It was grey and overcast in London as I walked along Victoria Embankment by the river, dodging the runners and the selfie-taking tourists.
At Waterloo Bridge I crossed the Thames and headed to Tate Modern for the Expressionists exhibition, a celebration of Wassily Kandinsky, Gabriele Münter, and The Blue Rider Group which Kandinsky and Münter and their artist friends created in Munich in the early years of the 20th century.
The deep, bold, vibrant colours of many of the paintings on display contrasted with the flat grey London backdrop outside.
Highlights of the exhibition included Kandinsky’s ‘Murnau with Church I’ (1910), with its church tower heaving into view from an abstract mass of rich colours; the weirdly hypnotic elongated geometric forms of Lyonel Feininger’s ‘Gelmeroda III’ (1913) in a much more subdued palette than most of the rest of the exhibition; Gabriele Münter’s ‘Kandinsky and Erma Bossi at the Table’ (1912), an expressionist take on a cosy domestic scene; the molten lava eyes of Marianne Werefkin’s ‘Self-Portrait’ (1910); and Franz Marc’s fabulous ‘Deer in the Woods II’ (1912), the deer snuggled down resting in woods of amazing colours and forms and movement.
After visiting the exhibition, I scurried back along the river, crossed over at the Hungerford Footbridges and on the other side descended into the depths of Charing Cross train station for a meal at MOC Kitchen Vietnamese restaurant.
The set lunch of prawn spring rolls and pork belly with rice, washed down with a bottle of Hanoi beer, was very good.
From there I walked over to De Hems Dutch Café Bar on the edge of Chinatown where I had an IJwit Amsterdam wheat beer, great flavour and very refreshing.
De Hems stocks some great Dutch and Belgian beers, including some very tempting tripels, but today’s film beckoned so there wasn’t time to have anything apart from the IJwit.
Prince Charles Cinema was the venue for this evening’s film, ‘I Used to be Funny’, written and directed by Ally Pankiw, who also directed the first series of the wonderful ‘Feel Good’ starring Mae Martin and Charlotte Ritchie.
As happened on my previous visit to this cinema, before the film started we were treated to an entertaining John Waters recorded video asking punters in no uncertain terms to switch off their mobile phones. This evening’s audience duly complied.
Having seen the trailer for ‘I Used to be Funny’, I had high hopes for this indie film and it certainly delivered.
The two main characters are terrific – Rachel Sennott as standup Sam and Olga Petsa as troubled teen Brooke.
The supporting cast are great too, Sabrina Jalees (Paige) and Caleb Hearon (Philip) bringing a lot of warmth and humour to the film, letting Sam live with them rent-free whilst she gets back on her feet and supporting her through her recovery from a horrific experience.
There are plenty laughs in this film despite the hard trauma running through it.
For those of us on the outside, ‘I Used To Be Funny’ offers an affectionate glimpse into the world of standup comedy with all its bitchiness and camaraderie: ‘He’s still doing Frasier jokes’, Philip comments caustically at one point from backstage before a quick cut to the standup in question delivering a line about Niles’ predilections.
In an era of smug, bloated, 3-4 hour long Hollywood movies from major studios, it’s so refreshing to see an exquisitely crafted indie film like ‘I Used to be Funny’ telling a great story with wit and style, and carrying it off in one hour forty-five minutes. This film is so enjoyable I might go see it again in the next few days.
Related posts: ‘The Long Goodbye’, Prince Charles Cinema London; ‘Sightseers’, Prince Charles Cinema London