Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea

CTC in the Movies: Howards End

Howards End, adapted from E. M. Forster's 1910 novel Howards End, is one of the few movies I can watch over and over again and never tire of. I am endlessly fascinated by one facet or another. Sometimes I can only think of the story and the characters. Sometimes I turn the sound off entirely and just enjoy the fashion, architecture and customs of an era gone by.

Today I focus only on the tea moments. 

Howards End deals with the struggles of 3 families in different classes.  Forster's epigraph in the novel aptly condenses the story into two words -- "Only connect".  The characters in the story are all dealing with the class differences and attitudes that prevent true connectedness, each in their own way. 

My first tea moment illustrates those differences rather nicely.

The Schlegel family having tea in a truly scrumptuous setting.  I just love the muted colors throughout the movie, but this tea table just sings with comfortable gentility.  Lovely, but not regal; fine but not off-putting. 

Except to poor Leoard Bast, who arrives, desperate to retrieve his mistakenly pilfered umbrella, and is swooped in upon by the sisters Schlegel and offered tea, scones, a plate, a cup, etc. 

Their offers of hospitality are apparently overwhelming to a man unaccustomed to fine things.   He feels awkward and uncomfortable to the point where he cannot speak and cannot accept their offers. His sense of his own inferiority prevents him from being able to make a connection in spite of their obvious efforts to bridge the gap.

Eventually he makes an awkward escape and goes back to his own realm where the tea has been laid and his Jacky is waiting.

The contrast between the settings, the company, the food, is all too blaring and seems to only reinforce the class division he feels. 

There are so many wonderful tea moments in this movie, it's difficult to pick and choose which to share here.  The next few photos are offered mostly because I'm enamored of the china.

This lovely tea set appears at the Shlegel's aunt Juley's breakfast table at the very beginning of the movie.

The pattern looks like a delicate ivy leaf in a pale sage green. I'm not knowledgeable enough to know the make or what this style is called.  But I seriously covet it.

 
Another colorful china pattern is shown here in a scene that takes place at Howards End, where the Wilcox family discusses the future of the property over tea. 

Do we assume that since the Wilcoxes are in a class above, this china reflects their status? I don't like it as well as Aunt Juley's china, but it's interesting.

My last tea moment offering is a repeat of the Schlegel's tea table, later in the film when Leonard comes to tea, invited by the sisters who are intent on doing him some good. I love the contrast between this scene and the earlier one. He has so obviously prepared carefully for the event, arriving dressed and combed and armed with his very best manners. 

As a side note - for those who are interested I found this blog post: DerekMDesign: Peppard Cottage revisited which is definitely worth a peek-in. There are some wonderful photos and anecdotes about Peppard Cottage where Howards End was filmed. A lovely place.

CTC in the Movies: White Christmas

Time for a holiday edition of CTC in the Movies!  I thought I better get this one in quick, even though Christmas is over, while it could still be considered "the holidays".  This is definitely one of the most wonderful holiday movies ever made.  And of course everybody and their dog knows the song. 

I've watched White Christmas every year since I was a kid, but this was the first time I've paid attention to the coffee/tea moments.  And there are quite a lot of coffee moments!  In the first two scenes where coffee appears, the use of coffee seemed forced and awkward to me.  I'm not sure why the characters have coffee cups in their hands, except to give them something to do.  I think we're supposed to understand, by the constant presence of coffee, that show business is a very strenuous profession, especially for women, and dancers/performers need lots and lots and LOTS of coffee in order to keep going.  As you'll see, in the following shots, almost every scene where there is a performer backstage, offstage, in their dressing room, preparing to "go on", or rehearsing a number, coffee is present.  (As always, click for larger versions in the CTC in the Movies Photo Album...)

There's a pretty china pattern being used at the Vermont Inn. I'm sure some afficianado can tell us what china pattern that is.  It's a blue-ish sort of flower pattern, though it may be hard to tell from my photos here. When I first noticed the cups in this scene at the Inn, I thought they were large coffee cups. But then I realized they were soup "cups" with a handle, similar to the ones I liked so much that were used in Persuasion.

