It’s good to be back in Brussels. Such a great city for cinema, art, and beer.
Skipping breakfast, I headed out this Saturday morning to see the James Ensor – Inspired by Brussels exhibition at the 18th century Palace of Charles of Lorraine. The palace is a fabulous opulent setting which would have been worth the price of entry just to marvel at the lavish interiors even if there hadn’t been an art exhibition also going on.
I got to the venue just after the exhibition opening time of 10am in order to avoid crowds later in the day. There were only a few other visitors this early and I had most of the splendid rooms in the palace to myself as I viewed this superb exhibition of James Ensor, one of Belgium’s greatest artists.
The paintings which stood out for me were ‘The Lamplighter’ (1880), with its simple but striking composition and subdued palette; the rich, dark colours and wonderful atmosphere of ‘Interior at the Rousseaus’ (1884); and the hilarious surrealism of ‘Skeletons Fighting over a Pickled Herring’ (1891), a small panel painting which almost made me laugh out loud. Great stuff.
After seeing the exhibition I walked down the hill, past Grand Place and on to the Galerie du Centre on Rue des Fripiers, within which Cinéma Aventure is located. Galerie du Centre is a very low key arcade, a welcome refuge from the tourist-thronged streets nearby.
Aventure is one of my favourite Brussels cinemas. It’s got a cosy intimate feel and eclectic programming which means there’s always something interesting to watch here.
Today’s film was ‘Joan Baez: I Am a Noise’. It was showing in Screen 2, which was accessible along a very dark corridor. In the auditorium, warm brown wooden rafters curve up above the screen.
There were around a dozen people in the audience for what turned out to be a captivating and intimate documentary film about Joan Baez as she travelled on her farewell tour and reflected on her life.
There is nothing nostalgic or complacent about this film – it celebrates Joan Baez’s career and there is plenty concert footage where we hear her amazingly beautiful voice, but the film also includes her talking about some disturbing memories of her family life when she was growing up. The film covers her participation in the civil rights movement, protests against the Vietnam war, and her brief but intense relationship with a young, fresh-faced Bob Dylan.
After ‘Joan Baez: I Am a Noise’ finished, this being Brussels, I had to have some great beer – Watou Tripel and Waterloo Triple Blond. Can’t beat a good Belgian triple.
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