Although she's been active since the late '60's, I was completely unfamiliar with the work of Sally Potter, who began shooting shorts and has moved on to full length independent films. Last night I watched
The Party (2017), courtesy of Netflix. It is a bleak portrait of modern life leavened by occasional humor, mostly by Switzerland's Bruno Ganz and his character's new age ideas. The story is set in the London flat of a middle age woman who has just won a political race for a position as a minister. She is played with gusto by the great Kristen Scott Thomas. In fact, everyone in the stellar cast is at his/her best. It is rounded out by Patricia Clarkson, Timothy Spall, Cilian Murphy, Cherry Jones and Emily Mortimer. It may not cover all of society's foibles, but it comes close despite a running time of little more than an hour. There's infidelity, hypocrisy, cynicism, drug abuse, lesbian angst, hysteria, illness. A character who plays a huge role in the proceedings never appears on screen. The dialogue is intelligent and often biting. Although there is a liberal bias, no one is unscathed. And it ends with an awesome twist I did not see coming. Appropriately, it's shot in black and white. Chauvinist that I am, I wondered if Potter chose the format because age is not being kind to several of the actors.
The Party is not a great flick, but it's worth watching, especially appealing for those who believe life is one big mess and to those who appreciate first rate performances. 11,000+ users at IMDb have rated it, forging to a consensus of 6.6 on a scale of ten. It brought in less than a million worldwide at the box office. It wouldn't surprise me if that were a slight profit, as the budget was probably very modest. Here's a still of the cast:
There was a first last night in MLB: brothers hit two home runs in a game on the same day. Blue Jays' SS Lourdes Gurriel and Astros' 1B Yuli each went deep in their first two at-bats. Very cool. Here are Cuba's gifts to the USA:
My thanks to Taurus, who bought
Billionths of a Lifetime at Amazon, and to whomever downloaded
Killing to Kindle. And also to the woman who bought Danielle Steel's
Pure Joy, non-fiction about her love of dogs, and to the gentleman who purchased
Unshakeable Trust: Find the Joy of Trusting God at All Times, in All Things by Joyce Meyer; and to Bay 37th alum Lorraine, who selected a thriller and a children's book; and to the woman who treated her grandson to
Fractured Fairy Tales by A. J. Jacobs.
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