Something quite close to love at the G8

Bill Nighy and Kelly Macdonald are quite the cozy couple as they share a hotel elevator in The Girl In the Cafe

Editor’s note: Edited–again — at 12:27PM, 07-17-2006.  Taking out the typos and grammar gaffes.  Again.  I did this last night, but Bloglines doesn’t seem to be updating the feed, so once more into the breach.   

With a G8 Summit conference going on in Russia this very weekend, the perfect cinematic accompaniment is to be found in this quirky little movie made by the BBC in 2005.

Bill Nighy, seen most recently as the rather Cthulhu-esque Davy Jones in the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, stars as Lawrence, an awkward and self-effacing civil servant in the office of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The research team Lawrence is part of is preparing for a G8 summit conference on world poverty which will soon be held in Reykjavik.

One day in a crowded cafe Lawrence meets Gina (Kelly Macdonald) a young Scot with lots of time on her hands but noticeably few words to say. Recognizing their mutual loneliness, the pair meets for dinner once or twice; talk a little; start to get comfortable with each others’ silences. Then, on an impulse Lawrence asks Gina to come with him to Iceland for the G8 conference.

Once they are there and encountering some of the world’s most powerful people at dinners and cocktail parties, the previously quiet Gina suddenly begins to talk.   Not inconsequential, social smalltalk, either:  Gina has seen what a once in a lifetime opportunity she’s been given, and starts asking some very sharp questions of the assembled world leaders.

Let’s say you are an ordinary citizen who’s never come even remotely close to having real access to the people who inhabit the corridors of power. Which is to say: like most of us.  If you were to suddenly find yourself in the same room with the leaders of eight of the most influential countries in the world, what would you say? What kind of questions would you ask?

[Discussing how much money the G8 countries will spend this year to combat poverty, AIDS, and hunger]:

Gina: Is all right good enough? Is all right good enough for you, Mr. Gerhardt?
Chancellor of the Exchequer: I think all right is a lot more than many expected.
Gina: So lots more mothers die the day they give birth? Lots more children die before they’re five? Lots and lots more die of diseases that are just a jab and a jolt to people like you and me?

Herr Gerhardt: Young lady, I think it might be helpful for you to look at it the other way around – thousands will benefit from what we do today.
Gina: I can see that. It’s just, you know… tough, for those on the wrong side of the line.

Speaking truth to power so unabashedly is bound to bring unwelcome scrutiny. Who is Gina? Where did she come from? What’s her background? How much does Lawrence really know about her?  Having brought a woman who is obviously a “security risk” to a world summit meeting, where she insists on asking inconvenient questions, Lawrence starts to fear not only for his tentative new relationship, but also for his job.

The screenplay is by Richard Curtis, and plays out very much like a leftover storyline from his 2003 film  Love Actually.
I have to give Curtis and company major credit, however, for not going for the easy answers; the pat conclusion; the unambiguous ending with all the loose ends tied up neatly. I think you may be genuinely surprised by the film’s ending. I was. Also very moved.
So hey — Go on; take a chance; try a movie that dares to be entertaining AND that encourages you to think about real solutions to some of the world’s most difficult problems.

And if you do, don’t spoil the ending for your friends who haven’t seen it yet.