I thought about Lucia and there she was

This happened a few days ago. I was driving along a surprisingly empty flyover and something about the streets made me think of Humberto Solas' 1968 film, Lucia. 

I was thinking of how young he was when he made it - only 25!* - and inevitably, of how useless I was** and idly wondered when I'd ever get to see these films again. I've never heard of a Cuban films retro in recent times, and I was making a list in my head of films I'd like to see again: Memories of Underdevelopment, Strawberries and Chocolate, The Adventures of Juan Quin Quin, The First Charge of the Machete.

But top of the frugal list I could reconstruct was Lucia, followed by Memories of Underdevelopment, and Juan Quin Quin (which was a lot of fun and subversive as heck).

Minutes later, and in an indication that the universe was arranging itself according to my fairly inexacting wishes, I found Lucia in the library. Brand new DVD, no one had borrowed it and it was all for me! me! only me!

So for all the moaning and deep blue posts of the last few days, I have to admit that I am tending towards the ecstatic.

That's all, folks.

(Will put up, at some point, my impressions of the film, which I'm watching after 18 years).

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*Wikipedia says he was 27. Oh well. 25 sounds more impressive, no?

**Though, if you consider that my life's ambition is to be deeply committed to doing nothing, no one can accuse me of failing at that.

Strawberries dipped in chocolate reminds me of revolution

Just returned from some art opening where there were strawberries dipped in chocolate and I left early, stealing some in a napkin and remembered Alea's film and his earlier one, from the time the Cuban revolution was still in its days of hope and possibilities...

...and from there to Egypt, which is never far from my mental horizon these days. When this part of their revolution is over I wonder if they will have an equivalent of ICAIC, what their cinema will be like and if I will see all of it, and if I will collect some as yet unpublished issue of Jump Cut or like journal that celebrates a new cinematic idiom.

But mostly, I conclude that strawberries & chocolate are a good thing individually and together.

While I consume the last one, do hop over to Jadaliyya for most things Egypt-related. Also, those in Hyderabad, please mark tomorrow evening 7pm - Lamakaan is having a reading of Faiz's poetry in celebration of his centenary.