One advantage of going to see niche (i.e. unpopular) films was that social distancing came free with your ticket. The last film we saw in the old days, when people just casually went to the cinema and watched a film, was Little Joe. For one (Monday) night only, with about 20 punters – positively crowded.
Of course the social distancing really was social back then, rather than safety-critical risk mitigation.
Just harmless stuff – keeping out of earshot from people having a final chat, right up to the first line of dialogue. (How do you ask someone nicely but firmly to STFU without making more noise than they are? The hard stare doesn’t work in pitch darkness.) Or trying to keep a smartphone out of your eyeline while someone says a tearful au revoir to their social media presence.
With time on your hands you can catch up with all the smart thinking books which once looked so interesting in Waterstones. But then you need to retain what you’ve read, ideally in some sort of order. The authors don’t help you with smart memorising tricks because then you might realise they’d basically written the same book six times.
One of these books said that nurturing a houseplant boosts your happy hormones and creativity or something. I’m guessing 59 Seconds by Richard Wiseman but I foolishly returned it to the library, so I can’t check.
Little Joe takes this a step further. It’s about a houseplant which is deliberately bred to waft oxytocin around, so everyone feels connected and happy. Which sounds lovely, except universal happiness may not be all it’s cracked up to be… So we’re back to risk mitigation and distancing.
A key influence is Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the atmosphere is very unsettling. It’s colourful, but not in a good way – helped along by a disconcerting Japanese score. But overall, a very well made and amusing film. There’s an illuminating interview with Jessica Hausner on this episode of the Radio 4 Film Programme. Good performances from Emily Beecham, Ben Whishaw and all of the cast, really (including Little Joe).
DVD/Blu-Ray combo is available from the usual sources, or streaming on BFI Player.
