Theory of Flight premiere in New York
December 10, 1998
by Jane Land (as written for the Ken-Friends mailing list)
...We took a cab over to the
theatre, found the right entrance (the one with the carpet on
the sidewalk, of course!), went in and could hardly avoid noticing
the cluster of flashbulbs going off to our left. There were Ken
and Helena, posing for the professional photographers. I *think*
he had his arm around her when I first saw them. Various people,
who may or may not have been journalists or Fine Line execs or
City Parks bigwigs were going up to them and saying things and
asking questions, but I just got out my camera and started snapping,
as did Paula.
Brave Jude, on the other hand,
sidled her way a little nearer the front - fortunately it wasn't
too much of a crush - and when Ken turned and saw her, he immediately
said, "Hi, Jude. I'm so glad you made it," took her
hand and gave her a kiss on the cheek. (Well he said something
like that - I'm relying on Jude and Paula to check my memory
of all of this!) Jude looked dazzled and exalted, and I do believe
that her feet levitated several inches off the floor.
I've got the photos back already
(that was one of the real life things I had to do!), and I'm
sending a set off to dear Ngoc ASAP. They're not great, but I
was nervously fumbling with the camera, and it's great that they
came out at all!
Okay, okay, I know what you're
all thinking - "WE WANT A DESCRIPTION!" So here goes:
First of all, the mustache is gone - thank heaven from my point
of view. Clean-shaven, hair reasonably short, natural color (dark
ash blond), and thin. Maybe not as thin as for Hamlet, but noticeably
thinner than in the last few talk show appearances, though I
know that the camera adds pounds His head's a little to big for
his compact body, as we all know. (Insert one of Ngoc's jokes
about asteroids here) The better to hold the brains, *I* think!
Very, very fair-skinned. No lips. (Insert chorus of "It
ain't what you got, it's how you use it"!) Pale eyebrows
and eyelashes. Trace of a double chin in spite of the thinness.
See how accurate and objective
I'm trying to be? Everything I'm writing is perfectly true, but
neither the description not the photos do justice to how completely
adorable he is in person. Completely. Truly, truly, truly. Adorable.
He was wearing a dark gray pinstripe
suit with a vest (waistcoat to the Brits - I'm not talking about
his undershirt!), a white shirt and a dark navy tie with a subdued
diamond pattern. The lapels of the suit were wider, and cut higher,
as was the vest, than they are on my husband's suits. I think
it's because Ken's suit was a British three button pattern, while
most American suits are two button. (Yeah, right - Jane the fashion
expert speaks!) I was a bit disappointed that, in spite of what
the Times said, it wasn't black tie. I had wanted to see Ken
in a tuxedo/dinner jacket. Ah, well. Believe me, I'm *not* complaining!
(Except about the shoes - they were the same ugly, clunky shoes
he was wearing on Leno. Somebody - Tamar or Helena - should put
them in the garbage when he's not looking. :-))
You know, I think I'd better
post this and do some real work. Back shortly - we haven't even
gotten to the movie yet!
-----------------------------
Here we go again...
Specifically, here we go up the
escalator toward the theatre. Jude did suggest that Paula and
I go over and meet Ken, but I wasn't quite sure if she planned
on introducing us, or whether it was the right time, so the moment
passed. I know, I know - you're thinking I was crazy, but my
two deepest desires were in conflict. Much as I wanted to speak
to Ken, I was equally anxious not to make either a pest or a
fool out of myself. (But don't worry... the evening's not over
yet! ;-)
The theatre, which was sizeable,
with a balcony, wasn't full :-( but there was a pretty decent
crowd. Seats were assigned, so that while Jude was, fortuitously,
right behind me, Paula wasn't anywhere near us, though she could
have moved, had we known - half of Jude's row was empty! After
most of the audience had settled down, Ken, Helena and miscellaneous
bigwigs came down the left-hand aisle and sat in the far left
front. A man and woman from the City Parks Foundation made a
few remarks and there was a brief slide show about the foundation.
Apparently they have some sort of relationship or agreement with
Fine Line, which is how Theory of Flight (and we!) ended up at
their benefit.
