Ventemilla 2009

The 2009 Cannes Film Festival concluded with Austrian director Haneke's "The White Ribbon" winning the Palme d"Or for yet-another movie about the Nazi. My old girlfriend Candida Romero said back in 1988, "When will this war be over?" Possibly never. ANTICHRIST was also recognized by the ecumenical council as the 'anti-film'. It was booed at the screening for rank offensiveness, yet the film's actress, Charlotte Gainsbourg won the award for best actress. Nice to see that the jury can run against the current of outrage.

So Cannes is over. The hotels rolled up the red carpet. The yachts dotting the bay disappear over the horizon and the paparazzi return to the hives of society. Director Amos Poe also evacuated the film festival, abandoned his $1400/week Fiat panda at Nice Aeroport and jumping on the train to Italy. His voyage terminated at Ventemilla. He had missed the connecting train to Milan and was forced to stay in this border town. Amos had nothing good to say about it and neither do I.

I got stuck there in 1985 on the way to Antibes, missing the last train by 10 minutes. Somehow the town's father' must have arranged this delay with the railways on both sides of the border, otherwise no one would ever visit Ventemilla. The trainmaster informed me that the next train was at 6am and suggested a hotel across the street. I walked over to the lobby. The air was stale. The clerk took a hundred-thousand lira room #421. It was sandwiched between the elevator and a TB cough. 40 watt bulb hanging from a wire. A bed valleyed by thousands of 1-hour stands. Sheet slippery as baloney. Several flies buzzed out of reach. After an hour I packed my bag and slept in the train station.

Ventemillia.

Some things never change and usually they are the bad things in life.

Lastly Charlotte Gainsbourg would be perfect for a movie about Patti Smith, n'est pas?