Woody Allen, Nollywood parallels and forgotten trivia

Went to see Woody Allen's new film Matchpoint -which has received praise and criticism in fairly equal measure- over the weekend. The plot was straight out of a Nigerian home video (and this is no criticism- just a reflection on the "universality" of the theme)- poor boy meets rich boy, they become friends, rich boy's sister falls in love with poor boy, and so he is absorbed into the rich family, his life changes, but then he cheats on his rich wife, unleashing a whirlwind of catastrophe. While there were no references to supernatural powers, which might have popped up in a Nollywood movie, the portrayal of the lifestyles of the rich- their huge mansions and glamorous parties could have come straight out of a Nigerian movie, except that this was set in London and was about the English rich.

It's a thriller and the plot twists and turns satisfyingly but I loved most that it was set in London, and portrayed the beauty of that city. Perhaps in response to criticisms that Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral,Notting Hill, Bridget Jones, Love Actually) paints an unrealistically white portrait of London, Woody made sure that they were faces of colour aplenty in HIS film- mostly walk on/extra roles (or what is known in Nollywood as waka pass) but there....

On the tube on Sunday morning, I was sitting next to an English mother and daughter- mother probably in her late sixties, daughter late thirties and early forties, sort of upper-middle class in their dress and speech- they were chatting about the play they had been to see the previous night- Mary Queen of Scots and they then segued into trying to list the wives of Henry VIII. They kept this up for five minutes, and kept omitting one . I struggled with the propriety of eavesdropping but knowing how maddening things like that can be, in the end as I turned to leave the train, I said "It was Katherine Howard". The surprised, amused delight on their faces lit my day for a few minutes......

Now I wish someone will do the same for me - there's an aria from an opera in the Woody Allen that keeps buzzing in my head- I think it's Verdi, my friends I went to see the film with think it's Mozart.....unfortunately I can't write it out......