Bordeaux, June 1, 2010

We arrived in Bordeaux last night after a long journey and a day waiting around in Gatwick airport. Always when travelling in France one encounters some unwelcome surprise. Last year we found that the train we had booked on from Libourne did not run - apparently the driver failed to show up for work that day! A previous trip involved a wildcat strike by Air France personnel, because the day had once been a public holiday and the government decided it was no longer to be. So in some ways it was no surprise yesterday when we arrived to find that in the International Arrivals area of Bordeaux Airport there were no immigration officers - there were three booths with green lights on but no personnel - and two plane loads of people waiting and getting more and more impatient! It didn't help that many were English, and there were plenty of mutterings about Bolshie Frogs and the like.

After about ten minutes of waiting with the crowd growing more and more restless, three immigration officers showed up to loud sardonic cheers. They were smiling and good natured and quickly processed us all through. But they had made their point - presumeably to their employer. But it was all so French. I hope Greece will not be like this. I dread to think of the chaos that would result in France if the government had to impose draconian cutbacks of the type Greece is now experiencing.


I saw two good films on the Vancouver-London flight. The first was "Ghost Writer" an adaptation by Roman Polanski of Robert Harris's novel "Ghost" which I read in one day on a long plane journey home from Madrid - last June in fact. The plot of the film concerns a Tony Blair type ex-prime minister at bay in a house in Martha's Vineyard owned by his publisher. It is winter time and he is there working on his memoirs with the help of a ghost writer. It is mid winter and there are lots of shots of grey seas and deserted beaches. The body of an earlier ghost writer has been found on an island beach - he apparently fell or jumped from a ferry to the island. The new ghost follows up on leads left by his predecessor and soon finds himself in similar danger. Meanwhile Adam Lang (aka Tony Blair) played by Pearce Brosnan is being indicted for war crimes by the ICC in The Hague. The film moves at a very good pace. The suspense is maintained and visually it is stunning. I recommend it highly.

The Polanski film leaves one with a very cynical view of the world of realpolitik and of the role of hidden forces shaping world events. The second film I saw was a complete contrast. "Invictus" is an inspiring movie about how Nelson Mandela used the Springbok's efforts in the Rugby World Cup to help bring the new nation together. Against all the advice of his black colleagues he encouraged support for the Springboks - a team which had earlier been a symbol of white dominance to the extent that the black population would cheer for any team playing against them. But Mandela saw the World Cup as an opportunity for healing some of the divisions between the black and white communities. Morgan Freedman is very convincing as Mandela, and the movie ends in a very upbeat way when S. Africa win the Cup in overtime against a powerful All Black side. I was surprised to find that the film had been directed by Clint Eastwood. I associated him more with macho action films. But he did a very good job with Invictus.

I remember the S. African victory and in fact visited S. Africa for the first time the year after. At the time it seemed like a fairy tale, and the events certainly leant themselves well to a movie. Unfortunately I don't think that there will be a fairy-tale ending to the upcoming soccer World Cup - unless it is with England winning it all on penalties!