Happy-Go-Mike-Leigh

I've been in film mode for the last couple of days. Yesterday I went to the Cornerhouse to check out the new Mike Leigh film, 'Happy-Go-Lucky' which was introduced by the director himself and followed by a Q&A with Mike and one of the actresses, Kate O'Flynn who played Suzy in the film.


I'm pleased to report that it's a great fun film with a lot of laughs without being flippant and overly light. It tells the story of Poppy, a thirty year old primary school teacher renting a flat in Finsbury Park who goes about being happy, positive and generally getting on with life. A quite intentional aspect of the film is that she at first appears quite surface to the point of being annoying but you soon realise that she has great wit and intelligence and has a very positive influence on her friends and the world around her. Actress Sally Hawkins who plays Poppy gives a great performance full of charm and humour whilst delivering the more serious scenes with the perfect balance. The film was also a fab little nostalgia trip for me as it was set very near where I used to live in north Camden.

It was interesting to follow with a question and answer session that illuminated on some of the themes of the film. Mike confirmed that he wanted to show a more positive outlook than portrayed in many of his previous films but without ignoring the fact that Poppy is living in the same tough world, the difference being that she deals with life's difficulties in her own way. He also talked about his method of film making using improvisation around ideas and themes, in this case for six months before doing any filming. One questioner suggested that the film is quite feminist potraying women as succeeding in coping with life and the men the one's struggling, a view that Mike agreed with. He also talked about the somewhat ironic fact that he's seen by many as the London film maker despite being from Salford. He said that he'd like to make more films in the north but that it's too expensive up here and actually cheaper in London. This does seem very surprising but he didn't explain why this is the case. It would be a great shame for film making in Manchester if this is generally true. All in all it was a great evening and I'm really glad I went along.

The film theme unexpectedly continued into today. I've just got back from having lunch with my other half and a good mate Helle at the Continental Cafe in West Didsbury where lo and behold, legendary director Ken Loach was there having lunch as well. There were rumours he would be at the Q&A last night as he's in Manchester making a film at the moment. I'm not sure what the film is about or where this is happening. Somewhere near West Didsbury perhaps? Maybe some film buff could let me know.

A Tale of Two Cities

I'm on a brief trip to New York staying with an old friend Frank (François) in the Lower East Side. Frank has been living here for quite a few years now and we've had a few conversations about the rapid gentrification and dramatic change of his neighborhood. The New York Time Out guide suggests the locale is now being referred to as 'BelDel' (short for below Delancey St), much to Frank's horror. It seems like a similar story to the development of our Northern Quarter with bars and cafes replacing the shop fitting stores and clothing wholesalers, and the moniker of 'BelDel' being somewhat like our various new 'quarter' names. There's an implicit assumption that this is a bad thing driving rents up and forcing the artists out but I'm not sure this logic applies to Manchester. Having said that, everyone I meet in New York seems to be a film maker, model or musician so it doesn't seem too bad. Frank is a film editor on a reasonable income but still needs the assistance of a protected rent scheme to afford to stay, a legacy of the fact that he's been here since the area's pre-hip days. In Manchester's case maybe there's more positives than for the Lower East Side and I welcome at least some cafe culture appearing.

That aside I'm having a great time hanging out here, writing this post in one such hipster cafe, Brown on Hester St (pic above). Great coffee and baked eggs. I also checked out guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel at the Village Vanguard and spent a night in the Chelsea Hotel which was quite an experience. Some strange folk and great artwork but I still sensed an element of dated artificiality to it's rather forced bohemia.

alt.didsbury.tea

Having moved back to Manchester a few years ago now (I'm originally from Stockport), I couldn't help but be amused by references to 'leafy boho' Didsbury, as nice a place as it may be. A Cafe Rouge and Slug and Lettuce do not bohemia make. This for sure is not Hoxton or Prenzlauer Berg (no doubt London and Berlin scenesters will dispute the boho cred of these places too). Having said that, the opening of a fantastic new cafe, The Art of Tea, may nudge it a little more in that direction. As the cafe's MySpace says it "promises to put some much needed alt. back into the Didsbury scene!" - [everybody and everything now has a MySpace - apparently the cafe is male and 29 years old]. You can find this great new place at 47 Barlow Moor Road in Didsbury. The cafe offers "wholesome and hearty food, speciality drinks, wifi access, regular events, rotating art work, an awesome soundtrack and somewhere to pick up a classic novel".

This all began as sad story. We headed down to Zero Records a few weeks ago to pick up a second hand CD and maybe a novel from the The Village Book Store at the back of the record shop only the find the place closed, seemingly another victim of bittorrent mp3 file sharing and Amazon. On returning from holiday in Lakeland we drove past to see the Zero Records sign back outside the shop and the new Art of Tea frontage. One of things myself and friends have been moaning about for ages is the lack of a decent cafe and here it now is! The next day we duly patronised the establishment and I can recommend not only excellent tea, but great coffee and a fine cream cheese and sun dried tomato bagel. Even the side salad garnish excelled with rocket leaves and a decent balsamic salad dressing instead of the usual pointless ice berg lettuce . The decor is a sort of alternative granny style with small knitted doilys on the tables and 1950's standard issue retro sofas.

Not only this but The Art of Tea is hosting free Sunday afternoon 'Red Deer Tea Sessions' run by the The Red Deer Club. Local folk fave, Liz Green will playing there on Sunday the 7th of October at 3pm along with Aidan Smith & Sally Murray. Promises to be a good one, Liz being the winner of the Emerging Talent Competition at this years Glastonbury festival.