| He loved movies. | |
| He loved The Big Sleep, | |
| The Big Chill | |
| and The Big Easy. | |
| He loved Al Paccino, | |
| in the godfather | |
| and Rita Hayworth, | |
| in Gilda. | |
| He loved the Golfmatch, | |
| in Goldfinger | |
| and the shock twist, | |
| in the Crying Game. | |
| He loved Westerns | |
| where the morality of the hero was suspect, | |
| and romances | |
| where her true love was there in front | |
| of the heroine from scene one. | |
| He loved period Drama | |
| and Samurai Epics | |
| and political Thrillers | |
| and Detective Features, | |
| but most of all | |
| He loved Movies | |
| of his wife. | |
| Our firm always gave him the most | |
| personal of attention. | |
| And by the time he died, | |
| none of his friends were left alive. | |
| So as junior partner i got to spend a week | |
| in his Primla Court townhouse, | |
| sifting though books, suits, furniture | |
| and sixty-three cans of super 8 film. | |
| He was known to sit in his study | |
| into the small hours, | |
| alone with the flickering screen, | |
| a glass of wine | |
| and the quiet chattering of the projector. | |
| Each reel had a date inscribed in careful black ink. | |
| I watched them from first to last, | |
| in that same study, | |
| where the curtains drawn and a pot | |
| of darjeeling by my elbow, | |
| they were all studies, | |
| portraits if you will. | |
| In the early sequences she is shy, | |
| hiding behind doors. | |
| Raising her hand above the shot, | |
| her plain gold wedding-band prominent. | |
| After a spool or two she relaxes | |
| and begins to play to the camera, | |
| spinning in the garden, | |
| swirling a scarf around her head, | |
| blowing kisses and pointing her stern finger. | |
| The subsequent reels are the most intimate, | |
| as she learns to forget she is on film. | |
| We see her reading at the window, | |
| nibbling her nails, | |
| talking on the telephone | |
| and slowly, dreamily cowing her hair. | |
| In one feature length sleep sequence, | |
| she barely moves and eyelid. | |
| But the cracks begin to show after ten | |
| or eleven spools, | |
| where once she was relaxed she is now | |
| uncomfortable in the frame. | |
| Her expression, | |
| her whole body language, | |
| becomes defensive and strained. | |
| Still the images continue, | |
| recording her in the same locations | |
| around the house, | |
| the same outfits. | |
| With a hand on her hip, | |
| she lectures a point beside the camera. | |
| She waves at him to stop filming, | |
| yet the footage continues unyielding | |
| and the reels stack up. | |
| Repeatedly shot after shot after shot | |
| she leaves various rooms. | |
| Trapped for a few seconds she screams | |
| in silence taring at her hair | |
| and eventually she throws things. | |
| Their marriage lasted eight and a half months | |
| and for thirty-seven years afterwards | |
| he sat until late in his study | |
| feeding the projector and blinking in the half light. | |
| He loved those movies.He loved movies. | |
| He loved The Big Sleep, | |
| The Big Chill | |
| and The Big Easy. | |
| He loved Al Paccino, | |
| in the godfather | |
| and Rita Hayworth, | |
| in Gilda. | |
| He loved the Golfmatch, | |
| in Goldfinger | |
| and the shock twist, | |
| in the Crying Game. | |
| He loved Westerns | |
| where the morality of the hero was suspect, | |
| and romances | |
| where her true love was there in front | |
| of the heroine from scene one. | |
| He loved period Drama | |
| and Samurai Epics | |
| and political Thrillers | |
| and Detective Features, | |
| but most of all | |
| He loved Movies | |
| of his wife. | |
| Our firm always gave him the most | |
| personal of attention. | |
| And by the time he died, | |
| none of his friends were left alive. | |
| So as junior partner i got to spend a week | |
| in his Primla Court townhouse, | |
| sifting though books, suits, furniture | |
| and sixty-three cans of super 8 film. | |
| He was known to sit in his study | |
| into the small hours, | |
| alone with the flickering screen, | |
| a glass of wine | |
| and the quiet chattering of the projector. | |
| Each reel had a date inscribed in careful black ink. | |
| I watched them from first to last, | |
| in that same study, | |
| where the curtains drawn and a pot | |
| of darjeeling by my elbow, | |
| they were all studies, | |
| portraits if you will. | |
| In the early sequences she is shy, | |
| hiding behind doors. | |
| Raising her hand above the shot, | |
| her plain gold wedding-band prominent. | |
| After a spool or two she relaxes | |
| and begins to play to the camera, | |
| spinning in the garden, | |
| swirling a scarf around her head, | |
| blowing kisses and pointing her stern finger. | |
| The subsequent reels are the most intimate, | |
| as she learns to forget she is on film. | |
| We see her reading at the window, | |
| nibbling her nails, | |
| talking on the telephone | |
| and slowly, dreamily cowing her hair. | |
| In one feature length sleep sequence, | |
| she barely moves and eyelid. | |
| But the cracks begin to show after ten | |
| or eleven spools, | |
| where once she was relaxed she is now | |
| uncomfortable in the frame. | |
| Her expression, | |
| her whole body language, | |
| becomes defensive and strained. | |
| Still the images continue, | |
| recording her in the same locations | |
| around the house, | |
| the same outfits. | |
| With a hand on her hip, | |
| she lectures a point beside the camera. | |
| She waves at him to stop filming, | |
| yet the footage continues unyielding | |
| and the reels stack up. | |
| Repeatedly shot after shot after shot | |
| she leaves various rooms. | |
| Trapped for a few seconds she screams | |
| in silence taring at her hair | |
| and eventually she throws things. | |
| Their marriage lasted eight and a half months | |
| and for thirty-seven years afterwards | |
| he sat until late in his study | |
| feeding the projector and blinking in the half light. | |
| He loved those movies. |