Little London stories (part 2 of 5) - BFI's 'The Big Thrill'

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----------------------------------------------------Here I am at BFI, which I believe stands for British Film Institute. I'm on my second coke and rum with lime and am too knackered to look up the "I". The lighting is dim and low here in the bar, just as one would expect between suspenseful seminars on film.

I've enjoyed two so far. The first was"Trust No One: Conspiracy and Paranoia in the Age of Fake News", which was moderated by BBC presenter Samira Ahmed who introduced two journalists who gave their analyses of why one shouldn't trust anyone they meet in film. No that's not right. Shouldn't trust some people in film or some journalists? (I know they laughed about how journalists used to be the sign of who to trust in films but no more!) The movies in the first seminar did not include anything I have seen, I am embarrassed to say, but now very much want to see ("Coma" and especially "The Parallax View (1974), whose scenes on the Space Needle in Seattle had me running for the first rum and coke of the day.)

Tim Robey, a critic for the Telegraph, especially delighted me with what he had to say, perhaps because he called "Coma" trashy, or the British version of that word. He said the films of Alan J. Pakula are of particular note, from "Klute" to "All the President's Men". Journalist Joan Smith remarked that while it's Jane Fonda's character one remembers from the film, it's not named after her. The seminar also provided glimpes of other thrillers, with "Enemy of the State" starring Will Smith particularly tickling my afternoon delight. Kudos for the person who mentioned the dog in the film did a terrific acting job. Recently moving from DC, I could just see myself ending up with something in my backpack and getting in big trouble.

I spoke briefly to Robey afterward and told him that Trump makes a big deal of fake news, yet was keen to sit in a truck for my old company, who happen to be lobbyists for the trucking industry and who publish a trucking magazine. Fake news? No, but if Trump's point is that media must me squeaky clean, perhaps he too must be more transparent with his goings on ('i.e. I am sitting in a truck because this industry supports my presidency!' Ca-ching.)

I next attended a module on philosophy and film, which I had my doubts about until it started with Hitchock's "The Birds". By the way, I was momentarily a little sad we ever found out that cigarettes kill. The scene with Tippi Hedren* puffing as the crows multiplied behind her on those monkey bars was hot - that is until the children and she were sent shrieking out of the schoolhouse. Another film, "Fish Tank" by Andrea Arnold, was touted by panelist Lucy Bolton, and was the only one I had not heard of. Bolton claimed, "It rivals anything Hitchcock did."

Because I wasn't on official journalist's duty today, my notes are piecemeal, so take what you will. Quotes were from one of three panelists including the aforementioned Bolton as well as lecturer and author Catherine Wheatley and Kingston Univ. film prof John Ó Maoilearca. (Apologies to all for not being able to read my notes well; they were scribbled on the back of the maroon playbill handed out at BFI!):

-- "Jaws" has three barrels and the color yellow is a device Spielberg likely employed in a Pavlovian way to set up our emotions in a suspenseful way.

--Objects and everydayness are powerful devices in suspense films. Lingering shots on a single item can be chilling. The barrels in Jaws are binary - at once representing the presence of the shark and the absence of him.

--Suspense is time - there are no wasted moments in film.

--Suspense is knowledge. Think of the film "North by Northwest". A lot has to do with what we think will happen.

It's fun at the BFI. I bought several postcards - Elizabeth Taylor, Hitchcock, a couple others. My first rum and coke cost 5.50 GBP, the second was going to cost over a pound more. "Why?" I asked. "Because you wanted the whole Coke." Well, that's just sad, because I'd seen the rest of it in the bottle and asked if I could "just have it."

"No thanks, I don't need the extra Coke."

It's been a fun day. I forgive the young lady who barked at me for bringing my cheesy fries to the end of a seminar (I shall not name). I am sure she is right, but five fries eaten quietly does not ruin the theater experience. I mean, it wasn't popcorn. BFI has many cool programs year-round and offers a sociable bar, free video library, restaurant, and decent demi-gift shop.

*An earlier version of this blog said Kim Novak. Sorry--birdbrained!