Tis the season

... for season openings. Continuing the furniture theme, this evening we went to the presentation of the season at the Chai in Capendu. A similar format to the one in Ferrals that we went to a week ago: video extracts, a buffet, and then a show. We missed the show because we had to hasten off to our second rendezvous of the evening, the first Cine Club evening, which was a monster session of three films, starting at eight and finishing at 2 a.m. But we did have time to sample the buffet and chat to quite a few people, including some English people who live in a nearby village but whom we had never met, and some choir members to whom I was able to spread the good news that we are ready to launch. I was trying to be a bit arty with this photo, but the camera was too clever and did its best not to blur it, so some fartnarkling has been applied.

We missed the first of the three films too, but were in time for a glass of fizz and some nibbles before the second one, Carmina. It's about a woman whose husband dies suddenly, who decides to conceal the death for a couple of days in order to ensure she collects his month's pension. In fact, the body is a rather incidental presence; the film is basically a series of vignettes about Carmina's relationships with her family and neighbours. Typical Spanish black humour. It's very much a family affair since Carmina is played by the director's mother, her son and daughter by his brother and sister, her granddaughter by his niece, all using their own names ... you get the picture. It wasn't a masterpiece, but it was entertaining, with some unusual quirks, and Almodovar-like in places -- for example choosing a soundtrack of a saccharine rendering of Ahora que la mierda ya me llega hasta los ojos ("Now I'm in the shit up to my eyes") for the funeral. Strangely we'd previously seen another Spanish comedy, Amador, based on the same premise but with more emphasis on the decomposing body. I'd have liked to see the third film,  La Passion d'Augustine, but S was just too tired by then, so we went home.