The White Countess

Let's put the Ralph bashing aside for a few minutes. Last night I saw The White Countess starring Ralph Fiennes among others. When I first heard about this movie, I thought that it involved a heroin episode but it doesn't. The closest thing to taking drugs in this film was alcohol. It was the opening night for wide release of this film, and I figured that since I had a steady job again I could at least fork out some dosh for a movie. I've made an art form out of the moviegoing experience. I don't mean the movie itself, that's usually art already but I mean the going to the movie. Precision moviegoing has its pros and its cons, the biggest variable being the queue, but a seasoned precision moviegoer will make allowances for that. I was one of the last people into the theatre, and therefore relegated to sitting in the third row which was completely empty until I sat in it. Nobody sat in the first two rows. It was nearly impossible to see the entire screen without craning my neck to a 150 degree angle, unless I slouched right down in the seat and cocked my head to the side and watched the movie on the bias, sort of sideways sort of not. That worked except for trying to drink the steaming hot coffee that the cinema absurdly sells. Since when do hot liquids and dark vaults mix?

Since I arrived late, I missed most of the previews but I did catch one or two but I can't remember what they were. Precision moviegoing also requires that viewers have a contingency plan, in case the tickets for the film they want to see are sold out. I had Mrs. Henderson Presents as my backup, Casanova as my backup backup and Rumour Has It running a distant fourth. I want to watch the first two with Ayako so it looked like Rumour Has It was a dark horse, but luckily I could still get a ticket for The White Countess.

This is the first Ivory Merchant film I've seen since the death of Ismail Merchant, and I could almost say that its the first Ivory Merchant film I've ever seen except for Maurice which my dad rented after I told him it was a "period piece" even though I told him a lot more, that was all he heard. Needless to say, it was an awkward evening. And then of course, I saw Pather Panchali which Ivory Merchant distributed in the restored version. I thought I was in for a treat after discovering the Ivory Merchant connection, but then my ears were assaulted by a ringtone. Some people are so rude. In fact, though I didn't see it, this particular cinema reminds people to turn off their cell phones. Halfway through Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, the woman answered her phone. A sidelong glance from me and a "Fuuuuuuuuck" under my breath prompted her to take the call outside.

That ugliness over, the film opens with a man and a woman dancing in a ballroom. Nice. As I said, the film stars Ralph Fiennes, who's had a banner year in 2005, and a cast stocked with other stars such as Natasha Richardson whom I first saw in The Handmaid's Tale, but also Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave, Allan Corduner, Lee Pace and last but hardly least Hiroyuki Sanada. Ayako told me that Sanada is a very famous actor from The Last Samurai, a film I doubtless missed due to the appearance of Tom Cruise therein. The film takes place in 1930s Shanghai during the time that Japan was occupying northern China, Communists are beginning to show their numbers and Russian imperialists find refuge in exile. I like pieces set in the 1930s. That's why I like David Suchet's portrayal of Hercule Poirot, and the memorable miniseries Tanamera - Lion of Singapore, a story actually set in the late 30s and early 40s. Eeeeeee! I must try to find it on DVD.

The movie is about an American diplomat who has lost his sight and somehow, we don't really know, ends up in Shanghai. He is growing tired of business and wants to go on his own, opening the perfect club. He places a bet on a horse and make enough dosh to open a club "The White Countess" as he imagines it in his mind. Natasha Richardson, a Russian aristocrat making her living as a private dancer is hired by Fiennes' character - Todd Jackson to be the club hostess. Sanada plays Matsuda, a Japanese expansionist who for some reason admires the idea of a perfect club, and helps Jackson add the missing element: political intrigue. The club hosts acts like Russian harlequins and singers as well as Chinese acts, quite a nice place I imagine. The whole movie plays on the dichotomy between what is happening in the real world against what happens in the worlds of imagination. Jackson doesn't give a fling about the fact that Japanese troops are steadily closing in on Shanghai. The Russian Countess' family is trying to flee to Hong Kong, and eventually ditches her in Shanghai after they don't need her. Matsuda comes to the club, now empty except for a few alcoholics, to encourage Jackson that he must now abandon his perfect little world and find the Countess, his one last chance at happiness. Jackson stumbles through the chaos to the harbour where the Russian tailor, the Countess' landlord finds him and leads him to her and her daughter. They all leave Shanghai on a boat to Macao.

That brief description illustrates the tight schedule I was under last night. I had planned to see Ayako at work and have coffee, but as usual that plan went to shit. I went down to the shop, and Ayako told me she was going to skip her break and skive off early. I didn't want to occupy her time anymore after 4 straight days, but then there was an unfortunate incident with Alphonse. While I was in the shop skipping dinner opting for dessert instead, Alphonse walked in. Always one to make a scene, he went up one side of me and down the other, totally dressing me down so that the whole store could hear, but only maybe three people could understand. I returned his French insults, only making him more angry which made his boyfriend get up in my face. No. This was too much. The boyfriend was a total stranger and wasn't really defending Alphonse as he was baiting me. So what was I supposed to do? Any sort of response would bring a "gay bashing" accusation, and there was no way I would walk out alive in that neighbourhood, so I didn't say anything. I let security bounce them.

Soon after, Ayako joined me at the table and we talked. She had wanted to leave the shop early, but after spending time to talk to me and laugh herself silly, she ending up staying later than if she had worked to the end of her shift. We walked around town looking for a sake bar I thought I knew. I was wasting her early night shlepping around downtown looking for a suitable bar. It turns out that we probably walked past it like twice, and that after figuring out the name Ayako said that she had been there twice before. It was too late now, and we both wanted to get home. I mentioned to Ayako that I write about her on my blog. She said that is okay as long as I don't use her real name. So from now on, She will be known as Alison. We walked to her place and that was that. I don't get it sometimes. Half the time we were together, she kept touching my bum which isn't as peachy as it used to be (she told me so), but I couldn't even get a kiss at the door. What's up with that?