Dear Julia,
For the last few days, I’ve been suffering from London withdrawal. While intellectually, I recognize that city will never be as it was during grad school — filled with all the wonderful characters we had a chance to know — sometimes, my love of the city overwhelms and until I can visit again, the only way to subdue my longing for London is through film.
So, in case you were suffering from a case of the post-London blues, I thought I’d prescribe a few films. Here are my faves; some of these even inspired me to live in the city, which makes you wonder at the power of film and media to influence people…
1. Howard’s End
2. The Remains of the Day
3. Miss Julie
4. Sense and Sensibility
5. Velvet Goldmine
6. Absolutely Fabulous (This bbc tv series is the definitive reason I knew I needed to live in london)
7. Coupling (Another bbc tv series and how I’d imagine my post-LSE life in London)
8. The Winter Guest
9. Shirley Valentine
10. Trainspotting
11. Little voice
12. About a Boy
13. Blow Dry
14. The Triple Echo
15. Metroland
Love from not-London,
Nilanthi
Hi,
This is the first time I am visiting yr website/blog. I was going through my frd’s list on facebook to see if I do know all ppl on the list. In my process to recollect when and how I know Julia, I found yr blog. I think we met at Miriam’s farewell dinner and sadly never after that!
On your post, I often have this fleeting but overwhelming urge to return to London. Sometimes I replay my walks from Rosebery Avenue to Houghton Street in my head. I always thought it was my ‘third world’ obsession with living in the West. So it’s a relief to know that you and possibly Julia feel the same. Other days I am excited to see images of London in movies! May be for me what makes London so alluring is the impossibility of living there again- given my citizenship. I miss the parks, the long walks, the people I met and the happy possibility of having a beer anytime of the day, the freedom of time and the absence of a structured day, the cold and I think what I miss most is the sound of silence and the time I spent with myself.
Thanks for the list. I’ll check it out. I have seen some of them. I think Sliding Doors is another movie that makes me want to return.
Thanks for the SATC 2 review. It’s just been released in India. I saw the first one last night on TV. The 4 of them are surely fashion icons and glamorise the lives of single women in NYC. Strangely, though their lives are enviable to most women and they do represent the power of being single in a big, cosmopolitan city (esp. in India), they always appear love-sick. I agree what makes the series so exciting is their over two decade long friendships. I’ll drop you a note after I see the second one.
I love the discussions on gender and the missive-personal style of the blog. Although, it makes me guilty to be here and reading the posts/personal exchanges!
Loved reading Howard’s End, have yet to watch the movie (I tend not to like movies based on books that I really liked). Sense and Sensibility (and all other Jane Austen movies) have also made me want to see England, though I haven’t made it there yet.
Haha I love that Ab Fab made you want to live in London. I guess it is classic LDN.