I went to a party the other night. It could have been one of those kind of parties. You know, where you wonder who is who and who are you and then it’s all nonsense anyway and you end up wondering why you went in the first place. Life in the London fast lane.
Except this one was different because I cared about being there. And there were several reasons why I cared.
The first one is that the film company releasing this film cares about making great movies. And how many film companies can you say that about these days. This company pioneers great film making. So I really wanted to see the film they were premiering. Suffice it to say they recognised and distributed “Super Size Me” in England.
One of the other reasons I wanted to see this film was because it stars Kate Blanchett and Sam Neill, both of whom I consider to be extremely fine actors with Kate Blanchett verging on Goddess like status in my eyes. So the opportunity to participate in a Questions and Answers session with actors of this calibre after the film was reason enough alone to whip out the gold dress. Then there was the fact that I really love Australians and this was a film set in Australia. Oh and the other thing is that my son is working for this film company as a runner at the moment. So you see, as I said, there were a lot of reasons to attend this premier and the party after the film.
It was a very hot day in London town. Regent’s Park was packed with the sort of people I wouldn’t mind having around my dinner table or lunch table or any other kind of table, judging by the picnic hampers filled with delicious food they were unpacking all around us. The musician wanted nothing more than a deck chair and a snooze, so we found a spot and sat for a bit before strolling back home to prepare for the start of the late afternoon premier.
The car driving us to the cinema was stylish and new, the driver was charming and better still, he was playing Al Green singing “Let’s Stay Together” on the very good stereo. Nothing but nothing can improve my mood more than great music and I think it made him happy when I asked him to turn it up, well actually I know it did because he and I were both singing along, discreetly of course, no one sings over Al Green, but still it was one of those perfect moments. Being driven through London on a beautiful sunny day, dressed in pretty clothes and listening to wonderful music. Even the musician was humming.
When we arrived at the cinema there was a bit of a flurry, a bit of who are we, more like who were we in our case but it’s still exciting when you pull up and there are banks of camera’s and crowds behind barrier’s, all straining to see the stars. It still makes you stand tall and feel glad you went on that diet and could easily fit into that dress. Well quite easily.
I want to congratulate the people who made this film. And the actors who who starred in it. It is a gritty, disturbing view of real life Australia that I don’t think we get to see too often. It makes for harsh reality which is not necessarily the vision I wanted in my head on that lovely afternoon but it is courageous and real, the acting is excellent and I’m really glad I have seen it.
Afterwards there was a party at the Australian Embassy. It was like all those other parties where people have to stand around chatting to people they would not necessarily socialise with, which is what we did for a while, but because there were a lot of Australian’s there from the Embassy it didn’t feel like some of those ghastly, watch your back and keep looking over your shoulder events we have attended over the years in London. Sam Neill is one of the most quick-witted, funny, self deprecating and charming actor’s I have met in a very long time. I wish I had spoken to Kate Blanchett when we first arrived and there were only about five people in the huge room, but you know what it’s like. My friend had told me that if I met her, I must tell Kate Blanchett that she should have definitely won the Oscar that year for “Elizabeth”. I wish I had told her because it’s definately true, but I’m sure she hears it all the time anyway. I hope she does.
The best part of the evening, despite the film and the party and fantastic, totally Australian goody bags containing amongst other things, jars of Vegimite and a spider catcher, the best part was when I got home.
Because there, snuggled up together on the sofa when we walked in was my son and his very adorable girlfriend.
It’s not just that she is so beautiful, which she is, all long-limbs, delicate features and honey kissed hair smelling sweeter than any scent I have yet to encounter, it is the fact that she is so totally unaffected by her beauty and by the whole girlie thing in general. There is a tranquility about her, an air of being unaffected that is so refreshing compared to other girls of her age and yet she is just as stylish, if not more so than the girls I watch preening along the High Street. It’s just that it is a style all of her own
I have this pair of Chanel earrings. I have loads of vintage Chanel jewellery, collected over the last twenty years, which I will never wear again and which now sits, alongside all the old designer clothes, in the back of one of my cupboards in the flat. I had looked at the jewellery when I returned to London recently and thought of her.
That night, on impulse, I gave her a pair of earrings. I was so nervous. More nervous then at any time during the party we had just attended, chatting to all those different people. What if she didn’t like them? She might be too embarrassed to tell me. But what if I didn’t give them to her and she might have loved them and I would never know. All these thoughts passed through my head as I went to find the black box with the white writing. The earring were cute, little quilted clips with dangly tags that said Chanel Paris, not too grown up but still obviously vintage Chanel. I prayed her face wouldn’t fall when she opened the box.
She loved them. The next morning after she had left, I opened my laptop and there was the tiniest note, so very her, slipped in between the keyboard and the screen, thanking me and telling me she really loved them and I think she really does.
My heart is still singing about that.