Dancing to Bande A Part

Last week I found myself doing an imitation of the famous dance sequence from Band of Outsiders (Bande A Part). The location was a bus stop after midnight on a desolate Philadelphia street. I danced under the street lights and in the middle of the road (there little traffic at that time). I'm not sure why I did it. I guess I'm just becoming more silly in my isolation. I so want to exhibit the French New Wave love for life. That is what I've learned from the films of this wonderful period. Life is enjoyed through action, and not through a voyeuristic passivity that is so common in American society. We Americans don't live. We view other people living. Which has inevitably lead to the proliferation of so-called reality TV. One of the best features of the French New Wave is the near absence of the television. The most prevalent form of visual entertainment shown is that of the cinema. Television is an introverted experience tied to the home. The cinema is a public form of entertainment that requires the viewer to congregate with others. You share your spontaneous laughter and tears with individuals scattered throughout the darken theater. When I exit the film and I'm walking along the streets of my city I try to remember to put into practice the lessons I've learned. We view life all the time but learn nothing. Film give us a rare opportunity - to view a life in totality - not just in snapshots. My life is also a movie. I'm determined to live it!