Oh Annette! And a robin.

Ally and Cat decided to go to see the film “Annette” whose story and music were written by Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks. It was mentioned in the Sparks documentary that we saw at the beginning of August. Ally and Cat kindly invited us along and also treated us to dinner beforehand at Sarti’s. 

The film was a surreal experience! It starred Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, and Simon Helberg (Wolowitz from the Big Bang Theory). What can I say? The actors worked their socks off; their dialogue was 99% sung and the lyrics were extremely repetitive, so for example Driver and Cotillard had to sing the lyric “We love each other so much” about a hundred times during a long sex scene where Adam Driver literally had to come up for air at one point to sing before getting back to business. The main characters’ child was portrayed by a marionette which I think was meant to look sweet and innocent but instead looked a bit creepy, which generated a bit of laughter from the audience and prompted one audience member to say loudly “Aw nooo!” as it sidled through a doorway. Even the death scenes were a tad comical. 

And yet I thoroughly enjoyed it! Full marks to Ron and Russell Mael for daring to be different and the film was whimsical and full of symbolism. And we talked about it all the way home in the car, it’s one of those puzzling films that stay in your mind long after you have watched it.

And so to the robin. James woke early on Friday morning to hear the tell-tale noises of scuffling which meant that one of the cats had captured an unfortunate creature and brought it home on a deadly play date. He found a seemingly dead robin sprawled on its front at the foot of the bed, with a wide-eyed Flora pouncing on it. It was very early so rather than dispose of it immediately, James put the waste paper basket upside down over it to prevent Flora from dismembering it, and went back to bed. When he woke up again he heard little noises inside the basket and sure enough the robin was hopping about and pooping on the carpet. He carefully took it outside and put it on the shed roof, from where it hopped onto the fence and allegedly gave him a look of gratitude before flying away. The most remarkable thing is that it was so unscathed when so many of its feathers had been left in our bedroom!