Date with Milos Forman

Dos Caminos

Met up with my film friend E at Dos Caminos for Tex Mex before heading to MoMA. New York City's idea of Tex Mex is to do things table side and serve very small portions in beautiful displays. Oh, and they charge a tone for this. DC's guacamole isn't as good as mine but it is the best I've had in NYC restaurants. I had tacos al carbon. The meat was lean and nicely grilled with good salsa and pico de gallo but the corn tortillas were lacking both flavor and texture - definitely not freshly made.

Decathlon and Audition (Konkurs)
Milos Forman blends sports with sound

Lucky for me E is a member of MoMA so I got my ticket to the Milos Forman films for only $5!

The short starting the evening was Decathlon, filmed in the 1970s. It was a fun and reverently funny juxtapositioning of scenes of local Munich musicians with scenes of various athletes performing in several events. It was a lovely tribute to the past and future, making a wonderful visual dance of the art of performance.

Audition is really two films. The first follows a very similar theme we just saw in Decathlon, shifting the lens between teenage musicians in two different traditional Czech bands and the same boys at motor cross races. Each boy is seen getting direction and advice from their band leaders. Someplace in the middle of the roar from the motorbikes and the competitive sounds of the bands, the boys must deal with the repercussions of there choices and value of both self worth and dedication to time.

Similarly, in the second story, Forman takes us into the pop-current sound of the 1960s. A young singer's confidence is shaken a bit when her band leader questions her ability to hit the high notes. We here her and the band perform for a local crowd. Later we see many young girl singers, including one we know lied to her boss to take time off from work, auditioning for a more famous band. We watch and see the girls hopes and dreams, fears and bravado, come through in their auditions. The halls and room are packed with potential wanna-bes. The girl from the first band has come to audition but something seems to hold her back.

Both stories show the transition the country is going through, trying to hold onto the familiar, keeping the faith and lessons of the wise conductors, but wanting the race and pulse of the new, the exciting, the modern, the famous. Lovely music set to visual motion surprisingly creates a story universal to all. I only I hope I can hold onto the best of both worlds.