Winter firsts in Melbourne -- Part 2
by prudence on 09-Aug-2010
We've started to do the theatres this winter.
A few weeks ago we went to the Princess Theatre on Spring Street to see Jersey Boys. An amazing Victorian theatre -- all chateauesque facade, domes, and marble. Minuses are that those plush red seats are damned uncomfortable, and they really need to build MORE WOMEN'S TOILETS!!! But the production was fantastic -- fast-paced, slick, engaging, and full of those evergreen, belt-it-out tunes that you never realized were Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Not usually a great one for musicals, but this was 100% enjoyable.
Yesterday, we went to the Forum Theatre on Flinders Street to see Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall his Past Lives, the last movie of the Melbourne International Film Festival. Another amazing theatre -- a sort of Moorish/Greek combo, with starry-midnight-sky ceiling, crenellations, and a collection of probably incompatible but still vaguely exotic statuary. It reminded me somehow of Hearst Castle. The movie... Well, what can I say? It won the top award at the Cannes Film Festival this year, but frankly we didn't understand it. I've no problem with past lives, mysterious animals, monkey ghosts, or any other ghosts, but we just couldn't really spot where any of them fitted in Khun Boonmee's life. I liked the little reminders of Thailand -- the contrast of the flashing fairy-lights and the solemn chanting in the Buddhist temple, so reminiscent of my nine-temples pilgrimage in 2003; the karaoke arrangement in the diner at the end; the softly green Thai countryside, and the teak houses; the all-too-familiar stereotypes about Laotians and illegal immigrants. But the pace was glacial. One critic talks about it being "hypnotic" -- I think I'd go more for "soporific", as the camera lingers and lingers and lingers on certain scenes. Maybe we're just way too linear, way too impatient... But I think you have to be Thai for this one.
A few weeks ago we went to the Princess Theatre on Spring Street to see Jersey Boys. An amazing Victorian theatre -- all chateauesque facade, domes, and marble. Minuses are that those plush red seats are damned uncomfortable, and they really need to build MORE WOMEN'S TOILETS!!! But the production was fantastic -- fast-paced, slick, engaging, and full of those evergreen, belt-it-out tunes that you never realized were Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Not usually a great one for musicals, but this was 100% enjoyable.
Yesterday, we went to the Forum Theatre on Flinders Street to see Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall his Past Lives, the last movie of the Melbourne International Film Festival. Another amazing theatre -- a sort of Moorish/Greek combo, with starry-midnight-sky ceiling, crenellations, and a collection of probably incompatible but still vaguely exotic statuary. It reminded me somehow of Hearst Castle. The movie... Well, what can I say? It won the top award at the Cannes Film Festival this year, but frankly we didn't understand it. I've no problem with past lives, mysterious animals, monkey ghosts, or any other ghosts, but we just couldn't really spot where any of them fitted in Khun Boonmee's life. I liked the little reminders of Thailand -- the contrast of the flashing fairy-lights and the solemn chanting in the Buddhist temple, so reminiscent of my nine-temples pilgrimage in 2003; the karaoke arrangement in the diner at the end; the softly green Thai countryside, and the teak houses; the all-too-familiar stereotypes about Laotians and illegal immigrants. But the pace was glacial. One critic talks about it being "hypnotic" -- I think I'd go more for "soporific", as the camera lingers and lingers and lingers on certain scenes. Maybe we're just way too linear, way too impatient... But I think you have to be Thai for this one.