Three Beautiful Things 07-31-2023: Listening to Interviews at Vizio University, Watching *The Small Back Room*, My Intro to Cavatappi

1. Well, unlike at colleges and universities across the USA which will be soon be festooning enthusiastic "Welcome Back" signs to greet returning students, no signs, balloons, or streamers were in sight as I returned today to Vizio University.

As you might remember, Vizio University is the name I gave my unstructured study of movies from over fifty years ago and to spending time listening to or reading interviews of scholars and critics, actors, and others about what we now call old movies.

When I moved the television out of the Vizio room into the living room so Debbie and I could watch Columbo, Perry Mason, Monk, and occasional movies together, I took a break from Vizio University.

But Debbie is on a trip to New York, New Jersey, and Virginia for about three weeks, and to answer those of you who wonder what I do when I "batch" it, today I returned to Vizio University.

I watched three interviews and a movie and it was thrilling. 

First the interviews.

• One of my favorite illuminators of movies from the past, and especially film noir, is Imogen Sara Smith. The Criterion Channel is currently featuring a collection called Brit Noir, movies made in the years following the end of WWII and in anticipation of the British New Wave. The Brit Noir movies portray the uncertainties of the post-war years and of the impact of the war itself. I thought a lot about Foyle's War as Smith delved into these movies' exploration of tension, tension caused by being in a society at war, by the deprivations of rationing, and of a society divided by social class.  I realized, once again, while listening to Imogen Sara Smith how much I enjoy British movies of the 40s, 50s, and on into the 60s and how great it felt to be making contact with these movies again.
• I also thoroughly enjoyed watching the latest installation of the Criterion Channel series, Adventures in Moviegoing, featuring Isabella Rossellini. As the daughter of two of cinema's most famous contributors, director Robert Rossellini and actor Ingrid Bergman, Isabella Rossellini's life has been rich in cinematic experiences and it was captivating listening to her talk about her life's involvement with movies and what she sees as having ever lasting value in films. For Adventures in Moviemaking, the person being interviewed chooses several beloved movies from the Criterion Collection to make comments about and show clips from. Isabella Rossellini's choices were fascinating, focused, in part, on silent movies and circus stories, and in commenting on these films she expanded upon what she loves about movies and about her experiences as a director. 
• The Criterion Channel is also featuring a collection of movies under the title of The Method, featuring actors ranging from Marlon Brando to Kim Stanley, from JoAnne Woodward to Rod Steiger, from Ellen Burstyn to Paul Newman, all of whom studied and put into practice the techniques of The Method. So that viewers might understand more fully what is meant by The Method, Ethan Hawkes, Vincent D'Onofrio, and the author the book, The Method:  How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act, Issac Butler, entered into a rousing discussion of The Method, its teachers, the revolution in acting that emerged, and the actors devoted to it. It's a fascinating discussion that illuminates all of the rigorous work great actors put in so that the character we see them play come alive as specific characters, with detailed motivations and physical attributes.

2. After watching Imogen Sara Smith's discussion of British noir movies, I decided to watch Michael Powell and Emetic Pressburger's movie, The Small Back Room (1949).  

Last October, at Bill and Diane's place in Shoreline, we watched Powell and Pressburger's movie, A Matter of Life and Death (1946) and I was eager to watch another of their movies.

Several years ago, I watched the 2008 movie, The Hurt Locker, the only movie I'd ever seen focused on the disabling of bombs. 

Now I've seen two.

The Small Back Room tells the story of Sammie Rice, an alcoholic bomb expert working for the British government during WWII, who gets drafted into a project to figure out how particular bombs the Germans are dropping in England work. They look like thermos bottles and explode when a person picks them up. 

This is just one layer of the story. Sammie Rice has an artificial foot that is painful. His doctor has prescribed him pain medication and he's expending a great deal of energy resisting the pull he feels to drink whiskey. In addition, the movie explores the tensions and cynicism of the bureaucracy Sammie Rice works in -- their workplace is referred to as "the small back room" -- and Rice's frustration with the fact that his disability means he is stuck with bureaucratic work. Moreover, Sammie Rice is engaged in an intimate relationship with a woman, Susan, who also works in the small back room and Rice brings his frustrations, his efforts not to drink, and his feelings of inadequacy into their relationship, complicating it. 

And, so, this movie is a war story. It's a critique of bureaucracy. It's a love story. It's an examination of alcoholism. It's a sensitive portrayal of Sammie Rice's disability. Ultimately, the story is a test of Sammie Rice's character, his ability to think clearly and carry out his expertise while under excruciating pressure. 

3. With Debbie out galavanting around, it means that when I fix this week's HelloFresh meals, I'll be able to make them last two days.

This evening, HelloFresh introduced me to the pasta called cavatappi, which I experienced as being akin to, but not exactly like, macaroni.

I put the cavtappi in a pot of boiling salt water, chopped up two scallions, and a container of mushrooms. I cooked the mushrooms in olive oil, removed them from the pan, and made a sauce. I melted butter in the cast iron pan, added a packet of flour, let it get slightly brown, and then added milk and pasta water. To this I added cream cheese and when the cheese had melted and blended in with the liquid and thickened some more, I added in the cavatappi, mushrooms, and a packet of herbed butter. Once the butter melted and all the ingredients combined, I put half of what I cooked in a bowl, half in a container, and enjoyed a tasty dinner.