A full week here. The number of plates and the intensity of their spinning seems to have ramped up a gear. Gratefully I realise I’m not alone. Friends share they’re also feeling the weight of keeping everything going. We’re in it together. We hold on tight.
If I’ve learnt anything in recent years (and to be honest I’ve learnt a lot), it’s that when overwhelm looms large, the best antidote is to go small—take the tiniest steps forward, focus on the simplest joys. I’ve dug deep this week and step by tiny step have achieved everything I needed to. I’ve surprised myself.
The strength to maintain that forward momentum was shored up in enjoying a myriad of little treats along the way. A chocolate cupcake and a walk in the rain with a dear friend. Three-quarters of a birthday cake to celebrate my delighted daughter reaching the same age as her favourite wizarding station platform. Spotting a barn owl and six deer by the canal. An excellent flat white. A chapter of War & Peace in the post-school-run silence. A game of mini golf. A cup of tea in the sunshine. A hug.
I also take a lot of delight in what I watch and what I read, of course. Here are my highlights of the week.
Watching:
Living (paid to stream from YouTube)—I missed this at the cinema, so was delighted to see it’s now available to stream. Living is based on a 1950s Japanese film (Ikiru, available to stream on BFI player), adapted by Kazuo Ishiguro no less. It tells the story of Mr Williams (beautifully played by Bill Nighy, who I desperately hoped would surprise everyone and walk off with Best Actor Oscar last Sunday), a senior civil servant, a widow, a man merely existing in a dull meaningless half-life, moving from place to place without purpose just like the manilla folders forever crossing his desk. He receives a terminal diagnosis and decides in his quiet way to re-evaluate what ‘living’ means before it’s too late. It is both as sad as it sounds and incredibly uplifting. It’s a film you feel every moment of—lump in throat, skin tingling, eyes brimming with tears. Beautifully shot, with incredible styling (Sandy Powell, ever the dream costume designer). The classical piano soundtrack dials up the emotion, while leaving plenty of silence to let you simply feel it all. A truly beautiful film.
The Law According to Lidia Poët (Netflix)—Quite the change in tone from Living, thank you so much to Sinù (read her wonderful Substack on food and Venice here), who recommended this in the WTW comments a few weeks ago. Lidia Poët is a riotous romp of a show, a period drama in the Bridgerton style (yep, that got your attention)—bright colours, modern soundtrack, side order of sexiness (such good chemistry between the leads). Set in late-19th-century Turin, Lidia Poët has qualified as a lawyer, the first woman to do so, but is spuriously disbarred as the establishment basically realise they aren’t ready for her (so far, so true story). This doesn’t deter the unstoppable Lidia who goes about solving crimes and getting clients off the hook, letting her lawyer brother (another brilliant character) be the face of the operation while she’s doing all the hard work behind the scenes. It’s a six-episode season (in Italian with subtitles), with a slightly disappointing ending, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed for another season.
Becoming Frida Kahlo (BBC iPlayer)—Frida Kahlo’s life was as interesting and colourful as her paintings, and this three-part documentary series comprehensively explores both. I gained a lot of new Frida facts and context, but found I wasn’t always completely engaged. Maybe I just didn’t have the concentration level for detailed documentary this week.
Side note: I was delighted to see that Navalny (BBC iPlayer), the jaw-dropping documentary on the attempted murder of the Russian opposition leader (mentioned in WTW#1), won an Oscar. We can only hope Navalny himself is one day able to share the accolades.
Reading:
I thoroughly enjoyed my reread of Graham Swift’s Mothering Sunday for Friday’s deep-dive newsletter, Mothering Sunday: shifting portrayals of motherhood. It’s an absolute thing of beauty, and the joy of a novella is I know I can (and will) reach for it often. I also started Ali Smith’s How to be Both this week, one of the long-term residents of my tbr shelf—so far, so very good.
Over to you. Recommendations from your week are always very welcome. And maybe you could share some of your small joys too.
(Includes affiliate links to Bookshop.org, an excellent bookselling website supporting indie bookshops)
Extra credit:
A little bonus interconnection between Living and Lidia Poët for your reading (and listening) pleasure, in the form of Florence + The Machine’s latest album Dance Fever—the final episode of Lidia Poët plays out to the dramatic anthem King (Track 1), and Bill Nighy stars in the amazing video for Free (Track 2).
And as if I couldn’t love Living’s Bill Nighy any more, he took a Sylvanian rabbit as his date to the Oscars (of the same family that my daughter has now inherited from my own childhood collection): https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/mar/14/bill-nighy-sylvanian-rabbit-oscars-living
A huge thank you to Angie for letting me know in the comments about this Hatchards podcast episode with Bill Nighy discussing Ishiguro, Living and hanging around in bookshops:
Finally, here’s the Guardian review on Becoming Frida Kahlo: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/mar/10/becoming-frida-kahlo-review-joyful-portrayal-of-mexican-art-icon
Such a great insight and some great finds I've added to my list to watch... Thankyou claire x
We discovered Slow Horses and The Last of Us - both great in their own way. I've found Daisy Jones and The Six TV adaptation to be good too, although I remember the book keeping me emotionally more engaged. Hope you're well! ❤️