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I love the cinema, but, like
football, it can let you down as often as it lifts you up. There are
times when a film can be the equivalent of seeing your team go 0-3 down
in the first 15 minutes and knowing that there is no way back. The other
evening, though, I had the equivalent of a 6-1 win. The
film we went to see was ‘L’Homme Du Train’ starring Jean Rochefort
and Johnny Hallyday. Yes, that Johnny Hallyday; the one who was once
France’s only rock star. The tiny theatre had sold out so word must
have gone around Ipswich that this was worth seeing. It was. Hallyday
plays a world-weary bank robber who arrives late one evening (by train)
in a small French town. The streets are deserted and the only hotel is
closed. No towns can ever be as empty as French towns. By chance he
comes to meet Rochefort who plays an elderly bachelor living in a grand
and well-furnished town house. Rochefort puts him up and the film is
primarily about the relationship that develops between the two opposite
characters. Rochefort is a gentle, retired teacher who loves poetry and
has led an extremely sheltered life. As a sub-plot we learn that
Hallyday has come to meet some hoodlums and to rob the town’s bank. Over
a few days Rochefort and Hallyday come to envy each other’s way of
life. Hallyday likes the cultured, quiet charm of Rochefort and takes to
smoking a pipe and wearing slippers. By contrast Rochefort feels he has
missed out on life’s excitements and wants to test himself. When he
learns about the bank raid he offers to help but is turned down, very
gently. It
doesn’t sound much of a story but it is very funny and the joys are in
the acting, characterisation and cinematography. And you could sense
that everyone in the cinema enjoyed themselves. I said it was like a 6-1
win. It would have been 6-0 but the opposition got a late consolation
goal by virtue of the ending. Otherwise it was perfect. * * * * * * I
wonder if any of you heard David Gilmour on ‘Desert Island Discs’
recently? I’ve never liked Pink Floyd but I thought Gilmour sounded a
really nice, unpretentious guy; and unpretentious is not a word I would
normally connect with Pink Floyd. He didn’t seem to have been affected
badly by his wealth and success. I liked the fact that Sue Lawley
suggested that the members of Pink Floyd are generally unknown as
people, untouched by celebrity status, hiding behind their ‘arty’ LP
covers and not having their photos all over the place. Gilmour says they
always thought having their photos taken was silly. His
choice of eight records was as near to my own taste as any I’ve ever
heard: ‘Waterloo Sunset’, ‘Dancing In The Street’, and Leonard
Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits and Neil Young. And, best of all,
‘Ballad In Plain D’. You may remember that some months ago I wrote
for this magazine defending ‘Ballad In Plain D’ and it was great to
find someone else who likes it so much. I bet it’s never been chosen
on ‘Desert Island Discs’ before. Gilmour said he always liked
Dylan’s love songs. Me too, David, me too. It
was mentioned that Gilmour now does live solo acoustic shows for small
audiences which sounded very relaxed and yet dignified. I do wish Dylan
would go down that route instead of so many electric guitars and so much
volume… * * * * * * My
reason for writing about a film and a radio programme is that I don’t
have anything else to say and I missed last month so I need to post
something to keep my membership; but I have to say I don’t know
whether I should try to hang in here. I have been writing on
Dylan-related themes for over 12 years now, beginning with ‘Homer, the
Slut’ in 1991. I know this is short-term compared with some of you and
bears no relationship to the several pages that JRS commits to month
after month. Nonetheless, I think I may be about ‘written out’. At
bottom, I feel a deepening malaise – a waning of enthusiasm for Bob
Dylan and, particularly, his recent work. It would not be the first time
I had ‘gone off’ Dylan for a number of years. Maybe I’m not
sufficiently obsessive to keep it going. This has been coming on for
some time. Most of my recent articles for ‘Judas!’ and ‘The
Bridge’ were drafted two or three years back and have just been
polished up for publication. It’s
something that’s been on my mind for a while and as a result I emailed
Andrew Muir over Easter. Here is an extract: Which brings me to the main
point. I think the time has come for me to say goodbye to the Dylan
writing. I have become so disenchanted with the drift of Dylan’s
‘art’ and I truly feel out of kilter with the community that has
developed around it… maybe now is the time to quit… …it’s all
very sad but I don’t feel a part of this any more. And after I'd sent it I wondered if I'd ever been a part of this.
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