As in writing there are planners (who outline an entire project by starting) and ‘panthers’ (who write and see where it takes them), there are equivalents when it comes to creative consumption. I tend to be a planner, to have a stack of books I will read next and movies I plan to watch this weekend. For me, it eliminates the stress of staring at a wall of books (or a Netflix queue of movies). Last weekend though, I went crazy and picked movies at random. Both turned out to be great choices and, interestingly, they were an excellent double feature.
Interestingly, both movies were European. The first was a French movie called Deux (The Two of Us in English). It’s beautiful and heartbreaking, the story of two older women who’ve been in love for years, and are on the verge of going away together. All they have to do is inform the children of one of the characters.
Love between two women, as portrayed in film seems to be mostly be between younger women, either a sexual awakening or as an exploratory effort towards self-discovery. This was quotidian, real life love. The first film of director Filippo Meneghetti, it could easily have become melodramatic, but instead it is quietly moving.
Although I have the equivalent of a bedside stack of movies on my to-be-watched list, I only watch one or two a week, as I prefer reading and, though I know I could do both, I am more impatient with movies than books. My husband is the opposite — an occasional reader. He and I argue (good-naturedly) about it. He claims he can watch ten movies in the time it takes me to read a book, which is true. But I counter by saying that when I love a book (or a movie) I want to live in it for awhile. A movie boots me out after a few hours.
The second movie was an Italian documentary about the 60s supermodel Benedetta who became a radical feminist in the 70s. Her career, and her resistance to being considered a “stupid model,” are interesting but like good documentaries, there are so many layers. Underneath the glamour of the young Benedetta and the incredible poise of Benedetta today, is a son, the film maker, trying to get to know his mother. He follows her everywhere, films her sleeping and getting dressed. He hires models to reenact her iconic Vogue covers and to read from her diary.
She, who says multiple times how much she hates images, how much images lie, yells at him repeatedly but he persists. Clearly, he is obsessed with her and it makes for incredibly intimate, occasionally uncomfortable but completely engrossing movie.
Kate Staples 