I really didn't know what I walked into when Kate invited me to a movie night, wine tasting and talk with some actor last night.
When she summarized the evening to me I just quickly said yes, and that was it!
I've been to the rooftop bar of the Screening Room countless of times. In fact it's one of my favorite places. And I know they do regular movie nights, but this was not one of those. This was more special.
Since we had been to the Biennale all afternoon, and it was a hot, hot day, I was wearing my typical tropical uniform - shorts and T-shirt. And that's how I went to this event at the Screening Room.
We walk in to a reception with about 35 well-dressed and well-heeled people, a very artsy crowd. And there's me looking like I just came back from the beach. Experience tells me that in these situations the best thing to do is to quickly grab a drink.
As we are ushered to their third-floor comfy in-house theatre, we're told that the movie we initially came to see, called Yes, was not to be tonight. Instead we were going to watch Dean Spanley. In any case, I had heard of neither.
The movie was an Edwardian story about father and sun and their distant relationship. The reconciliation happens at the end after many drinks of Imperial Tokay and countless dog analogies. The storyline may sound weird right now, but actually it was captivating as well as brilliantly acted, with none other than Peter O'Toole playing the father. It was an art house movie that you were most likely never to see, which would actually be a shame.
While watching the movie we were being poured some great Pinot Noir from a New Zealand winery called Two Paddocks, of which I also had never heard of before.
As the movie ended, the whole group moves to the restaurant below, where we're confronted by a delicious spread of Middle Eastern food prepared by Samia, who together with her husband own the Coriander Leaf Restaurant and the Screening Room. The food was extraordinary!
No sooner than we sat down, Samia's husband (the sound of his name is in my head yet it's the spelling that escapes me) stands up and starts commenting about the movie and a discussion entails. People are asking questions that are targeted at this older handsome bloke with a very British demeanor. He's telling us his life story, introducing his wife, talking about his wines, his acting … and slowly I start piecing the story together.
The man standing and talking about himself is Sam Neill, the actor. He was one of the protagonists in the movie we had just seen, as well as played in The Piano, Jurassic Park and several other movies. And besides acting, he has found his passion in wine making, which is where the Two Paddocks brand comes in.
Can you say clueless?!
I really had no idea how my evening was going to turn out, but it ended up providing such an insightful view into the life of an actor, his passion the movies and wine, watched a jewel of a movie and had a wonderful discussion with a small group of movie aficionados which created a delightfully memorable evening.
Thanks Kate for dragging me out.
The Screening Room organizes these exclusive evenings randomly, so I recommend you somehow get on to their mailing list.
