Thursday was another late night at Mix: I was in bed by 5:10 and awake again at 8:30 for Translation. We saw a couple of the same people we'd met the last time which was fine, but one of them was this guy who had the worst BO and loved to dance with his arms above his head... He was also rather tall which put his pits right at the level of my nose... It was really loud, much louder than the last time we were there, I think, but that meant that when this guy tried to talk to us he screamed directly into our ears... "Us" was just me, Laura, Adena, and Claire this time, but it was just as much fun. This time we met (well, I met) a Moroccan guy studying to be a doctor. He asked for my number but I deflected with, "It's not my phone, it's my friend's...(Hey, I didn't exactly lie)...but maybe I'll see you here again some time?" He made his exit and the rest of us headed back to the dance floor. A few minutes, this guy I had never met came up and tapped me on the shoulder. I turned and he asked, "I know you're staying here in Paris with your friend. Can I have the number and I can call you sometime?" "Euh, no." I guess Re'da passed on the info and his friend figured he'd try his luck? Weirded me out. The only other really weird thing was the guy who came and stood behind me on one hip with his arms folded, like how dare we not introduce ourselves or something.
Friday, Laura and I took the train out to Deauville to meet Astrid and her two Korean friends for the Asian Film Festival. For 5 euro, we were able to buy a weekend pass to all the films, for 5 euro more, a brochure with descriptions of all the films in French and English! The first night, Laura and I opted out of going to see a Korean film, Breathless, to stroll on the beach/around town. Since there's a local stable, I actually saw people riding horses through the water like you see in movies... The next morning we woke up early to see Claustrophobia (Ch.) because we thought the others were going, but ended up having to walk to the theater, which was fine because it actually took less time on foot than by car and the film was really good. Unfortunately, we missed the first minute or so and the film started with the most recent scene and went back in time to the main characters connected... in effect we actually missed the "end" of the film. Later we met the others to see "Members of the Funeral" (Kor.) which was a bit dark, followed by another Kor. film, "My Dear Enemy." From the description, "A girl who sets out to find her ex..." I had low expectations, but it was actually really good.
At night, Laura and I agreed to see "Frozen Flowers" (Kor.) on a whim. The description said it was a historical film about a King who asks his good friend, the Korean "SWAT" leader, to sleep with the Queen and help him produce an "heir" since he can't. Turns out, good friend means gay lover... Anyway, it seems like it'll just be really pretty at the beginning, maybe a love story? Until the first action scene when you're like OMG I JUST SAW THAT GUY GET AN ARROW THROUGH THE HEAD, OMG THEY JUST TOOK THAT GUY'S ARM OFF, etc. Then there's the first bedroom scene, between the King and the Chief when you say, "Oh, they're gay." Then there's the first bedroom scene with the Queen and the Chief when you say, "Oh, this is...explicit," then they bust out the 69: "Oh, this is a porno..." Then the love story, then more action and blood, then conspiracy... Astrid was planning to leave halfway through to see a Japanese horror film, but stayed the full two hours because it was so damn suspenseful. We all kind of left going, WTF, why was that so AWESOME? We headed to the beach for some air and stumbled upon the director/main actor of "Breathless," his co-star, her brother, and an assistant/translator. Astrid got up the courage to ask him for an interview, but he didn't speak English or French, so her friends and his friends helped translate. It turned into a conversation between Astrid's Korean friends and the others, Astrid, Laura and I left standing there unable to understand anything that was going on... but it was still cool and before they left he gave his e-mail address to Astrid and gave us all buttons with the film title. The next day, his film won two awards, including "Best Film of the Festival." I need to see this movie.
Sunday, we went together to see "All Around Us," (Japn) a film about a guy who works as a court room sketch artist and his wife who falls into depression when their infant daughter dies. It was a little slow at first, but in the end it was so sweet and optimistic that it made the wait worth while. We split up for lunch but agreed to meet at 2:30 to see "Departures" (Japn). When Laura and I didn't see the others anywhere, we decided they must have already gone in. I sent Astrid a txt to let her know we were inside, she responded a few minutes later that they had gotten there 5 minutes late and weren't allowed entry. It was really too bad, too, because Laura and I really enjoyed the film. There was a lot of humor in the first part and it almost seemed Western in style... It had a faster pace even though it was just as long and I almost cried more than 5 times. Laura and I sat the last film out that the others went to and we left Deauville around 10:30, getting us back to Paris around 12:30. After dropping everybody off, Astrid and I were finally home at 1:30.
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