I keep starting my post with “If you’ve been reading my articles recently” despite knowing I have very few repeat visitors! Let’s do it one more time shall we? If you’ve been reading my post recently you’ll know that I’ve been looking to increase the amount of social activities I attend. A few weeks ago I was looking for something to do during the weekend of January 26th and 27th. Browsing mtl.org I found exactly what I was looking for. A screening of the film “The lower plateau” that was being shown as part of the luxmagna festival.
Here’s what was provided as the description: “The Lower Plateau (2018, Comedy/Drama, 1h19m)
Written/Directed by Liz Singh
A formerly successful Montreal musician trudges through the darkest days of winter, armed with a backpack full of weed and a repertoire of Alanis Morissette covers. Dogged by her ex-band mate’s new hit song, Jaine mourns the loss of her career, her band and her self respect. In the heart of the city’s independent music scene, the snow covered Plateau, Jaine encounters both allies and obstacles, including her best friend-slash-roommate Mari, her married ex-lover-slash-manager David, and her charming new customer-slash-potential love interest, Darren. When a glittering opportunity in the Emerald City of Toronto threatens to lure her into a shiny new life, Jaine struggles to sever old ties.Her ex wants her to move on, her mom wants her to move to Toronto, her best friend wants things to stay the same forever, and her clients just want weed, but Jaine has other plans.
The event was being held at La Vitrola, which describes itself as a “contemporary venue & bar hosting independent bands in an intimate setting on the 2nd floor”. They have a warning indicating that unfortunately you have to take the stairs and that there is no elevator.
I was going to be joined by one of my friends who we’ll call BT. We had scheduled to meet at La Vitrola around 6:30 pm. I only noticed that the doors opened at 7 pm as I was making my way there. I was waiting at the front of the building when I saw my friend come running towards me on what were very icy sidewalks. I smiled and motioned for him to slow down. I explained that we were actually a little early and would have a little time to kill. He had accidentally walked past the venue and was rushing back under the impression he was late. I had smoked some legally purchased marijuana a little earlier and had not had a large meal. I had the munchies and suggested we walk down to Mount-Royal street to I could grab a snack.
Snack acquired we headed back to La Vitrola and made our way into the room. There were a half dozen people in the room. Mostly people associated with the film I suspect. They had set up a few rows of chairs facing the front of the venue. There was a free coat check and drinks were being served at the bar. A nice woman had made some red velvet cupcakes and places them on plates around the bar. I had just finished a small snack but I none the less grabbed a cup cake to calm my sweet tooth itch. It’s not every day that I get to taste a home made cupcake. I ordered a drink and then we went ahead and found two seats to settle into so we could talk and catch up a little. As I ate my cupcake I told my friend “This cupcake is the best I’ve ever eaten” to which he replied “Dude you’re just stoned”. We both laughed and agreed he was probably right. That being said, it was still a deliciously moist cupcake. Thank you random cupcake making lady.
I love BT, he’s an awesome friend. This being said he is a little peculiar. I consider myself to be “a little weird” as well so we get along just fine. One of his hobbies is knitting. It’s always funny to hear a man say, “Let me grab my knitting kit”. It’s just so rare that when you do hear it, it’s as unexpected as it is surprising. So BT has this very small knitting kit needle.
He’s knitting away as we wait for the projection to begin. At one point he drops one of his needles and it falls in between the legs of the person in front of us. If i remember correctly he got up, walked over to the person in front and excused himself saying that he had dropped his needle on the floor. The needles itself was made of metal and looked a little like the ones included below:
Now Imagine this persons surprise when some random dude says “I dropped my needle on the floor in between your legs”. He really should have included the word “knitting” in that sentence. The person was a little taken a back and surprised by the statement but quickly relaxed when BT showed her the small baby socks he was knitting as a gift. I laughed to myself at the scene unfolding in front of me.
The room ended up filling with an eclectic mix of students, young and old people. There was a little short film played before the main film. Mahalia Melts in the Rain (2018, Drama, 12 minutes).
Here are the details:
“Written/Co-directed by Carmine Pierre-DufourCo-directed by Emilie ManneringMahalia, a timid 9-year-old Black girl, feels different from the other girls in her ballet class. Hoping to boost her confidence, her mother brings her to the hair salon to get her hair straightened for the very first time.”
It was a wonderful little film that I enjoyed watching. The cinematography, the story and the actors were all great.
Afterwards we moved onto the main film. I often purposely avoid reading or googling too much about films prior to seeing them. I enjoy walking into it blindly, letting the film speak for itself, without having formed any prior judgement. In this case all I knew about the film was what I had read in the small synopsis included early in this post.
We both agreed afterwards that it was an excellent film. The actors, the Montreal scenery, locations and the story itself were all wonderfully executed. Among all the great things about this film, one of the things I really appreciated was the excellent soundtrack. There were several scenes from local Montreal bars and street corners. I wouldn’t describe it as a coming of age story. Perhaps more of a coming into his/her own story. Just about life in general and dealing with everything you have to when things aren’t necessarily going how you would like. Friendship, relationships, struggles and victories: Life.
I believe the director of the film was present for a quick q&a at the end of the movie. Unfortunately i didn’t write down who was answering the questions. I had to get up and use the washroom as the Q&a was beginning and I only caught the end of it. She explained that they were still trying to get the movie into several festivals. Because of this, it wasn’t yet available for purchase or viewing anywhere else. Which at this time is a real fucking shame because I would have and would still gladly pay to go see this movie again. I tried to grab a few pictures of the only poster in the room but the lighting of the room was not making it easy to capture in decent quality!
I’m a big fan of the Montreal Fantasia film festival. I’ve blogged about it on a few occasions. Every year it seems to keep getting bigger, better and more renown. Montreal has several great film festivals, that i won’t list here. I mention this because I feel like I was very privileged to have been able to see a screening of this gem in such an intimate setting. If i remember correctly the ticket was something like 7$. Including the cost of a few gin and tonics the whole night may have cost me 30$ tops.
This is just the type of event I hope to be able to attend more frequently. A relaxed Montreal crowd. An intimate showing with my extended Montreal family.
Montreal, je suis et resterai toujours sous ton charme.
mtl_dokkaebi