Then Helena got up. The gist
of her remarks was that she hoped we enjoyed the movie, they
had enjoyed making it, she had been very excited by the script
- I think she may even have said that it was her favorite part
of any she had played. She said, quite amusingly, that if we
didn't like the movie, "and if you happen to see me or Ken
at dinner, please lie! We're very sensitive." Also that
it was supposed to be funny, so "please laugh." Then
she said (I wish I could be certain of the exact words), "And
now I'll introduce my much more articulate, my co-actor, my dear
friend, well, my, my boyfriend, Ken Branagh."
She really stumbled charmingly
over that last bit, as if she couldn't quite believe she was
saying it out loud. Isn't this only their second Offical Public
Appearance together? Windsor Castle was the first. And while
"boyfriend" sounds a little odd for people in their
thirties, it's a lot better than "my lover" as Emma
calls Greg Wise. That always makes me gag a bit, and I don't
think that Ken would appreciate it as a public label.
Now I have a dreadful confession
to make. Ken got up and said a few sentences - and I don't remember
a word of it! Jude and Paula - help! I'm so glad that there were
three of us there - it's the only thing that may save me from
rotten eggs and wet noodles! I do know that he can't have said
anything *very* dramatic, or I would remember it. Then he and
Helena walked back up the aisle. I heard that they were planning
on staying for the screening, but I don't know where they sat.
Now to the movie itself. I'm
not going to give a full-fledged review, and I'm certainly not
going to discuss any plot points - I'll save that until it has
opened in at least NY and LA, and a few more people have seen
it. So the remarks below are pretty general and safe to read,
except for real purists. For them I'll put this warning:
SPOILERS
even though I don't think it's
necessary.
I know that Lisa wasn't thrilled
with The Theory of Flight (and she's a journalist), but I'm with
Ngoc on this one. I LOVED IT! I really, really LOVED it. I'm
sure it has its flaws, but I didn't, and don't, want to think
about them yet. The central performances are wonderful, the chemistry
is wonderful and I had the biggest, silliest, happiest smile
on my face the entire time I was watching it. I can't wait to
see it again! At this moment, when, I admit, I'm still in a somewhat...
exalted... mood, I think I like it the best of all the movies
Ken's made which he *didn't* direct. (It's a close thing with
Othello though, which had Ken's superb Iago and at least *some*
of Shakespeare's words.) Certainly, unlike Celebrity or even
GBMan (which I liked) it has a heart and a soul and characters
worth caring about.
Now maybe when I've seen it again
(and again and again and again) I'll be able to separate the
qualities of the film as a film from certain other factors, because...
Well let's just say that for this movie, the smushie meter is
going off the scale. (Which had more than a little to do with
that smile of mine!)
END SPOILERS
If anyone wants to engage in
a further discussion of the film, either on or off list, let
me know. I'm trying to be very restrained here until I get a
green light to say more.
When the movie was over (it got
a decent amount of applause - I restrained myself from standing
up and woohooing, but I made sure to clap loud and long), we
piled into buses to be taken to the Plaza Hotel for dinner in
the Grand Ballroom. I assume that Ken and Helena got a limo -
they certainly weren't on our bus!
----------------
Where was I? Ah, yes, on the bus, going to the Plaza. (OFT -
I *love* the Plaza. It has a portrait of Eloise, the brattiest
children's book heroine ever. Besides, it's right across the
street from the theatre where I first saw Hamlet!)
They passed out seating lists
as we got on the bus, and luckily we were all at the same table.
We had been rather nervous that we'd be split up and would have
to explain to our separate tables of park-loving dermatologists
and lawyers and bankers what we were doing there. We were at
table 48, and I treasure the rather mundane seating list because
Ken's name is on it, alphabetized with mine and everyone else's
- "Branagh, Kenneth Table 33". (Which was actually
the head table.) This is probably the only time I'll see our
names listed in tandem!
The ballroom was packed - certainly
it seemed like a larger crowd than the one in the theatre, but
I think that was simply because it was a smaller space. Paula
and I made a trip to the ladies room, and on our way back spotted
Ken, again with several photographers, in a corner of the adjacent
room where they were serving drinks, in earnest conversation
with an executive-looking type. Tamar, who we recognized from
Jude's description, was leaning aginst the wall near them, looking
somewhat formidable, so we didn't hang about, though I did say
to Paula that what I really wanted was to become invisible so
that I could stand there and shamelessly gawp at him. We struggled
back to our seats (really, there was hardly room to move in there,
especially once people started to pull out their chairs), Jude
went to the ladies room, and on the way back (wonderful, wonderful
Jude!) mentioned to Tamar that she had a couple of friends with
her. Tamar said that "We're working now," but maybe
Jude could stop by later...