The last coffee moment shows a good use of coffee. Our two main romantic characters, played by Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney, are on the outs. And here at the cast party we see them sitting on opposite sides of the room, sipping coffee alone, while almost everybody else is tossing down champagne.  These two are obviously not interested in having fun.

If you haven't seen this movie (have you been living in a cave???), the DVD is a must-have, especially if you get the version with special features including commentary by and interview with Rosemary Clooney.  The special features are some of my favorite parts of having these classic movies on DVD. 

Happy Holidays everyone!

Pride & Prejudice Revisited

One of the reasons I love to watch "period" movies is for the historic stuff.  I love to see what china they use, how they do the costumes, how they portray the manners and customs of the times.  This movie was a disappointment in that regard.

This latest version of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice has some good points.  But there is, sadly, an absolute DERTH of tea moments!  I felt cheated, in spite of the gorgeous cinematography.  They replaced many opportunities for tea moments with outdoor shots, beautiful scenery to be sure, but no replacement IMO for beauty of china or the satisfying ceremonies of tea.  I don't mean tea scenes should be placed randomly or arbitrarily.  But it was such a big part of the culture, that it really should be worked into the story in appropriate ways, to enhance or move the story along.  Sense & Sensibility is a good example of ways to use tea moments as tools in the storyline.  I always anticipate how they're going to work a tea scene in, I actually wait for it.  So this movie was a disappointment for my inner Tea Party Lady.

There were a few moments. 

Here we have a shot of the china (finally!) in use at the breakfast table.  (Click to see the larger versions in the photo gallery)

I'm not sure what that is just behind the tea cup.  A butter dish maybe, with a cover on it?  Looks like a cow head. 

And here we have Charlotte, now Mrs. Collins, pouring tea for herself and Lizzie, a ritual she proudly performs as mistress of her own home.

She never actually gives a cup to Lizzie, and they never actually drink the tea.  This is a blip of a moment in a scene that quickly shifts to other things. 

This was an interesting shot that could only be called a "tableau", as if they're posing for a portrait. I've cropped the picture here to show the "tea moment", but the two women drinking tea here are just the tiniest left portion of the picture.  (click to see the full version)

The teacups in the hands of the two women here seem to almost be an afterthought on the director's part.  Maybe he thought it would be strange to have all those people in the tableau with empty hands.

I did enjoy this scene near the end of the movie, where we see the Bennett family "at rest", although I kind of doubt they would realistically ever have lolli-gagged about the way they're doing here.  Then again, what do I know.  In any case, the "before" shot shows them all relaxed in their own messy home. 

And then, visitors arrive.  They have barely enough time to do a mad scramble to straighten up the room and themselves, and pose for the visitors. 

They appear here perfectly composed, perched on chairs, each with a book or a piece of needlework, as if that's what they do all day.  There was a similar scene near the end of Sense & Sensibility, although not quite so exaggerated.

I think the most disappointing thing about this movie was the way they modified some of the characters.  Mr. Bennett is suddenly a wonderful loving father.  Mrs. Bennett is a heroine, working valiantly against all odds to get her daughters married.  Mary is no longer insufferably pedantic.  Thank god Lydia is still silly and superficial. 

But these changes are just the beginning, the basis for a larger and more radical change. 

Mr. Darcy is no longer prideful!  No, he's just shy.  And misunderstood.  There is no transformation for him as a character, all the changes take place on Lizzie's part.  And that's just wrong.  The book makes it plain that Darcy is prideful.  He DOES look down his nose at the Bennetts.  When you remove the flaws of the family, and Darcy's pride, you remove a large part of the reason why Darcy and Elizabeth are at odds.  The resolution then isn't satisfying, because it's one-sided.  Lizzie just "comes around" and admits that she has blindly misjudged him.

