Le Quattro Volte

To start with, this wasn't a movie we chose. My boss is sick so she asked if we would like to take her tickets; it looked okay in the book (obviously we weren't thinking properly: "nearly every shot contains a revelation") and it meant I could leave work half an hour early. So easily bought.

Le Quattro Volte is about the passing of life. I was acutely aware of the passing of mine. Ebbing. Eeking out of me, as I waited for the old man on the screen to die his inevitable death. I noticed a lot of coughing in the cinema. I tried to see beauty, and feel the significance and insignificance of his life and his death. But I just couldn't care. There was a particularly painful scene when a person tried to pass a barking dog. Some people laughed. Somewhere around this time, Vincent spelled out This Is Shit on my leg.

It was with a sinking heart that I remembered quattro means four.

The next story was not so bad. I like goats. I like seeing gross things, like goats being born. I like watching animals grow, and play. At the end, the baby goat got lost and we didn't see it being found. A kid of about thirteen who was sitting in front of us put his head on his mother's shoulder. First I thought he was tired, and felt for him. Then his sister began to comfort him, and I thought he must be sad about the goat. Now I think he was sad that his family are imbeciles and subjected him to a terrible movie. I hope he lives a long life. I think he's more likely to grow up to be like Lutz.

The third was bad again. It was the story of a tree. I decided to try different ways of watching to see if they improved the film. First I pressed one ear against Vincent's shoulder so I could only hear out of the other. It happened to be during a scene with some kind of outdoor equipment, and reminded me of lying in the grass in summer with a lawn-mower in the distance. Then I tried shutting one eye. It was too tempting to close the other. Finally, I made a little tunnel with my hand and watched through it with one eye. This was very interesting. The hole my hand made was a tiny fraction of the screen, and I had to move it all over to find where the action was.

The fourth story was very exciting while still excruciating, a lot like when the elders used to pray over sick people at church (so close and yet so far). The end was in sight; too close to try to sleep, besides which I wasn't about to let the film rob me of a good night's slumber as well as eighty-eight minutes of my life, plus seating and leaving time. The story was mildly interesting as I had no idea what was being done, and near the conclusion wondered what I had just seen being done to wood was in aid of. Then I wondered what the entire film was in aid of. I began to think of life, and the film, and how Sartre or Camus or someone else said Life Is Absurd. Then I began to think about existentialism, and then the film ended.

We are born. We live. We die. Go eat something bad for you.

Image from cinelogue.com