martedì 5 aprile 2011

Byrne, baby, Byrne!

New York City, Titus Theater, Moma, Wednesday 23 March 2011, 7 pm. 
Opening night of the New Directors Festival.  
I am there with my friend Rob to see a movie called Margin Call by J. C. Chandor. The reason is simple: Jeremy Irons plays a part in it. The film is very good (I’ll talk about it later in this blog) and after the projection there is a Q&A with the director and one of the actors (no, unfortunately not Irons). Since Rob and I were seated in the first raw, I didn’t have the chance to look at the audience, but when we leave our seats and we are moving towards the exit, I catch a glimpse of somebody... and I almost faint.
Irish actor Gabriel Byrne is standing there, few meters ahead of me, apparently being part of the same world I live in.
This is not the first time in my life I am SO lucky. In 2000, in this same city, I went to see him playing in O’Neill's A moon for the misbegotten. I even talked to him after his performance (and he was very charming), but seeing him again now, it is even more amazing. I consider In Treatment - the HBO TV Series about a shrink and his patients (already arrived at its third seasons) - a real masterpiece and his performance as Doctor Paul Weston simply astonishing (yes, I already wrote a post about it in this blog, so it’s nothing new!). I admire him and love him more than ever. At the moment, in my personal list of “Actors I would like to chat (and possibly marry) with” Byrne is at place n° 1 together with Irish/German actor Michael Fassbender. 

Gabriel Byrne as Doctor Paul Weston (In Treatment)
All this to let you imagine my state of confusion and agitation… I hear two women behind me talking to each other: “Hey, look, there is Gabriel Byrne in front of us”, “Oh my God, what should we do?”, “Well, go and get him!” I immediately think: excellent idea! Let’s go and get him, girls, but none of us has the guts to do so. The problem is, Mr. Byrne is not by himself. There is a stunningly gorgeous woman close to him. His girlfriend, I presume. They walk into the lobby of the theatre where there is a small bar and they meet with two friends.
They start talking, undisturbed. Am I the only one who wants to speak to this man? You gotta be kidding me. Rob explains me that New Yorkers are renowned for their snobbish attitude towards famous people. Evidently enough, I’m not a real New Yorker, and I want immediately ask this man when we will be able to see the season 4 of In Treatment. It’s a question of life or death, do you understand? But, still, I don’t move. I can’t. He is there: elegant, charming, relaxed, smiling, living his life, marvellous. I just stare at him, at the opposite corner of the lobby. I am so persistent that at a certain point Mr. Byrne looks towards me. I can read his thought: who is this crazy woman looking at me so insistently? And it is in this very moment that I think about the last scene of Baisers Volés (Stolen Kisses) by François Truffaut. Antoine Doinel and his girlfriend Christine Darbon are seated on a bench of a public park and this weird man walks towards them. He has been following Christine for the whole movie. But this is the first time that we hear him speaking. He puts himself in front of her, completely ignoring Antoine (he never looks at him) and he makes his love declaration. Yes! This is what I want to do. Walking towards Gabriel Byrne and his girlfriend and, looking Gabriel straight in the eyes, to announce him: “I know life well. I know that everyone betrays everyone else. But it will be different with you and me. We will never be apart. Not even for a single hour. You will be my sole preoccupation. I understand this is all too sudden for you to say yes right away and that you need time to sever the temporary ties that bind you to temporary people. But… I AM DEFINITIVE!”. 

Of course, all this happened just inside my head.  
Outside, I simply watched Gabriel Byrne and his girlfriend going arm in arm to a Moma private event I wasn’t invited to.  
When I got out of the theatre, it was snowing.
Worst of all, few days afterwards, HBO announced the end of the series In Treatment.
Real life sucks, don’t you think? 

12 commenti:

  1. Sometimes I, too fantasize on being a star stalker, In treatment is a tvshow masterpiece!;)

    RispondiElimina
  2. Hi Valérie, I do agree on In Treatment.
    And yes, I love being a star stalker.... LOL!

    RispondiElimina
  3. Darling, la vita reale non fà cosi tanto schifo dai... comunque, è l'unica che abbiamo!
    Non come in cinema, siamo registi, attori protagonisti della nostra vita e il film cambia sempre, rivelando mille sorprese in continuazione...

    RispondiElimina
  4. Saggia Maelle! Ma si, in fondo questa vita è abbastanza sopportabile. Certo, ci fosse un'altra stagione di In Treatment, sarebbe ancora meglio... ehehehe!!!

    RispondiElimina
  5. I'm sure that he had the same thoughts about you, but he just didn't dare to walk away from his companion, much as he would have liked to :) I really enjoy your New York reports. May I mention them in my next post about New York?

    RispondiElimina
  6. Not TOO sure about Gabriel's feeling towards me, Olga... Thanks for the nice words. I'm glad you enjoy reading my NY stories. Of course you can mention them in your posts... I'm honoured!

    RispondiElimina
  7. In the immortal words of my favorite lion (aka Mr. Irons), "Life's not fair." I'm sorry you missed the opportunity to speak with Gabriel and the show was cancelled. Looking forward to your post about 'Margin Call.'

    RispondiElimina
  8. Dear Wendy, thanks for your words. Post about Margin Call and the other movies I've seen in NY will be posted soon. Useless to say, our JI was just to die for, in the movie!!!

    RispondiElimina
  9. Ciao Zazie. Mi piace il tuo blog, sono tra i tuoi follower adesso. Quando hai tempo passa anche tu da me, se ti va, bacio
    www.rivierabrides.com

    RispondiElimina
  10. Ciao Riviera Brides! Grazie di seguire il mio blog. Anche io sono diventata una seguace del tuo. Ai matrimoni per la verità "non ci vado tanto appresso", come si dice a Napoli, ma le foto che pubblichi sono stupende. Quelle del matrimonio anni '50 a New York, poi, sono da urlo!!!! Voglio tutto quello che ha lei addosso!!!

    RispondiElimina
  11. What a wonderful post ... about love, real (or imagined). I will have to see the movie you showed the end of, how magical! Your post made me chuckle, and then smile winsomely. Thanks!

    RispondiElimina
  12. Dear Sarah Frances, thank you so much for words! The movie I showed the end of is one of the reasons why life is worth living. I hope you'll like it as much as I do... let me know!

    RispondiElimina

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