The Dearly Departed

I just finished rewatching The Departed on DVD, which Ben very graciously got for me from his work (well, actually he went next door to his work to EzyDVD, where they were selling it cheaper).

It really is a great movie, and there's so many more details I picked up watching it this time, thanks mainly to the use of sub-titles. But what it reminded me of was when I was working at the cinema, when two elderly women came in - a mother and her daughter. The daughter was old enough to be a grandmother herself. The mother was getting around with a cane. They sat down in the waiting area as they'd arrived early for their screening, as most older folks do.

Eventually they got up to come over and get their tickets ripped. At this stage I realised it was only the elderly mother going to see a movie; her daughter was just there to wait with her until she went in. I also realised she was there to see The Departed. I tore her ticket and let her through, saying it was alright for her daughter to go into the cinema with her to help her into her seat.

I envisioned the woman coming to complain to me after the movie about all the excessive swearing and violence (if you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about). But as the end credits rolled and I went into the theatre to clean it for the next session, I struck up a conversation with the old woman and asked her what she thought.

"Oh, it was wonderful! The performances! The cinematography! The script! Just amazing! What a masterful director!"

... and then she said something that really struck me ...

"The magnificent symbolism of that final shot!"

Well damn, old lady, you know how to subvert somebody's stereotypical expectations and prove what a rockin' granny you really are!

I always liked working floor day shifts after that, because I noticed this woman came in on a weekly basis, sometimes with her daughter, sometimes not, and I always made sure to ask her what she thought of whatever she'd seen.

In fact, it seemed to become a bit of a senior citizen's movie club at my work, where a couple old guys had bought tickets to Ninja Turtles not knowing what it was (given it was shortened to TMNT, how would they?) and asked me if they should see it. I said they probably wouldn't enjoy it, and recommended Hot Fuzz instead, which they saw and loved. They, too, were regulars, offering their opinions on everything from Sunshine to Children of Men.

It's a shame the old lady never came at the same time as them. I could have played match maker!