heartbreak

Tonight, I came away from a film sobbing. I had cried several times during the film, but as soon as I hit the safe anonymity of my car, I was reduced to open-mouthed sobs.
The troubles just kept piling on and yet you knew this moment in time had been building for quite a while.
The man was married to a woman he loved very much, but could no longer live with. She was bipolar and had not taken medication since her pregnancy with their second child, their son. He wanted to believe her when she said she was better, she was using light therapy and it had changed her life over the last few months, she loved him and wanted the family back together. He wanted to believe, but was scared to be hurt again, was afraid of having the children hurt again.
The man was having problems with his job. He was a middle man between people needing work and people needing to sell a product. The people needing work were illegal immigrants. So, one group of illegal immigrants were making the products being sold by the other group of illegal immigrants. The cops were being paid, he was being paid, the person in charge of one group of immigrants was being paid. The man was trying to do right for everyone, but he was in the middle when one of the groups was arrested and deported and again when the others died of gas inhalation in a locked, airless warehouse room.
The cemetery where his father was buried had been bought and was to be destroyed so a shopping center could be erected. His father's remains are to be removed and he and his older brother have to decide what to do. The man never knew his father, as his father had died in another country before the man's birth. The brothers must decide whether to cremate their father's body and what to do with the ashes.
The man had been having health problems, but delayed going to a doctor until far too late. His prostate cancer had already spread and was in his very bones. The doctor told him he had only a few months left to live. Now, the man must prepare for his own death.
What would YOU do? Your life is literally falling to pieces before your eyes and you have children who will need care, a brother who is sleeping with your unstable wife and supplying her with cocaine, a job that has vanished into thin air, and your own mortality staring hard at you every minute of every day.
Heartbreaking.

five countries in 24 hours!

Okay, I may have exaggerated just a little about the time factor, but not much. Last night, I attended the 6:30 pm screening of a Swedish film, "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest", as part of the PFS Film Festival at Muse Arts Warehouse. (I actually arrived circa 6:55 pm, but, as good luck would have it, the film had just started its opening credits. Hence, as you will see, the fudge factor on 24 hours.)
The film had English subtitles so we could follow along and I discovered something startling: I had absolutely NO IDEA what they were saying. None! Usually, I can at least partially match up the spoken dialogue with the subtitles in a variety of languages (Spanish, French, Italian, German), but I was stumped for Swedish. It was as if I had been dropped off in that land strange to me and was forced to rely on a translator to make my way. Still, "tack" PFS for that introduction!
After the film, I left Sweden and went in search of more familiar territory... and found it at Bonefish Grill. I had a gift card for that restaurant and was itching to use it! Noel started me off with fresh, warm bread and a plate of herbed olive oil for dipping. Ah, Italia! Grazie tanto!
Then, suddenly, I was transported back in time and geography to the early 1980's and Okinawa. The Ahi Tuna Sashimi had arrived! Lovely, lovely, lovely! Seared on the outside, rolled in pepper and sesame seeds, then sliced into rosy-faced circlets of firm, tasty flesh. As always, served with wasabi and pickled ginger, to spice up and then cleanse the palate. This also included a spicy chili scribble and a bangbang drizzle to change up this dish just a bit. Domo Arigato!
And now it was time to dip towards the equator and a cooler treat: ceviche! Now it was the late 1970's and I was in Panama, being introduced to Corvina Seviche, served in large brandy glasses with saltine crackers alongside. The variation last night had freshly toasted tortilla chips, nicely crunchy. I ate every last drop of the seafood, using a spoon to make sure I had plenty of the finely diced onions and lime juice for every bite. Muchas gracias para los recuerdos!
Sated, I wended my way home and settled in for the evening. Ah, nothing like a trip away from home to refresh the senses!
Then, this evening, REEL Savannah had brought to town a brand-new film from Poland, "Wonderful Summer". So, at 6:50 pm, I was in the theatre waiting for it to begin. (Whew! Just in the 24-hour timeframe!) As I had been married to a half-Polish man for a decade and a half, I had thought I would be able to catch at least a few of the words as they were uttered; sadly, no. Apparently, I only speak Polish food: kielbasa, kapusta, pierogi, golumpki, nalesniki. None of those were mentioned, so I allowed myself to once again to transported into the heart of a foreign land while I depended on subtitles to guide my journey. And what a wonderful, sweet journey it was, following a young woman through her first romance and job search. Thank you, REEL Savannah!