I don’t get out to the cinema very much. I feel that, as an evening out, it is not generally good value for money. I know a lot of people talk about “the cinema experience,” how it’s important to see a film on the big screen, in a darkened theater, with a big box of overpriced popcorn, but I think that’s all hype and bullshit. I generally enjoy a film just as much on television, as long as I’m either alone or everybody shuts up and watches the film, which admittedly doesn’t happen very often, and there aren’t too many commercial interruptions (you can think of them as intermissions).
The Sheikh and Dr. Jones
But Helena wanted to go out and see a movie tonight, at the Atlas, which is cheaper than most of the cinemas in Prague, so off we went. The film was Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, and I was pleasantly surprised.
Interesting story, quirky characters, intelligent, sometimes even thought provoking dialogue, and some nice scenery, although that mostly just involved people standing in the water. The romantic stuff was believable, not too schmaltzy, and a bit predictable, but it wasn’t excessively melodramatic. It wasn’t really a comedy, but there were certainly some moments that made me laugh –
“I’m sorry I said that you had Asperger’s”
“Actually, somebody with Asperger’s wouldn’t understand that as criticism. You can say pretty much whatever you want.”
I like these things in movies. Much, much better than just seeing stuff get blown up and hearing people swear at each other constantly.
The plot is this: a crazy rich Yemeni Sheikh loves fishing for salmon in Scotland, so he gets the idea to build a big dam, create an artificial salmon stream, and import the sport as a way to improve his country. The scientist type (a bit aspergery, but not really clinically so), thinks it’s crazy, but the British government needs a good PR story in the middle east so the project gets green lighted. The scientist type falls in love with the Sheikh’s English PR lady, but he is married and her boyfriend is in Afghanistan. Somebody has to get hurt but true love prevails.
It’s a beautiful film, all about swimming against the current.
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