side of the hall. I'm also mediating between
various groups of characters who have got stuck in their conversations
at different parts of the canvas.
The
choreography accomplished by me and the assistants complements the
atmosphere of the movie, which for a long time has been on the verge
of turning dull. Still the audience is enjoying the movie, which is
now almost nearing its end. The party is over but the characters have
found each other in this great mansion of rich people.
As
the credits were shown, people moved out of the theatre. Now that
the space was lit, I could see that the theatre was located in a grand
building. The palace was decorated to fit the atmosphere of the movie.
A lot of money had been spent to make the interior match the film
scenes.
Stepping
out of the building I felt as if I was moving out of the film itself.
I understood that this was a big advertising campaign aimed at creating
a big buzz around the movie. (The purpose was also to make the movie
seem better than it actually was.) No doubt the campaign was successful,
as people came to the street looking like they had taken part in an
event larger than life.
We
were disappointed to the movie, although Sari thought it was great
to be among the crowd celebrating the event; after the performance,
people gathered on the street, without going home, wanting to keep
up the atmosphere of the movie by having a spontaneous street party.
I still couldn't understand how people could like the movie. It was
at best hardly mediocre.
We
decided to go home. As we walked to the railway station, I tried to
look around but I still couldn't find my friends.
