I don’t watch horror movies. The last thing I would ever do is watch one before bed since I often dream about things I saw or thought about late in the day. In a similar vein, as much as I was riveted by the story and wanted to get to the end of the book, Marisha Pessl’s “Night Film” was not bedtime reading for me.
The depth of this book is fantastic and anyone who is a crime story fan will love it. I was extremely impressed by the way the print version is presented with believable recreations of media websites like CNN and Vanity Fair.
The story follows an investigative journalist and his look into the life of reclusive horror director Stanislas Cordova and his family. Cordova is a cult legend with a legion of fans who gather for ultra-secret screenings and an even more secret website devoted to his life and work.
The reporter, Scott McGrath, at one point gains access to the site and reads about the concept “freak the ferocious out.”
“There were quite a few pages on the site devoted to Cordova’s supposed life philosophy, which meant, in a nutshell, that to be terrified, to be scared out of your skin, was the beginning of freedom, of opening your eyes to what was graphic and dark and gorgeous about life, thereby conquering the monsters of your mind.”
It’s safe to say Cordova films would not be in my Netflix queue at any point whatsoever. Unless by some Cordovian way they creepily appeared on their own, in which case I would throw my TV in a river and move to another country.
One of the main themes in the book is the effect that Cordova has on people and the way that those he works with and other characters make choices to completely change their lives. He mentions in an interview the three words sovereign, deadly and perfect to describe the perfect shot in one of his movies. Perfect hits on that theme.
“The understanding that life and wherever you find yourself at the present are absolutely ideal. No regret, no guilt, because even if you were stuck it was only a cocoon to break out of — setting your life loose.”
Now that is a Cordova-related thing I can get behind. Of course, it’s not always true, but isn’t it nice to think that no matter the challenge, there’s always the potential to break free and flourish into something better?
Nora, a young woman who assists McGrath, spent part of her childhood living in a nursing home, and only left when a resident handed her a bunch of money and told her to scram.
“So I scrammed,” she says. “I walked to the Kissimmee station and got on a bus to New York. People don’t realize how easy life is to change. You just get on the bus.”
Again, it’s rarely so simple. But at the same time, even a smaller version of getting on the bus is all you need to get going.
Nora works as a hostess at a fancy restaurant when McGrath meets her, but later changes jobs to a place that brought tremendous 2006 flashbacks for me.
“Did you miss work tonight?” [McGrath] asked. “The Four Seasons?”
“Oh, no. My last day as yesterday. The normal girl game back from maternity leave. Tomorrow I’m starting as a waitress at Mars 2112.”
That, of course, is the restaurant in Times Square themed like you were visiting Mars in the year 2112 for your meal. I went there with my cousin Lauren and it was everything we dreamed it could be.