When you emerge from London Bridge underground station the entrance to Borough Market is right there next to the station exit.
If you live on the Northern Line as I do, it couldn’t be easier to get here.
The only other time I’d been to Borough Market was late in the evening for a drink after all the stalls had closed, so it was good to return today with the market in full swing.
We started our afternoon’s grazing with Dorset scallops followed by a wild boar hot dog.
Then we shared a duck confit wrap, which was huge, washed down with some sangria.
At a Thai street food stall near the train tracks we had some coconut pancakes, which were hot, light and delicious.
By now, because of the enormity of the duck confit wrap, we were stuffed.
There are so many tempting stalls in this great market that it would take a few visits to sample them all.
Before leaving the market, I loaded up with four beers from Utobeer, ‘Beermongers of Distinction’.
The four I picked out from a good array of craft beers were Brasserie du Ciel! Rosée d’Hibiscus, Baird Beer Teikoku IPA, Cloudwater Sorachi Ace Grisette, and Brasserie de la Senne Taras Boulba. All of them excellent, they slid down very easily back home.
From Borough Market we headed along the south bank of the river to BFI for tonight’s film, The Man Who Fell To Earth.
I hadn’t seen this cult favourite before so was looking forward to it a lot, and it didn’t disappoint.
What a brilliant, offbeat film, beautifully shot and featuring terrific performances from David Bowie (Thomas Jerome Newton), Candy Clark (Mary-Lou), and Rip Torn (Nathan Bryce).
This one-of-a-kind film really is stunning.
The soundtrack, which includes weird sci-fi stuttering beeping noises as well as traditional country music and bluegrass, works amazingly well.
The scoring of ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’ is superb, as in one great scene of Mary-Lou walking alone from the motel towards the highway as Jim Reeves croons ‘Make the World Go Away’.
Visually very accomplished, the film’s sweeping, panoramic outdoor scenes and intense indoor scenes are equally impressive.
The chemistry between David Bowie and Rip Torn is striking. The androgynous Englishman and the gruff American play off each other very effectively.
A healthy dose of humour bubbles away beneath the film’s bizarrely engaging surface, and there is a wonderful last line of dialogue and final image as the credits roll.
What a great film ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’ is and also a great venue to see it in.
Screen 1 here at BFI is one of the best auditoriums in London.
It’s always a pleasure to watch a film in such surroundings.
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