One benefit of having time on my hands is that I have time to wander on the weekends. It’s how I accidentally got a ticket to a sold-out screening of I’m Not There at the London Film Festival. I was walking through Leicester Square last Saturday evening and saw some people standing behind a barrier in front of one of the Odeon theatres. I thought, what the heck, I’ll see what’s happening. I quickly learned that Christian Bale was going to be walking down the red carpet in front of the theatre since he is a star of the film. Again, I thought what the heck, I want to see Batman so I kept standing there. Soon a man came up to me and asked me if I was waiting for a return ticket. I asked him what he meant and he said that for the film festival screenings, so many tickets are allotted to the press. But if the press has already seen a film, they will turn their tickets back in and these tickets will be sold at the door. I thought, what the heck, yes I’ll wait in line to see if I can get a ticket and I did. It was funny, when Christian Bale turned up (looking sloppy but handsome), the crowd behind the barrier got totally nuts, pushing, taking pictures, and trying to get closer. I heard several in the crowd say things like, “Who is he again?” It just goes to show that people can get caught up in the moment and not even know why.
The director, Todd Haynes, and another star, Ben Whishaw introduced the film with Christian Bale. They also came on stage after the screening for a Q&A. Interestingly enough, it was obvious that they had not sat through the screening because when it was time for the Q&A, the moderator said that the director and others were having traffic issues getting back to the theatre. I was able to stick around for the why did you make this film question, which I was curious to know, but needed to get out early to catch my train.
As for the film, if you need a linear story line, this is not the film for you. I enjoyed it because it was very different, but I don’t know if I would watch it again. The most amazing person in the film is Cate Blanchett, playing a man, a persona based on Bob Dylan.
The director, Todd Haynes, and another star, Ben Whishaw introduced the film with Christian Bale. They also came on stage after the screening for a Q&A. Interestingly enough, it was obvious that they had not sat through the screening because when it was time for the Q&A, the moderator said that the director and others were having traffic issues getting back to the theatre. I was able to stick around for the why did you make this film question, which I was curious to know, but needed to get out early to catch my train.
As for the film, if you need a linear story line, this is not the film for you. I enjoyed it because it was very different, but I don’t know if I would watch it again. The most amazing person in the film is Cate Blanchett, playing a man, a persona based on Bob Dylan.
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