Quite out of the blue and unanticipatedly I could finally see yesterday a movie I had long been wanting to see, Bagdad Café, by German director Percy Adlon. (Much to my surprise the DVD was waiting to be picked up at one corner of a shelf at my parents'. It came as a gift with a newspaper.) I absolutely loved every aspect of it, as did M., the plot (surreal yet true, unpretentious yet deep), the characters (off the wall yet conventional, i.e. genuine), the stage (a mundane no-man's-land café turning extraordinary), and, last but not at all least, the emotional song Calling you, running intermittently in the background, masterly glueing the whole plot together. A wonderful work of art.
Lucky you to have reserved it, although not on purpose, until now, and watch it freshly.
ReplyDeleteI remember I saw it when, as a young man, going to the cinema was still something exciting. In fact, Julia and I did the long way from Castelló to Valencia, at night, almost in secrecy, just to see it. What was the name of that theater, one below a bridge, in rather scary surroundings, Albatros?
And yes, the song, what a song!
It was actually my father who reserved it. He's got a pile with tons of DVDs from newspapers which he never even gets to unwrap. And a good many decent ones! My main source of movie watching nowadays ... :)
ReplyDeleteThe theater is called Albatros yes, still proudly standing against the internet, malls, and blockbuster productions. By far my preferred choice of movie theater in Valencia, together with its partner Babel.
Your memory deceives you a bit though: the surroundings are not that scary (the streets may be a bit darkish, granted) but the bridge has definitely never existed. There was a kind of bridge (no longer existing) at the motorway right at the entrance of the city, which was not all too far from the movie theater. But the venue itself has never certinly been under a bridge ... :)
Ditto for my father! Does retirement push you to frantic newspapers' paraphernalia maniacal collectionism? :-)
ReplyDeleteRegarding the bridge, I celebrate it's gone for the best ;-)
(I'm gladly surprised the theater is still working).
LOL, on the brink of ROTFL, actually :)
ReplyDeleteOh I love that movie too, I haven't seen it in such a long time... and that song is just so hauntingly beautiful isn't it!
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