IAC DISCUSSION FORUMS

Willy’s back! Hoorah! A strange sort of week this has been. Last Sunday, we were in the UK, Market Harborough in fact at the CEMRAIC autumn festival. The clubs in the region were sporting enough to invite Dave and Jan Watterson to judge their array of films.

The films were reflected upon directly after being screened by an animated Dave and spouse, [she was the sensible one]. To demonstrate a point about one film, Mr Watterson lay horizontal on the stage in the Harborough theatre, whilst Jan took her turn delivering the critique.

Where’s Willy? I asked Dave over the lunch prepared by the volunteers of this super little theatre.

We were lucky during our stay to see the warm autumn sun and the colours of the Warwickshire countryside. The week passed quickly and soon I paying homage to Sir John Betjeman at le gare de st Pancras waiting for our Eurostar to Lille or Rijsel as perhaps Willy say. By coincidence the winning film at the autumn festival was titled ‘My Favourite Shed’ being St Pancras station.

Clint Eastwood is in town! He is attending the Lyon Film Festival. This Sunday for a taste of nostalgia, we went to a main cinema to see a film which was part of the Lyon 2009 Lumiere festival. Sometimes I am even more surprised; the centre block of the number one screen was almost full. I say this because the film being shown was the 1954 musical ‘BRIGADOON’. It has been re-mastered by Pathe together with another tranche of classic films.

It was projected in wonderful cinemascope and we sat in a row where the screen and the music engulfed us. I am not sure whether the French understood the ‘Oche Ayes’ etc but they were very warm and responsive to the soft humour and style of the film. A times there was a hint of applause!

So this was a much needed interlude. We caught our Eurostar at St Pancras but the train was involved in a tragic incident as it approached a platform in the Lille.

As a result of this, we were held in the train for three hours, missed our connection and were allocated a four star hotel by Eurostar in Lille for the night. We benefited next morning by walking over the Corbusier Bridge and snatched a quick look at the citie of Rijsel. It deserves a longer visit sometime.

The week sort of started and ended with our interest and escape of film. The reality of what happened on the journey back is too ‘real’ to contemplate for long.

When we were sitting and waiting for the lights to dim and the film BRIGADOON to commence there seemed to be the usual delay. This is customary in Lyon; Lyon time is usually fifteen minutes later. ‘Perhaps Clint Eastwood is going to sneak in’ I whispered to my spouse. We were disappointed. Still, Willy is back and that can’t be bad!

PW

[If anyone is interested in have a retro look of what was screened in the Lyon Lumiere Festival, their site is http://www.lumiere2009.org.fr ]

Yes, I would call it Rijsel, Paddy. I visited it when it was called the Cultural City of Europe. I remember the birthplace of Général de Gaulle, a fascinating museum and the market square with magic illulminations, but also the many graffiti.

In fact that trip to Lille reminds me of my friend Dirk. He organised it together with his partner. He often made trips to England, Scotland and Ireland with me. He always teased me with his daily messages on my mobile phone. Alas, they stopped on 4th January this year. Two days later Dirk passed away. He was 51. He was suddenly attacked by the flesh-eating bacterium. Very mysterious. An interview with his partner Josiane appeared in the newspaper. His last messages are still in my mobile phone and also in my computer. I cannot delete them. The last few months quite a lot of unpleasant things happened to me and some clubmates, but of course this is not the forum to explain everything. It's better to talk about funny things.
Anyway that's also one of the reasons why I didn't have a mind to write messages. However, I didn't stop making films.

A trip by train seems to be very safe, Paddy. Our friends know that I am afraid of flying. In July I made a trip to Guernsey. The Atlantic was very unkind at that moment. It was awful. That's why I was a bit nervous when going back to Guernsey by ferry some weeks ago. This time the ocean was as flat as a billiard table. That's a Dutch expression. My wife and I were very relaxed. In Guernsey our Kentish friends who came by air told me that there was smoke in the airplane. It caused quite a lot of problems. Ron said to his friends : "Do not tell, Willy, because he is afraid of flying !". But yes, they forgot and they told me. I think that Mike Shaw was one of the passengers.

Maybe I have already told you that I will spend New Year's Eve in Rye, a fabulous little town in East Sussex and we will be back in France on 1st January 2010. We will spend one night in Sangatte near Calais which is not so far from Lille.