This morning I tried a different route to Pacific Place for the first film of the day. For the last couple of years, I’ve walked down 5th Avenue from Queen Anne all the way to Stewart, then up to Pacific Place. Recently, it has dawned on me the trip is longer than it needs to be, and I could cut out a minute or two if I shifted to 6th at Denny instead. I don’t know if it saved any time, but it provided a different point of view. Still, I think the shadows of 5th, walking under the monorail and along all the brick buildings, are preferable to the wide open treeless expanse that is 6th Avenue. Too much sun, especially on a day like today.
Regardless, I made it with plenty of time to spare before settling in for Continental, A Film Without Guns, a French-language film out of Quebec. It is a film about loneliness and despair. Aside from a short time in a forest, most of the film takes place in a city devoid of character, of color, of life. The main characters are mostly pathetic, which is why we feel for them. There is humor in the dreariness, and, ultimately, hope. A bit slow-paced at times, with little dialogue.
I was back home for most of the afternoon and early evening. Then at 8 I hopped bus number 8 to Capitol Hill and Northwest Film Forum. Here I watched German documentary Dust about, well, dust. I knew this would be a difficult consumption, so I was mentally prepared – unlike the large handful of audience members who left before the end. Being in German, there were the subtitles to contend with, but there was also no music. There was no tempo to help push us through. Nevertheless, it was an interesting piece, focusing on aspects of dust from highly scientific (these parts had the most audience exits) to the whimsical. There were segments on industrial processes causing dust, methods to get rid of dust, studies of dust, making art from dust. If you can keep your attention on it, well worth watching.