I watched Audrey Diwan’s film of ‘Happening’ (2021) on Saturday and recognised a feature of the kitchen of the abortionist: an enamel ladle rack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a very similar one which I bought nearly a year ago and which has not yet found its place in our home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can’t seem to get it onto the wall. So I take it upstairs to my office, complete with the attached ladles, when it is getting in the way in the kitchen.

And then I take it back down to the kitchen when it is getting in the way in my office.

Sometimes it ends up halfway down the stairs on the landing and stays there for a while until I decide what to do with it.

I was inordinately excited to see one like it in the film. It was a bit like seeing a blouse I own appear in ‘Nymphomaniac’ (Lars von Trier) worn by Charlotte Gainsbourg.

I like to reflect upon the ridiculous and irrational aspects of our relationships with objects. I am deliberately making this my review of Diwan’s film because for me it was a stand out moment. Obviously we could talk about how well the film captures the spirit of Ernaux’s text etc etc or not, or about the performances, or how well it reflects that moment in France’s history and political life but that would be less interesting to me than looking at and considering the juxtaposition of the enamel ladle rack in the film and the real one which is mine and which floats around our house.