Cinephile - Cinephile.mp3

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[00:35.592]He loved movies
[00:38.675]He loved The Big Sleep,
[00:40.138]The Big Chill and The Big Easy
[00:43.821]He loved Al Pacino in the Godfather
[00:46.041]And Rita Hayworth in Gilda
[00:49.777]He loved the golf match in Goldfinger
[00:52.337]And the sharp twist in the Crying Game
[00:58.162]He loved westerns where
[00:59.729]The morality of the hero was suspect
[01:02.681]And romances where her true love
[01:05.398]Was there in front of the heroine from scene one
[01:09.682]He loved period drama
[01:11.276]And samurai epics
[01:12.529]And political thrillers
[01:13.809]And detective features
[01:15.194]But most of all
[01:17.440]He loved movies of his wife
[01:23.684]Our firm always gave him the most
[01:25.356]Personal of attention
[01:27.550]And by the time he died
[01:29.300]None of his friends were left alive
[01:32.670]So as junior partner I got to spend a week
[01:34.969]In his Primlico townhouse
[01:36.797]Sifting though books, suits, furniture
[01:40.376]And sixty-three cans of super 8 film
[01:44.634]He was known to sit in his study
[01:46.097]Into the small hours
[01:47.298]Alone with the flickering screen
[01:49.362]A glass of wine and the quiet
[01:51.452]Chattering of the projector
[01:54.665]Each reel had a date inscribed in careful black ink
[01:59.341]I watched them from first to last
[02:01.352]In that same study where
[02:03.155]The curtains drawn and a pot
[02:04.356]of Darjeeling by my elbow
[02:07.099]They were all studies
[02:09.450]Portraits if you will
[02:13.238]In the early sequences she is shy
[02:15.589]Hiding behind doors
[02:17.313]Raising her hand above the shot
[02:19.116]Her plain gold wedding-band prominent
[02:22.877]After a spool or two she relaxes
[02:24.862]And begins to play to the camera
[02:26.587]Spinning in the garden
[02:27.840]Swirling a scarf around her head
[02:29.643]Blowing kisses and pointing a stern finger
[02:34.240]The subsequent reels are the most intimate
[02:37.349]As she learns to forget she is on film
[02:40.536]We see her reading at the window
[02:42.782]Nibbling her nails, talking on the telephone
[02:45.212]And slowly, dreamily combing her hair
[02:49.522]In one feature length sleep sequence
[02:53.049]She barely moves and eyelid
[02:56.366]But the cracks begin to show after ten
[02:58.560]or eleven spools
[03:00.520]Where once she was relaxed
[03:01.747]She is now uncomfortable in the frame
[03:04.516]Her expression, her whole body language
[03:06.737]Becomes defensive and strained
[03:09.323]Still the images continue recording
[03:11.465]Her in the same locations
[03:13.032]Around the house, the same outfits
[03:16.402]With a hand on her hip
[03:18.466]She lectures a point beside the camera
[03:21.261]She waves at him to stop filming
[03:23.638]Yet the footage continues unyielding
[03:25.989]And the reels stack up
[03:28.732]Repeatedly shot after shot after shot
[03:32.102]She leaves various rooms
[03:34.688]Trapped for a few seconds she screams
[03:37.222]In silence, tearing at her hair
[03:40.461]And eventually she throws things
[03:45.320]Their marriage lasted eight and a half months
[03:48.428]And for thirty-seven years afterwards
[03:50.387]He sat until late in his study
[03:52.712]Feeding the projector and blinking in the half-light
[04:00.497]He loved those movies