Maybe I'm too demanding about these things.  I tried to give this movie a chance, I really did.  I tried not to be one of those people who having read and loved the book are automatically prejudice against the movie.  But when you mess with the basic premises of the relationships, you go awry.  Transformation in love relationships is important!

I would still recommend this movie for the beautiful cinematography.  But there's little else to recommend it.  Buy the book.  Or get one of the BBC versions of Pride & Prejudice on DVD.  They're much better!

The Cups of Persuasion

I've been obsessing on all my Jane Austen movies lately, watching them over and over again.  I have 3 versions of Pride and Prejucide on DVD, as well as a paperback and the audio book on cassette.  I have 3 versions of Emma on DVD, and 2 versions of Sense & Sensibility.  I just watch them over and over.  The hubs thinks I'm nuts of course, and won't sit still for even 5 minutes of all this "old stuff".  But I love it.  I love the stories, the manners, the clothes, and I especially love the tea and china rituals.

Today I watched Persuasionwith Amanda Root playing Anne Elliot, long-suffering and submissive, who finds love in spite of her interfering friends and disapproving family. I like this version, even though it does take some liberties with the story.  But the changes are obviously attempts to simplify the story, which does get a bit complex, and at least they haven't messed too much with the key characters or main events.

What I want to share here are the special moments in cups

This is one of my favorite cups.  We see these large two-handled cups used at Mary's (Anne's married sister) for breakfast, which I assume means they might contain coffee instead of tea?  I tried to find cups like these online, and even bought a book about antique china, but I couldn't find anything about them anywhere.

The only time we see the smaller teacups from the china set being used is when Anne is nursing her nephew.

This is from a wonderful scene in the movie, where Anne, while visiting her sister Mary, takes tea with her in-laws the Musgroves, and spends the entire time listening to everyone's woes and complaints over their cups. It's a wonderful illustration of Anne's patient nature, and her role in the family. 

And of course, the blue china cups are beautiful.

Ok, ok, this isn't a teacup.  This is from a scene in one of the public houses in Bath, where apparently you drank these healthful waters from a tin cup.

A quiet moment in a public shop.  I like to think there might be hot chocolate in this cup.  Anne doesn't seem to be aware of anything, however.  She sips in a bemused state, thinking about her beloved Captain Wentworth.

That Famous Chocolate Factory

It's CTC in the Movies!  I haven't done a movie in a good long while, and this one is one of my favorites.  The first picture is actually from the credits.

Mouse-waddling, huh?

When Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory came out in 1971, I was a teenager, still young enough to be enthralled by the idea of an entirely edible room complete with chocolate river, but old enough to feel drawn to the inexplicable sex appeal of Gene Wilder, especially in this role. 

Sex appeal?  Yep. 

I don't think I understood it at the time, but there was - IS - something about his portrayal of Willy Wonka that was very ... sexy.  Kooky, yes.  Funny, yes.  Crazy, no doubt, but also just a little dangerous (watch that cane come whipping down in front of the children!).  And definitely sexy. 

Gene Wilder has the ability to portray totally hilarious, on-the-edge madness, with big warmth.  That's a wonderful thing, and that, to me, is what makes this movie really special.

I'd worn out my videotape of this movie and the soundtrack had started to go all fuzzy, so when it came out on DVD, I snatched it up.   The songs are wonderful, the kind of tunes you find yourself singing later, and of course there's the chocolate and the wonder and the magic.  Watching the DVD, I felt all the wonder of Charlie finding that golden ticket, all over again.  My only regret is I bought the full screen version instead of the wide screen version.  I wasn't paying attention.  But that's a minor regret.

The DVD has some great added features: a 1971 featurette, a making-of documentary which I thoroughly enjoyed, and optional commentary with the kids.  The other stuff is just filler, IMO.  The stills gallery is all black and white photos, what's the point of that? 

I haven't seen the new version of this movie.  As much as I love Johnny Depp, I haven't been able to get around the previews of him with that ridiculous Dutch Boy haircut, and whatever is wrong with his voice???  I guess I also have Gene Wilder forever stuck in my head as Wonka, but ... ok, at some point I'll probably get it and watch it.  In the meantime, I highly recommend this older version.

