Cinephile - Cinephile.mp3

[00:00.48]He loved movies.
[00:01.50]He loved The Big Sleep,
[00:01.95]The Big Chill
[00:02.19]and The Big Easy.
[00:02.88]He loved Al Paccino,
[00:03.30]in the godfather
[00:03.69]and Rita Hayworth,
[00:04.08]in Gilda.
[00:04.29]He loved the Golfmatch,
[00:04.74]in Goldfinger
[00:05.10]and the shock twist,
[00:05.49]in the Crying Game.
[00:05.88]He loved Westerns
[00:06.30]where the morality of the hero was suspect,
[00:07.23]and romances
[00:07.56]where her true love was there in front
[00:08.31]of the bitches from scene one.
[00:08.88]He loved period Drama
[00:09.42]and Samurai Epics
[00:09.87]and political Thrillers
[00:10.44]and Detective Features,
[00:10.98]but most of all
[00:11.31]He loved Movies
[00:11.64]of his wife.
[00:11.88]Our firm always gave him the most
[00:12.57]personal of attention.
[00:13.14]And by the time he died,
[00:13.62]none of his friends were left alive.
[00:14.40]So as junior partner i got to spend a week
[00:15.42]in his Primla Court townhouse,
[00:16.08]sifting though books, suits, furniture
[00:16.83]and sixty-three cans of super 8 film.
[00:17.73]He was known to sit in his study
[00:18.42]into the small hours,
[00:18.84]alone with the flickering screen,
[00:19.50]a glass of wine
[00:19.83]and the quiet chattering of the projector.
[00:20.76]Each reel had a date inscribed in careful black ink.
[00:21.87]I watched them from first to last,
[00:22.56]in that same study,
[00:22.95]where the curtains drawn and a pot
[00:23.64]of darjeeling by my elbow,
[00:24.21]they were all studies,
[00:24.60]portraits if you will.
[00:25.05]In the early sequences she is shy,
[00:25.77]hiding behind doors.
[00:26.25]Raising her hand above the shot,
[00:26.88]her plain gold wedding-band prominent.
[00:27.78]After a spool or two she relaxes
[00:28.50]and begins to play to the camera,
[00:29.22]spinning in the garden,
[00:29.70]swirling a scarf around her head,
[00:30.39]blowing kisses and pointing her stern finger.
[00:31.38]The subsequent reels are the most intimate,
[00:32.31]as she learns to forget she is on film.
[00:33.12]We see her reading at the window,
[00:33.78]nibbling her nails,
[00:34.17]talking on the telephone
[00:34.65]and slowly, dreamily cowing her hair.
[00:35.40]In one feature length sleep sequence,
[00:36.24]she barely moves and eyelid.
[00:36.84]But the cracks begin to show after ten
[00:37.65]or eleven spools,
[00:38.04]where once she was relaxed she is now
[00:38.82]uncomfortable in the frame.
[00:39.45]Her expression,
[00:39.81]her whole body language,
[00:40.32]becomes defensive and strained.
[00:41.04]Still the images continue,
[00:41.70]recording her in the same locations
[00:42.48]around the house,
[00:42.99]the same outfits.
[00:43.32]With a hand on her hip,
[00:43.83]she lectures a point beside the camera.
[00:44.76]She waves at him to stop filming,
[00:45.45]yet the footage continues unyielding
[00:46.26]and the reels stack up.
[00:46.71]Repeatedly shot after shot after shot
[00:47.58]she leaves various rooms.
[00:48.06]Trapped for a few seconds she screams
[00:48.90]in silence taring at her hair
[00:49.56]and eventually she throws things.
[00:50.22]Their marriage lasted eight and a half months
[00:51.15]and for thirty-seven years afterwards
[00:52.20]he sat until late in his study
[00:52.92]feeding the projector and blinking in the half light.
[00:54.06]He loved those movies.He loved movies.
[00:54.87]He loved The Big Sleep,
[00:55.32]The Big Chill
[00:55.56]and The Big Easy.
[00:55.89]He loved Al Paccino,
[00:56.31]in the godfather
[00:56.76]and Rita Hayworth,
[00:57.15]in Gilda.
[00:57.36]He loved the Golfmatch,
[00:57.81]in Goldfinger
[00:58.17]and the shock twist,
[00:58.56]in the Crying Game.
[00:58.95]He loved Westerns
[00:59.37]where the morality of the hero was suspect,
[01:02.58]and romances
[01:03.90]where her true love was there in front
[01:05.94]of the bitches from scene one.
[01:09.48]He loved period Drama
[01:11.16]and Samurai Epics
[01:12.60]and political Thrillers
[01:13.77]and Detective Features,
[01:15.06]but most of all
[01:17.25]He loved Movies
[01:18.75]of his wife.
[01:23.64]Our firm always gave him the most
[01:25.20]personal of attention.
[01:27.42]And by the time he died,
[01:29.28]none of his friends were left alive.
[01:32.52]So as junior partner i got to spend a week
[01:34.80]in his Primla Court townhouse,
[01:36.63]sifting though books, suits, furniture
[01:40.17]and sixty-three cans of super 8 film.
[01:44.40]He was known to sit in his study
[01:45.90]into the small hours,
[01:47.16]alone with the flickering screen,
[01:49.11]a glass of wine
[01:50.34]and the quiet chattering of the projector.
[01:54.45]Each reel had a date inscribed in careful black ink.
[01:59.16]I watched them from first to last,
[02:01.11]in that same study,
[02:02.73]where the curtains drawn and a pot
[02:04.44]of darjeeling by my elbow,
[02:06.87]they were all studies,
[02:09.33]portraits if you will.
[02:13.17]In the early sequences she is shy,
[02:15.51]hiding behind doors.
[02:17.25]Raising her hand above the shot,
[02:19.08]her plain gold wedding-band prominent.
[02:22.71]After a spool or two she relaxes
[02:24.72]and begins to play to the camera,
[02:26.52]spinning in the garden,
[02:27.81]swirling a scarf around her head,
[02:29.64]blowing kisses and pointing her stern finger.
[02:33.93]The subsequent reels are the most intimate,
[02:37.23]as she learns to forget she is on film.
[02:40.29]We see her reading at the window,
[02:42.63]nibbling her nails,
[02:43.83]talking on the telephone
[02:45.24]and slowly, dreamily cowing her hair.
[02:49.38]In one feature length sleep sequence,
[02:52.86]she barely moves and eyelid.
[02:56.19]But the cracks begin to show after ten
[02:58.23]or eleven spools,
[02:59.31]where once she was relaxed she is now
[03:02.19]uncomfortable in the frame.
[03:04.35]Her expression,
[03:05.34]her whole body language,
[03:06.72]becomes defensive and strained.
[03:09.09]Still the images continue,
[03:10.86]recording her in the same locations
[03:12.90]around the house,
[03:13.71]the same outfits.
[03:16.20]With a hand on her hip,
[03:18.06]she lectures a point beside the camera.
[03:21.09]She waves at him to stop filming,
[03:23.52]yet the footage continues unyielding
[03:25.89]and the reels stack up.
[03:28.53]Repeatedly shot after shot after shot
[03:31.89]she leaves various rooms.
[03:34.50]Trapped for a few seconds she screams
[03:37.08]in silence taring at her hair
[03:40.38]and eventually she throws things.
[03:45.03]Their marriage lasted eight and a half months
[03:48.06]and for thirty-seven years afterwards
[03:50.22]he sat until late in his study
[03:52.56]feeding the projector and blinking in the half light.
[04:00.30]He loved those movies.