Windowsill

Yesterday I watched a terrific movie. It is called Entre les murs, and its American title is The Class. It is a movie that feels like a documentary, as it is based on a book written by a French high school teacher and this teacher plays a version of himself in the movie. We follow him through a year of teaching a class mostly filled with ethnic students from a less fortunate part of Paris. The classroom scenes will feel very familiar to any viewer, as they reflect something everyone has gone through: high school. It is interesting to watch these fifteen-year-old students who all seem to think they rule the world and to remember that we had similar feelings at that age. The movie is a great reflection on education. Both the students and the teacher are not perfect: they both have great moments, and they both have obvious flaws. There are times when one wants to scream at the teacher: "That is not how you should do it! I know a much better way of dealing with this student!" The movie is very funny at times and truly heartbreaking at others. A great moment.

Come Here

Whoo! Lots of catching up to do. Recently, I went to a fancy restaurant, I read The English Patient, I saw The Informant!, a cute French romantic comedy, and Hable con ella. So skip ahead to any passage that might interest you.

The restaurant: I went to Europea, the kind of restaurant that gives you tiny portions in enormous plates, but they gave us plenty of freebies in between the apetizer and the entrée, so it was fine. Actually, there were so many freebies that I just couldn't wait to get my entrée. First, we had to choose between olive bread, white bread and parmesan bread. I had olive bread, which was delicious. They also gave us breadsticks with olive oil. Next we had a parmesan and goat cheese chip shaped into a lollipop: our first freebie. The next freebie was a lobster capuccino with truffles: delicious. I had foie gras as an apetizer, then another freebie came along: it was some sort of eggnog with truffle pieces in it. It was kind of weird. Then we had an apple sherbet with ice cider to clean our palate: it was great. My entrée was scallops and crawfish on a risotto bed. There wasn't mushc risotto, though, so I was kind of disappointed. Then came a shitload of desserts. We had lime sherbet with white chocolate, which was really great. Then they gave us cotton candy (?!) and madeleines, which we could bring home. Then I finally got the dessert I had actually ordered, which was chocolate cake with thyme sherbet: it was great. To conclude, they gave us pound cakes which we could also take home. The service was kind of weird at that restaurant. All in all, I don't think I would go back there.

The English Patient: As much as I hated the movie, I loved the book. What the movie did for me, though, was that it allowed me to imagine Juliette Binoche each time Hana's character was mentioned, which isn't a bad thing at all. The book was really sensuous and was a lot more linear than the movie. It allowed me to understand the importance of Kip and Hana's story, which seemed totally irrelevant to me while I was watching the movie.

The Informant!: It was kind of a complicated movie to understand, what with its story concerning corporate crime and all. It was funny at times, though.

Prête-moi ta main: If this movie had been made in the United States, it would have been totally unwatchable. The French accent, however, can make up for anything.

Hable con ella: I have seen four Almodovar movies: La Mala Educacion, Volver, Todo sobre mi madre and Hable con ella. My favorite one was La Mala Educacion, then Todo sobre mi madre, then Hable con ella. Hable con ella is still a terrific movie, though. It is beautiful, as all Almodovar movies. That guy really knows how to tell a story. I found this movie particularly sad.