Blogs

  Last Friday night (Halloween eve) I attended my second Guerilla Drive-In event.  I went with some trepidation because this Guerilla Drive-In was being held in San Lorenzo Park as a challenge to the ordinance which says that all public parks are to closed after sunset.  I envisioned a large crowd ready for confrontation for when the police would inevitably show up to enforce the law.  Instead, the turnout was light, maybe 25 or 30 people, and we were able to watch the entire movie with no serious interruptions.

I don't know if it was the chilly weather or the prospect of a crackdown that kept people away, but it was a good time just the same.  I wasn't sure if I was going to attend until the last minute, but being that The Third Man is one of my all time favorite movies, and never having seen it at a public viewing, I knew I was going to have to go. 

  Watching the movie also gave me a chance to see park activity at night.  We were situated on the lawn next to Dakota Ave. and just across the path from the duck pond.  Pedestrians, bicyclists and small groups of young people traversed the path on their way through the park, some of whom glanced at the movie and a couple of which stayed and watched for a little while before moving on.  Also present was the ubiquitous Robert Norse, a guy giving away free strawberries, and a film student from the Academy of Art in San Francisco who was shooting a documentry on the Guerilla Drive-In for one of her classes.

Wes of the Guerilla Drive-In spoke to the crowd before the movie and explained how in other countries parks are open at night and are patronized by everybody, including families, thereby giving people a free public space at which to gather, and that part of the reason for the Guerilla Drive-In is to bring that idea to the U.S.  Here, your options are to go to a place where you have to pay, or to stay home and watch T.V.  What's needed is a lively place for people who want to go out and mingle, but don't necessarily want to go to a bar, club, restaurant, or some other venue wheremyou're expected to pay.

As for the movie, The Third Man intrigues me more every time I see it.  It is a story of divided loyalties between friendship and morality, part mystery, part love story (or at least the pursuit of love), deadly serious with some comedic moments, a British movie with an American protaganist and American villain, set in post World War II, bombed out, occupied Vienna, with lively zither music from Anton Karas, gorgeous cinematography from Robert Krasker (Oscar winner), a brilliant collaboration between director Carol Reed and writer Graham Greene, and solid, well rounded performances from the four main actors, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard and Orson Welles.  I could go on but that would require its own blog entry.

The Guerilla Drive-In is on hiatus for the winter, but will return next year.  This was the third time they showed The Third Man, but the first time it wasn't stopped in middle of the showing by the authorities.  I guess three times is a charm.