HAMEDY: A brief encounter

In America, Valentine’s Day is blown out of proportion by marketers (Hallmark, you card whore) to the point where single girls feel obligated to eat chocolate for 24 hours and taken girls have high expectations for their dates. However, in London, Feb. 14 is just another day – sure, there are those who celebrate religiously. But it’s not as hyped up.

By that I mean people don’t carry around giant teddy bears or declare their love on the London Bridge.

Anyway, two of my friends and I decided this Valentine’s Day would not be filled with drowning ourselves in chocolate (although this happened later, of course) but instead with a night out in the town. After all, we’re in London – no time for lousy chick flicks and hopeless thoughts. Little did we realize that this night would turn into an adventure like no other.

Donning “red hot red” lipstick and a black dress with a heart-shaped back, I headed to a themed theater that was featuring a British 1940’s film called “A Brief Encounter.” As I walked into the doors of The Troxy theatre in London, I had low expectations. Time to watch another movie that will depress me like all black and white films do. #Bittersinglegirlproblems.

Instead, I found myself walking into a brief encounter with another decade. Like Owen Wilson in “Midnight in Paris,” I felt like I had just walked into a Jay Gatsby party, with a 1940’s twist. Like Owen, I was baffled but completely in awe by my surroundings.

Hosted by “The Future Cinema,” the screening was the launch of an event called the Other Cinema, which aims to bring “community, passion and shared experience back to cinema.” And that it did. They turned The Troxy into a “Picture Palace” and I was there to witness it in all of its glory.

As we stood in line to get in, ushers and usherettes, dressed up to theme, and chatted with us in the crisp air. “Excuse the cold, the cue (line) is moving soon – enjoy the cinema experience!”

The theatre was surreal – a woman in a poufy dress, wearing a beret standing on a cardboard box waved to attendees as the sound of a smooth saxophone echoed through the main hall.

Once we sat, the shenanigans began. The audience was given sheets that had songs to sing along too (very “Rocky Horror Picture Show”) and the manager of the theatre introduced stage dancers who made several appearances throughout the night. Fog surrounded the stage as blue and red lights focused on the dancers and swing music played.
After 40 minutes, it went dark. It was time: “A Brief Encounter” had begun. Ah, love.

The film is all about a married woman who meets a man at the train station and falls in love after weekly tea and movie dates. Her narration, while at times comical, was honest – something films in our decade lack. Rather than be depressed, I felt exhilarated. It was a brief encounter with better “chick flicks.”

After the film finished, the floor filled up with everyone from age 20 to age 70 rocking everything from flapper dresses with feathers in their hair to bowties and tuxes. It was a brief encounter with fashion that doesn’t fail to flatter.

Before I knew it, I was clanking my heels on the wooden dance floor and flapping my arms back and forth in an attempt at swing dancing. I didn’t need a partner – besides my girls – all I needed was the sweet serenade of oldies music blaring from speakers and the company of hundreds of strangers clad in dapper suits and dresses. It was a brief encounter with these dancing machines.

At one point, I found myself perched against a wall, snapping my fingers to “Hit the Road Jack” and absorbing my surreal surroundings. Is this real? Yes. It was a brief encounter with a 1940’s version of me.

So that was Valentine’s Day in London: A brief encounter with another decade. Brief but brilliant.

Saba Hamedy is a College of Communication and College of Arts and Sciences junior, Fall 2011 editor-in-chief of The Daily Free Press and now a weekly columnist. She can be reached at sbhamedy@bu.edu.