Catherine Deneuve

            I was surprised on Saturday morning to find out that we are in a leap year. I never saw anything mentioned about it online and didn’t notice it in my weekly planner. I didn’t have to post my “Five Years Ago Today” or my “Thirty Years Ago Today” journals because 1990 and 2015 did not have February 29s.

            I finished working out the chords for “Est-ce est-ce si bon" by Serge Gainsbourg and started posting it on Christian’s Translations.

            In the late morning on my way to the supermarket I stopped at Freedom Mobile to pay for my March phone service. They lock the front door now for security reasons and buzz customers in.

            At No Frills I bought a pint of blueberries, a pint of strawberries, a half pint of raspberries, seven bags of mostly black grapes, a bunch of bananas, liquid detergent, mouthwash, shampoo and two cartons of soymilk.

            I had two Montreal bagels in the freezer. I took them out and at lunchtime I toasted one of them for a pastrami and old cheddar sandwich with dijon.

            Ever since the landlord installed the new toilet a few weeks ago it has gotten plugged very easily compared with the old one. I had to plunge it vigorously for five minutes in the afternoon. I notice that the tank is much smaller than the old one. I went online and found that I could raise the floater so the tank fills higher. I did that and so hopefully that fixed the problem.

            For dinner I toasted the last of my bagels to sandwich a pork burger with cheese. I had it with a beer while watching the film, “Dancer in the Dark", starring Bjork. This was an artfully done movie but incredibly depressing. The story is set in 1964. Bjork’s character Selma has come from Czechoslovakia to the United States with her twelve year old son Gene. Selma works for low wages at a factory and lives with her son in a trailer on the property of policeman Bill Houston and his wife Linda. Selma saves everything but rent and food money towards an operation for her son. She has not told Gene this but he suffers from a genetic defect that would eventually make him blind if he does not have surgery at the age of thirteen. It is already too late for Selma and we see her losing more and more of her eyesight as the story unfolds. Selma's passion is musicals and she is rehearsing the part of Maria in a local amateur production of The Sound of Music. But Selma also stages elaborate dance and song numbers in her imagination whenever life gets stressful or tedious. The rhythm for each of these numbers is always derived from that of the ordinary sounds she hears around her, such as the beats made by the machines in the factory or the rhythm of a passing locomotive. But Selma's diminishing eyesight and her daydreaming cause her to lose her job. She also has to stop working in the play for fear of falling off the edge of the stage. With her final pay she has almost acquired the money needed for Gene’s operation. Meanwhile, Selma’s landlord Bill is having secret financial difficulties that he has only confessed to Selma because he is afraid that Linda would leave him if she discovered that he has spent all of his inheritance and is now deeply in debt. He asks Selma for a loan from her savings but she tells him she can’t do that. While Selma is at work Bill steals all of Selma's savings from the can where she has been keeping it. When Selma confronts Bill about the money she takes it back from him but he pulls his gun. She cannot see the gun and so he puts it in her hand. They struggle and Bill is accidentally shot but he refuses to give her the money unless she uses his gun to put him out of his misery. She shoots several times and empties the gun in his direction but only one of the bullets hits him and it is not a mortal wound. Since he still won’t giver her back her money, to fulfill his wishes she takes a metal object and repeatedly bashes his head until he is finally dead. Selma takes the money to the clinic that would perform her son’s surgery and gives them the money. She is arrested in the middle of a dance number that ends with her falling into the arms of the cops. During Selma’s murder trial she tells the truth about everything except for what she did with the money. She is found guilty of murder and is sentenced to hang. While she is waiting in prison for her execution new. Selma’s friend Kathy, played by the great Catherine Deneuve, has been taking care of Gene and she has revealed to the court Selma’s real reasons for saving the money. This gives Selma a stay of execution as the case is re-opened. But when Selma learns that Kathy has spent the money for Gene’s operation on a competent lawyer she refuses to participate and her execution moves forward. Even Selma's final walk to the gallows is accompanied by a dance number. As Selma is standing on the trap door with the noose around her neck Kathy informs her that her son has had the surgery and it was a success. Selma sings one more happy song, which is cut short as the trap door opens and Selma dies.

            The musical numbers, which are the only moments of happiness in the film, serve as punctuation for a story that becomes increasingly more tragic as it unfolds. I went to bed feeling very depressed.

            The film was directed by Danish director Lars Von Trier. Later Bjork alleged that Von Trier sexually harassed her during the making of the film. Bjork says that after every take Von Trier would run up to her and give her long hugs that she did not consent to while stroking her. After two months of this she told him to stop and he became angry.

            Catherine Deneuve wondered why she didn’t say “No” or “That’s enough” sometime during the two months of hugging.