Today was an incredible day, star-studded and full of... very interesting films. I woke up in the morning and immediately opted to check my ticket portal, and to my excitement, I discovered that Post Tenebras Lux had available invitations! I couldn't have been more excited, so without even considering whether or not I wanted to see the film, I snatched up a ticket to be picked up later.
Rawson and I had a quick breakfast before we made our way to the Salle du 60 in order to see the 11:00 showing of On the Road, the adaptation of the beat novel by Jack Kerouac. It was a 2 hour and 40 minute movie, so we were well aware that we wanted to be in this theater, with its comfortable seats and extra leg room, rather than sit through the premiere the night before. I stopped into the ticketing room to pick up the one I had reserved, which was quite an exciting experience. I felt so important.
We sat in line for awhile, under the harsh, beating, unforgiving Mediterranean sun. Fortunately, I remembered to lotion. Hayley and Sharon arrived to meet us, and had remembered to pick up a copy of Screen. We made our way into the screening and proceeded to sit through a faithful and fairly well-done adaptation of the book that went on forty minutes too long, which I'll tell you more about in my review.
After, we stopped to see if more tickets for the premiere of The Paperboy were available. They weren't. So we grabbed some lunch and headed back. I needed to change into my tux early in order to be ready for The Paperboy after Post Tenebras Lux.
We were running a bit late, so we sprinted to the Lumiere. I was uncomfortably sweaty, but the cool theater quickly remedied that. The film was odd, confusing, beautiful, and... I'm not really sure what to make of it. Here are my thoughts, but I may need to re-evaluate them soon.
We then began begging for The Paperboy. I was with Rawson in the orchestra, and we quickly found tickets for Sharon, Arthur, and Hayley, although Sharon was in serious panic mode. But we knew we would get in, especially after one of the members of the jury, Raoul Peck, wished us luck with our begging. The tickets that flew into our hands were no surprise. We shmoozed for a bit, took some pictures, and I got a mint chip soft serve cone (yum!). We then went inside. Rawson and I were able to go in immediately, and walked the red carpet with our faces plastered on the jumbotron (according to others. We weren't paying attention). Unfortunately, the others did not get into the main theater, but were able to see the film in the Bazin.
Then, the magic happened. Rawson and I got aisle seats, so when the cast and director arrived, they walked right by us. John Cusack smiled directly at me (which Rawson can confirm via video). The rest of the cast filed suit - Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, John Cusack, Macy Gray, and of course, the statuesque Nicole Kidman, one of my favorite actresses with looks that I can only imagine are what the Greeks used to imagine Aphrodite.
The film itself was very good, with stellar performances by everyone, particularly Kidman, which you can read more about here. The applause was enormous, lasting for almost twenty minutes. The cast walked by us again on their way out, and when Nicole walked by, I said, "You were amazing." She smiled at me and said, "Thank you." My heart dropped and I was on cloud nine. In fact, I'm still not fully prepared to write the review because the experience of the premiere was so incredible.
We left with our usual crew and went back to dinner at the place from the night before. We had a great time, but everyone was exhausted, except for me. So when they all opted to go home, I met up with Zoe, and the two of us managed to go to the after party for the film! As we entered, we brushed shoulders with an exiting Reese Witherspoon and her husband. The celebrities had left, but we had a great time with the copious amounts of free food and the most delectably dry champagne. After a full night of fun and conversation, we parted ways, and I collapsed on my bed after a thoroughly fulfilling day.
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