By the way, we had wondered,
and it's now officially established that Tamar's name is pronounced
"Tame-ar". She's tall and thin with very short black
hair, very nice, obviously very smart, and equally obviously
very protective of Ken. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
To be honest, dinner wasn't very
good - I know that comfort food is fashionable right now, but
chicken pot pie? At the Plaza? But it hardly mattered. I barely
ate anyway. To eat at all efficiently, one has to look down,
and if I'd looked down, I'd have had to take my eyes off Ken,
who was standing by his table for a long time talking with several
people, one of whom, a semi-elderly woman, actually started patting
him on the shoulder to emphasize whatever point she was making.
He was a good thirty feet away from us, but I got quite cross
every time a waiter or guest blocked my view momentarily!
Finally he sat down, and we ended
up having a quite enjoyable conversation with the other people
at our table, which started with overhearing one of the men practically
drooling over Helena and how gorgeous and talented she is, which
led to debates among them about how old she is, and how old Ken
is, at which point we couldn't resist enlightening them. They
seemed quite tickled to hear about the t-shirt and the birthday
charity gift and that Jude had had tea with Ken, and we filled
them in on both Ken and Helena's entire filmographies. The fellow
who liked Helena so much earned my approval by grumbling jealously,
"So how come he's 38 and looks like that and has her, and
I'm only 37 and look like this?" (Actually, he was a perfectly
nice-looking man.) They enjoyed hearing about, among other things,
all the little jokes in Dead Again, but I was very proud of Jude
when one of them asked, "So why did that marriage *really*
break up?" Jude answered coolly, "Who knows? They've
never discussed it publically," and the topic died a fast
death. (It struck me at that point that we were feeling, in a
more distant way, something of the same protective instinct about
Ken's privacy that Tamar exhibits.)
When the meal was over there
were a few, mercifully very brief, speeches about the parks,
and people began to make leavetaking motions. The head table
was still seated, but it was basically then or never, so I said
to Jude, "Come on. Take us over and introduce us to Tamar.
At least we can do that. The fact that she just happens to be
sitting at the same table as Ken doesn't *necessarily* have to
mean anything!" So we said a fast goodbye to our tablemates
and squeezed our way toward the front of the room. Just before
we got there, Ken stood up and moved a few feet away. I don't
know if he'd had time for much of any dinner, but there wasn't
anything left at his place but an empty coffee cup.
We shook hands with Tamar who
gave us a quick scrutiny and seemed to decide that we were harmless.
She asked Paula, "Haven't you written?", and Paula
(who had) answered, "I admit nothing" (Much Ado About
Nothing), which made Tamar laugh. She asked me if she had met
me before, which I had to deny - believe me, if I'd met the woman
whose job we all covet, I'd remember it. (But I didn't tell her
that.) Then Jude, whose mind was *full* of fruitful ideas since
the first project had gone so well, asked how Ken would feel
about showing up if the Ken-Friends ever held some kind of meeting
or convention. Tamar laughed at first, but then actually gave
the idea some serious thought. She said that he wouldn't want
to do a signing or photo opportunity where dozens or hundreds
of people all came rushing at him - that, she said, would "freak
him out." (See what I mean about protective?) But he would
probably love to do some kind of question and answer session
- he might really enjoy that with a group such as ours! And it
could be done either in England or over here. Sooo... the idea
has been floated, Jude now knows Tamar, and we'll have to see
what develops. Certainly we have both Tamar's attention and Ken's
now - and they've seen, mostly through Jude, that we're not raving
lunatics or drooling groupies. (Uhmmm... :-)
Sending, and getting a cup of
coffee now - *really* good stuff coming up... Back in a couple
of minutes!
------------------
I'm back (with coffee to aid my typing and compostion skills)
At this point, Ken, with his
back to us, was actually blocking our most natural route out
of the room. Of course we *could* always have backed up, wound
our way around some other tables and managed to avoid him, but
somehow we didn't want to do that. So we hovered for a few seconds
until he half-turned around.
