Le Notti Bianche

Well I finally did it...I watched that Netflix that has haunted me for (Leah says) nearly a month. I love Netflix because frankly, I'm a lazy bastard. Okay, maybe it's not like that...I just have to be "in the mood" to sit down and watch TV. Lately (the past two or three years) I've become unable to tie myself down in front of the tube. Movies are worse, because they are an even longer commitment. I know there are people who can start a movie and then stop--push pause and come back later...but I have never been able to do that. I either start a movie and finish it...or I don't (start it).

Anyway, over the summer I did some serious reading. I had a lot of free time at work. I mean a lot. Though I worked day shift, my post was very high security (meaning we didn't get many visitors). And I worked a bunch of overtime (often late at night...all I had to do was sit awake at a CCTV bank and stare). Rather than read a bunch of trashy horror or shoot 'em up "dime novels" (that ironically enough, cost more than a dime...even though a dime would be too much to pay for their meager content) I opted to hit up the classics. Books I've heard mentioned but never read. The college/high school world is in a sad state if you ask me. The cannon has been abandoned. The argument is people other than "old, dead, white men" should be read and remembered. However, in my experience it's been more like "let's read something short and easy to understand." Even college has thus far, let me down in this department. Don't get me wrong, I've had some great non-cannon shoved down my throat (THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET for one (but then again...it's very short and pretty easy to understand)). Regardless, Professor Jason assigned me a shit-ton of classics. I read Dickens, Hawthorne, Bradbury, Melville, Homer, Salinger, and for the first time Fyodor Dostoyevsky. My sister (bless her my patron saint over the summer) bought me CRIME AND PUNISHMENT and THE BEST SHORT STORIES OF FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY. I ate it up, really I did. I have added Dostoyevsky to my short list of favorite authors. So when I found a French adaptation of his short story "White Nights" on NetFlix I jumped it to the top of the list.

"White Nights" while written in Russian is a story that begs to be told in French. It's a love story (of sorts) that has that special tragic, gut wrenching ending that while not a satisfactory "movie" ending is nevertheless the most realistic thing that happens. Shot in a beautiful black and white (the way movies are meant to be) the film has an appropriate noir-ish feel to it. Basically, one night a guy meets a girl on a bridge, they talk and he learns that she is waiting for her lover to return (he had to leave town but promised to retrun in one year and marry her). Guess who's late? Given the fact that I told you it has a sad ending...you can see where this will go. Upon further reflection, I couldn't help but notice a few parallels between LE NOTTI BIANCHE and my all time favorite movie CASABLANCA (another noir-ish film where the guy doesn't get the girl like he's supposed to). Unlike Rick, however, Mario wears his heart on his sleeve. He's not the tough-as-nails-too-manly-to-cry type like Bogart was. Instead he gives up the girl saying "God bless you for these moments of happiness..." He goes on to say that the brief time he's been happy will last him his entire life, and that it's better to have a moment than nothing at all. And even though we don't always believe that--it's true. In fact, all of the good things we have in life are fleeting. Because everything must end, we should take the good when it comes and enjoy it. And once these precious things are gone, rather than lament them...we should be grateful for our luck and simply remember.

The DVD is one of those Criterion Collection discs...which means it comes packed with all sorts of goodies. If you ever see a film that's been "given the Criterion treatment" you need to check it out. They don't do this with every movie that comes out...only the best get the royal treatment. This disc was no exception, included on the disc was an hour long audio book of the short story. The best part is, they let you rip it right off the disc so you can listen on the MP3 player of your choice. So besides getting to see the film I know have a copy of the audio book (which of course I like to call double dipping). Too much of a good thing? Oui.