I've posted more Wonka pictures in the Movie Gallery, but before I end here, I just want to include one of my very favorite moments -- Willy Wonka and the edible teacup ... priceless:

Coffee In the Movies: Pretty Woman

Coffee plays an interesting role in this movie.  It's one of my favorites for light romance and unrealistic endings, and the key characters are just so fine to look at, it's hard not to enjoy it just for the aesthetics.  And c'mon, who doesn't enjoy a good Cinderella story?  So it wasn't until about the 10th or 12th time through that I even noticed the "coffee moments". 

As always, click to view larger images...

First I want to point out that there's often a blatant absence of coffee where I expected to see it.  For instance, here we have a meeting, of suits, lawyers, high powered business folx, etc... and NO coffee on the table.  Not one cup.  Is that realistic?  I can see a character like Edward Lewis not needing coffee, your basic A-type Shark-in-a-Suit, but I'd think the others would ALL need a LOT of coffee in order to keep up with him.

Later in the movie we get a shot of another meeting breaking up, and there, finally are the coffee cups I expected to see. My feeling was that the coffee in this scene was meant to give the feeling of exhaustion, hard work, having been through the wringer, corporately speaking.

Two other noticeable uses of coffee...  One is that the sleazy lawyer, played wonderfully by Jason Alexander, seems to be the only guy with coffee and/or coffee toys.  In the scene shown at right, he's the only one with coffee in front of him.  And look behind him in the shot below.  Is that a Krups or some variation of espresso machine there on the left?  I guess lawyers do need caffeine to keep up.  At least this one does.

I had a vague notion that we're also meant to associate coffee with sleaziness here, but I ignored it.

The last coffee moment is the most significant.  In fact, it's pivotal, and I think it's interesting that the filmmakers chose to use coffee to communicate this important point in the movie.  Richard Gere's character, Edward Lewis has done a complete about-face, and decided not to take over Morse's company, but to partner with him instead, to "build something".  This is the result of his relationship with Vivian (Julia Roberts) and shows us that his love for her has changed him. 

In the beginning of this scene, the final "takeover" meeting is about to begin, when Edward puts on the brakes.  The other suits are dismissed from the meeting, and Edward turns to Morse to propose his new idea.  But he seems not to know how to begin.  So he starts by offering Morse some coffee.  He goes to the sideboard, pours Morse a cup, and brings it to him.  This is an act of submission, of kindness, and it shows Morse that the Shark has stepped down and is no longer on the hunt. 

Unfortunately we don't get to see much of the actual coffee pouring, or drinking, but it's there.  A delicious transformational coffee moment.

CTC in the Movies: Pride & Prejudice

Time for another edition of Coffee/Tea/Chocolate in the Movies.  I pulled out one of my favorites: Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, but this is an older version produced by BBC as a series.  I found it on DVD in the Jane Austen Collection (which also includes BBC versions of Sense & Sensibility, Emma, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, & Northanger Abbey). Elizabeth Garvie's portrayal of Lizzie in this version is one of my very favorites.

There are plenty of tea and coffee moments in the series, but a few of them are worth special note.

Mr. Collins Straining Over Tea. 

Mr. Collins' arrival at the Bennet house creates quite a stir.  He's a wonderfully obnoxious character.  He is obnoxious over dinner, obnoxious during cards, and obnoxious during the dance.  But this scene finds him unusually quiet.  The reason?  He has proposed to Lizzie's best friend but has been sworn to silence on the subject.  The use of tea in this scene gives them all something to do while we watch him attempting to hold back his natural tendency to brag, which in this case is really straining his buttons.

Tea With Lizzie, or The Comfort of Tea

Upon his return from London where he has unsuccessfully sought his youngest daughter, Mr. Bennet requests to take his tea with Lizzie alone. We assume he needs some rational counsel, and probably the comfort he gets from the daughter he loves best. Lizzie pours while he tells her of his trip and his regrets. 

