Jake is sprawled on the sofa watching the TV on low, but the sound of the lock turning gets his attention. Glancing at the opening hall door he sees Amelia and Eric come in.
“I didn’t say he was a crappy actor,” Amelia says, “I just said his Hamlet wasn’t as good as Gibson’s.”
“But Branagh is awesome.” insists Eric.
“Yeah, he is, but my problem was the production. He didn’t follow the text, Eric. At least Zeffirelli follows the text. Sure, he’ll drop bits here and there for pacing, but they do that in the theatre, what ever they need to make it work.”
“I thought it did work.”
“Not for me.” Amelia shrugs. “What can I say, I’m a purist. If you wanna mess with Shakespeare do a remix and call it something else. You know, like West Side Story. Just don’t pretend it’s Romeo and Juliet.”
“But it was Hamlet.”
Jake says, “Wanna keep it down? People are sleeping.”
Amelia flushes with embarrassment. “Sorry.” Her gaze lights on the TV screen. “Is that … oh, wow, Rear Window.”
Eric says, “What?”
Jake grins and points to the television. “The movie.”
“Classic noir,” Amelia says, “I love Cornell Woolrich almost as much as I love Dash Hammet. That is such a great movie, I think it’s Hitchcock’s best, too. You know, if I wasn’t so pooched I’d join you. Oh well, enjoy. G’night, guys,” as she heads upstairs.
Eric drops into the bean bag chair. He glances up the stairs to make sure Amelia is really gone before admitting, “You know, I thought ‘film noir’ meant ‘black and white’.”
“A lot of the movies are black and white, but it’s a genre.” Jake laughs. “Hard boiled detectives, femme fatales, gritty cynicism.” Seeing Eric has no idea, Jake smiles big. “Rear Window is a Hitchcock classic. You’ll like it. This one has serious suspense.”
