Films for comfort

It’s been a bit of a strange week. I’m back at work and getting on with the normal routine, but it seems a little surreal, and everything seems just a little bit trivial…

I spent the first few days trying to keep my mind off things (I’m a real ostrich sometimes– just bury my head in the sand and hope that things will go away eventually…). Well, I couldn’t concentrate for long enough to read much, and didn’t have enough energy to do any gardening (which has become my latest hobby), so decided to watch a movie. And somewhat amazed myself when I stood in front of our (extensive) dvd collection by choosing Pride & Prejudice– the 5.5 hour BBC version that I’ve watched twice before. And I sat down and watched all five and half hours of it and enjoyed every minute of it as much as I had the first time. I don’t know why, but it is such a comforting film– the equivalent of banana custard comfort food. Every time I watch it, I get indignant at the snub Darcy gives Lizzie when they meet, cringe at Mrs Bennet’s social faux pas, laugh at the ridiculous Mr. Collins, feel sorry for poor Jane at being cut off from Mr. Bingley, pray that this time Lydia won’t be seduced by the wicked Wickham– and all the while fall slowly in love with Mr Darcy. I’m always left wuth a warm fuzzy feeling by the end.

If you haven’t watched it, I can assure you it’s worth every penny 🙂

Bombon the dog

We watched a lovely Argentine film last night, called Bombon- El perro.

Juan Villegas is an out-of-work mechanic, on the wrong side of 50– a victim of the economic nosedive that took its toll on countless families across Argentina in the early 2000s. When he helps a woman stuck on the roadside fix up her car, she gives him a Dogo Argentino–a large white game hound–called Bombon. Together, man and dog travel around Patagonia, getting work where they can. Things look set to come through for the pair when Villegas meets a dog exhibitor who whisks them off to the local dog show, where Bombon wins first prize and becomes a valuable cash commodity in the form of a stud dog. The irony is that Villegas humiliating and pitiful economic circumstances are mirrored in Bombon who, when it comes time to ‘perform’, fails to deliver.
This film is truly lovely (if a little ‘bumbly’). Villegas is spectacular and inspired a feeling of real warmth and sympathy in me. Bombon is (speaking as a dog lover) beautiful. The backdrop of Patagonian landscape is magical, and the ending is (thankfully, for I kept having the terrible feeling that something awful was going to happen) uplifting.