Oh, by the way, (aren't I good
at making you wait? ;-)), Helena was right there, too, talking
to someone, and I should say something about her. (See, Deborah,
I didn't forget!) First of all, if I had gotten to talk to her,
which I didn't, I wouldn't have had to lie about the movie -
I did love it, and her performance is seriously wonderful. She's
tiny, of course, and looks much as you would expect. Her looks
are less chameleon-like than Ken's, so it's easier to get used
to seeing her in person. (Or maybe I've just got a Ken fixation?
Nooo - couldn't be!) Porcelain-white skin, huge dark eyes and
the sort of totally messy hair (insert one of Ngoc's squirrel's
nest jokes here) that only a woman who knows she's beautiful
tries to get away with. She was wearing a long skirt patterned
with olive-green leaves and reddish-purple flowers (I didn't
like the colors) with a black camisole top and a short jacket
in the same material as the skirt. Oh, and as I told Paula on
the way in, there is one other thing that I might have wanted
to say to her: "You had better be very, very, very good
to him, or we will be very, very, very angry with you!"
So much for her... ;-)
And then Ken saw Jude out of
the corner of his eye, turned all the way around, and said, "Jude
- so where are your friends?" He did. He really honestly
did! And there we were. Jude said, "Well - they're right
here," indicated us, and took a half-step back. I can't
honestly remember if I put out my hand first or he did. His hands
are are warm - at least last night - and I don't *think* that
my palms were sweaty! He smiled, I murmured my name, said it
was wonderful to meet him and said I loved the movie (so original,
wasn't I?). He thanked me and then shook Paula's hand as well.
Then someone - and I'm pretty sure it was me :-) said that we
were very excited about Love's Labour's Lost, which is obviously
a subject which delights him. He said that he has a very good
feeling about it and thinks that it may be something quite special.
Paula said that she is looking forward to hearing him sing, and
Jude interjected that she *has* heard him sing - she has that
old "Thompson" episode on tape. Ken chuckled and said,
"The voice has come on a bit since then. In fact, we just
made a CD of the songs we'll be using in Love's Labour's Lost.
Just me and the piano, to get a rough sense of the length of
things and how they'll fit into the film." He also said
that the choreography is almost finished, and that he plans to
learn all his own dancing during January, so that when shooting
starts in February he can get on with directing "and they'll
[the rest of the cast] have to catch up." (With a slightly
mock-wicked smile.) Paula said, "It's going to be so much
*fun*!" and Ken agreed, looking delighted again.
Jude and Paula - help again!
That's all the specifics I remember, and yet it didn't seem as
brief as it sounds above. In any case, Tamar came over and told
him it was time to go (part of her job, I'm sure - to keep him
moving along), so we said goodbye.
A whole heap of general impressions
- that pale Irish skin looks very soft and his face is so gentle
and friendly. He doesn't smell of anything - not the Elysian
Fields, not aftershave, and, thank God, not cigarette smoke!
Maybe he really has quit. He smiles easily, but there's none
of the slightly manic energy he tends to have in talk show appearances
- or even that he had at Yale. Oddly enough, I think he *is*
a little shy - or at any rate, when he's in front of a large
group or doing publicity stuff he can consciously turn himself
"on" and become a "public person" in a way
that's not necessarily natural to him. He seemed closer to a
simpler way of being in the few short minutes we had last night
- it's the quality that made me say, after he spent that brief
time in the lobby at Yale (and he was far more tense even then,
I think), that he is sweet. He really is. Really, truly. Sweet.
It's dangerous to try to speculate
about anyone with whom one has spent only a few minutes, but
he said in a recent print interview that he's much happier these
days, and I think it's true. He's settled into his house, he's
gone back to Shakespeare and to directing and he and Helena seem
happy. (Okay, I know that I'm getting into noodle-lashing territory
here, but...) Jude is convinced that Helena absolutely adores
him, and since I'm feeling rather sentimental about them as a
couple after last night, I hope that it's true. For both their
sakes.
So that's about it. We walked
back to Jude's hotel and every few feet one of us would say,
"Isn't he wonderful? Isn't he precious? Isn't he just absolutely
and totally *perfect*? And the other two would agree.
Back to Articles Listing
Back to the Compendium |