Mr. Bennet calls Kitty in, to give her his new rules regarding officers in the house, and her rather bleak social future, which reduces her to tears.

Lizzie offers her a cup of tea for comfort and sympathy.

CTC in the Movies: Chocolate Friday

Seeing as its Friday, and I haven't done a Coffee/Tea/Chocolate in the Movies for a while, I decided to look at two movies that feature chocolate.  I was sorely tempted to include Chocolat again, just because it's SO sumptuous, but I restrained myself. 

The first on today's list is Practical Magic. 

Chocolate in this movie represents a flaunting of tradition and "normalcy".  The storyline focuses on a family of witches and their problems with men and magic. 

Sally and Gillian Owens (played by Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman) each have their own issues with being part of a family that is both cursed and blessed. 

Not surprisingly, the townspeople don't accept the Owens women.  The eccentric aunts say the townspeople are jealous of their gifts, and that being just like everybody else "denotes a lack of courage".  They encourage living outside the lines.  Chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner is entirely acceptable.  Important after-dinner lessons are spells, not school homework.

Sally and Gillian react to the lack of acceptance in their own ways.  Gillian leaves home and lives a wild life.  Sally stays and suffers.  She doesn't want to be different.  She just wants to be normal, to live a normal life and be accepted. 

She tries to keep her children from their magical heritage, but when her husband dies and they all go to live with the aunts, that "normal" life is tossed on its ear.  Nature will out, they say. 

Eventually Sally finds love and acceptance with the townspeople in the final scene where all the women come together to defeat the bad guy -- "There's a little witch in all of us".

Movie number two - Forrest Gump - may be be a pretty obvious choice.  Chocolate plays an integral part in the plot, although we don't actually get to see much of it. 

At the opening of the movie, we see Forrest sitting on a bench at a bus stop, with a box of chocolates on his lap that he's planning to take to Jenny, the great love of his life. 

A stranger joins him on the bench, and he offers her a chocolate.  Then he reminisces, "Momma always said life was like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you're gonna get."

And then Forrest begins to pull out memory after memory, sharing them with the strangers on the bench, offerings from the chocolate-box of his own life.

Why, this entire movie is a box of chocolates.  You just never know what's coming around the corner.  His adventures come at you, one surprise after another.  A nougat; a caramel; dark or light chocolate, plain or creme-filled. 

By the time we get to the end of his journey with him, when he arrives at Jenny's and offers her the box of chocolates, we see that he's offering her no less than his entire life. 

And it's not the end of the journey at all.  Life throws him another curve.  But he meets it with a full heart, and a willingness to sample whatever flavors the box still has to offer, as he has done his whole life. 

CTC in the Movies: Singles in Seattle

I've done enough "tea in the movies", time for some "coffee in the movies". 

Singles centers around a group of twenty-somethings in Seattle in the early-early 90's, trying to find themselves and each other.  Ah, young love.  The reason it's showing up here is there's a coffee shop in the movie that I fell in love with. 

Interesting that all the plot summaries and blurbs I read about this movie don't mention the coffee shop.  Not once.  It's all about relationships and apartment living and grunge rock.  Especially the grunge rock.  Who's writing these blurbs, and where are their priorities???

There were several reasons why I bought this movie... Grunge rock isn't one of them.

CTC in the Movies: Wives & Daughters

Wives and Daughterswas one of those little treasures I discovered completely by accident.  I was searching Amazon for Jane Austen DVD's, and followed a link to this delightful BBC miniseries.  The story is based on the unfinished Victorian novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, and revolves around Molly Gibson, the town doctor's daughter, and her step-mother and step-sister.  Not that the men in the story aren't important.  They are.  In fact, it's the women's relationships with the men that causes all the conflict and interest in their lives (not unlike today).  Thankfully, there's a happy romantic ending added on by Screenwriter Andrew Davies. 

But, focusing on the topic at hand - tea - I'm including here some of my favorite "tea moments".