The new movies have been selected and the fifth season is all set. Nine films will be shown at the Century Theatre, one per month, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $9 each, or a Flex-pass for $70. Any nine admissions are covered: bring eight friends to one movie, share with a partner, or attend nine times by yourself. All profits go to the Innisfail library.
ILFC has chosen a variety of genres and we hope that we have something for everyone. See the handout at Century Theatre or from Norma Hoppins at the farmers' market. You can also go online at www.ipl.prl.ab.ca.
If you are wondering if Salmon Fishing in the Yemen means fishing in the desert, you are correct. If you think it sounds absurd, again, you are correct. However, I have visited Dubai and they have built a ski hill in a big shopping mall. It was 105 F outside but people were skiing on a huge hill inside. Dubai has an exquisite hotel shaped like a sailboat, a man-made island shaped like a palm tree (another is ‘the World') for condo living, and it has completed the tallest tower in the world. The Middle East has the money to build the unbelievable. I was in awe.
So, in our movie, when Britain's leading fisheries expert (Ewan McGregor) is approached by a consultant (Emily Blunt) to help realize a sheikh's (Amr Waked) vision of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to the desert, he immediately thinks the project is both absurd and unachievable. I guess he didn't know that they have a ski hill in a mall. When the prime minister's overzealous press secretary (Kristen Scott Thomas) latches on to the idea as a “goodwill” story that will capture the votes of all fishermen, well...
Thus, the movie story begins, and this unlikely team will put it all on the line and embark on an upstream journey of faith and fishing to prove the impossible to be possible.
Swedish director, Lasse Hallestrom, (What's Eating Gilbert Grape?) used a terrific cast and talented writer to make it all come off. Picture postcard cinematography adds to the appeal of a film shot in a faraway and interesting place. Hallestrom knows how to do romantic comedy – you make it funny by putting real people in a situation that's just a tad fantastical and watch them cope with it. It is a charming movie with amazing scenery, great acting and some stunning underwater visuals.
It is enough to make you want to fish, in the Yemen. So much so, that the Yemen Tourist Board has warned British holidaymakers that it does not actually have a salmon fishing industry.
We hope that this first movie is a delight and that you will be ready for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in October. “See you at the movies!”
