Firebrand

On Friday evening, 6 TIC members braved the rainy and damp weather to gather at Cinecitta to see Firebrand. The film, the first English film by Brazilian film-maker Karim Aïnouz, was a period drama inspired by the lives of King Henry VIII and his last wife, Katherine Parr.  Alicia Vikander stars as Katherine, and an almost unrecognizable Jude Law plays Henry VIII. The story follows the Queen and dove deep into the life of a woman married to a tyrant. As she begins to maneuver behind the scenes, she runs the risk of being the latest wife to meet her demise at the hands of Henry VIII.

After the film, we settled down for a drink in the cozy Cinecitta restaurant/café to talk about the film. All agreed that it was very dark and rather depressing. Maybe we will have to watch cartoons or a few American rom-coms to restore a positive outlook!?! While the costumes were indeed spectacular, we were all at a bit of a loss to explain why the film was received at Cannes with an 8 minute standing ovation. Really….?

We quickly turned to other topics, such as why some people like dark & realistic films that are true to life, while others prefer films which allow the viewer to escape into a kinder reality. From there, conversation drifted to favorite films, binge-able Netflix series, vacation destinations and how our lives would have been different if we had not met a partner of a different nationality or taken that overseas assignment. In short, a great start of the weekend…and by the time we left, the rain had stopped!