Musical introduction, or “the songs I heard playing in 1985 as I traveled around Europe.” I had no Walkman or radio of my own, so the urban environment provided the tunes. Some I liked, others not so much. From the vantage point of Rome in June, I knew almost nothing about the Live Aid concert coming up on July 13. But coverage escalated as the date drew nearer.
Previously: Euro Pilgrimage ’85, Ch. 4: Greece, Turkey, a famous Pythion interlude, and the Levant according to Hassan.
I’m only a sporadic consumer of motion pictures, and “binge watching” in the contemporary sense remains an alien concept for me as it pertains to scripted television. Documentaries? That’s more like it, and I find them occasionally binge-worthy in their own right when (blessedly) without car chase sequences.
Alas, my preferences seldom make for festive date night viewing, as they run toward the very driest academic documentaries, during which academic professionals who’ve spent their lives studying a specific topic expound upon it, and I am more likely to learn something of genuine importance as a consequence.
However, there are exceptions, evidently so few in number that I remember one that occurred 13 years ago.
In 2012 I was dragged kicking and screaming to view Woody Allen’s then-newest theatrical release To Rome with Love. Reviews were appropriately middling, and I am well aware that Allen has since been “canceled,” but as with other cinematic excursions here and there that I find otherwise lacking, it was impossible in this instance for me to fault the director’s choice of top-tier locales.
As such, start by forgetting the forgettable (i.e., plot and cast). They’re entirely disposable, because the Eternal City itself is the star, and sumptuously depicted. Food is ubiquitous, and wine pours freely in almost every scene. We all might be forgiven for wanting to pack our bags, chuck the daily grind and go frolic by the steps, fountains, gardens and ruins, even if we suspect the city-wide reality might not live up to its cinematic airbrushing.
Rome did, at least the choice bits. I’ve been back only once since the first time in 1985, but it was an essential destination for me during that inaugural trip to Europe, which was intended quite consciously as a “greatest hits”...Read more
