Revolutionary Rants

Back again! Today, after several centuries of British government, gay couples are finally able to register to be ‘married’ (or as it is called in these New Labour days, be in an official ‘civil partnership’). On the 21st of this month, couples will at last be able to have some of the same rights as heterosexual married persons.

It seems mind boggling it has taken so long, and yet it is still not the case for partners wishing just to live together or just simply be partners but not be recognised by the state - whether gay or straight.

However, it is an excellent first step, and I loved this story of one couple who have been waiting for almost 40 years to ‘make it official’!

Comments (0)

As you probably know, one of Chris and I’s favourite films is Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amelie. When we heard he had a new film, we couldn’t wait to see it. The new flick - also starring Audrey Tautou - came out last year but we couldn’t make the cinema, as it was only showing at the Winnersh Triangle cinema in Reading (and was not on in Barnstaple), so Chicken brought me the DVD as a present in June. To cut a long story short, we only got round to sitting down together and actually watching it last night! Talk about a very long engagement…!

Anyway, it was a sad but good film. It caught the wet, cold, horror of the trenches and the general desperation of the First World War; you also felt very invested in Tautou’s character (perhaps a little to much as you almost didn’t connect with her fiancee). However, I felt that the Amelie style quirks - which worked so beautifully in the colour and oddness of that film - which cropped up quite often just didn’t fit here and also distracted from the impact of the overall story. We were also amazed by Jodie Foster’s incredible French!

Well worth a viewing if you like Jeunet/Tautou/French film, but not a patch on our favourite Parisian!

Comments (0)