I Served the King of England—A Filmmaker’s Take on Servility

A veteran Czech filmmaker, Jiri Menzel created this unsettling story of a little man in pursuit of happiness in the unhappiest times. The man, portrayed by Ivan Barnev, is short, immoral, and a big opportunist. His dream of becoming a millionaire while serving others takes him from a Prague brothel to a Nazi breeding center, and from admiring his mentor in the best restaurant of the city, who “served the King of England” and therefore “knows everything” to marrying an Aryan soldier (Julia Jentsch) and ridiculing that mentor for being arrested by the occupants. The film’s profound irony might not be fully grasped by the American audience, since it takes a European soul, steeped in Europe’s WWII macabre history to fully appreciate the point of view of “the other side”—the side of a collaborationist. In an episode concerning his later years, the man brings home a mirror from a destroyed German village. The mirror owners were only too happy to give it away, saying that when they look into it, they can see the Germans. “There are no Germans in that mirror,” says the man at the end of the day. “Seeing myself in it is bad enough.” The film has a great cast and a beautiful cinematography, full of life and nuances. Opens August 29 at Embarcadero in SF, on September 5 at Shattuck in Berkeley, Los Gatos and San Rafael, and on Sept. 12 at Guild Theater in Menlo Park. For more information, visit www.sonyclassics.com

Stern Grove Season’s Sweet Finale—SF Opera

The best part of San Francisco summer—free concerts at Stern Grove—closed this Sunday with “Leonard Bernstein: The Master and His Muses,” performed by the amazing SF Opera soloists and orchestra, conducted by John DeMain. The concert, featuring a wonderful soprano Sylvia McNair, included excerpts from West Side Story, Wonderful Town, Candide, and On The Town, and the music of “the muses”—Gershwin, Blitzstein, Rogers, and Kern. Karen Slack, a former Adler Fellow and Merola Opera Program alumna was purely divine in arias from Porgy and Bess. Maestro DeMain and Ms. McNair shared bits and pieces of their personal encounters with the great Leonard Bernstein, and looking at a picnicking crowd, fidgeting children, and dragonflies that darted across the meadow among the eucalyptus trees, one could only marvel at the spirit of this truly American composer, comfortably in place at the Grove, brought to the people of San Francisco by the three generations of Stern women. Three concerts of the summer festival were dedicated to their memory, and the closing SF Opera concert was one of them, dedicated to Elise Stern Haas. To learn more, visit www.sterngrove.org.

Make a Wish at La Ciccia

In the old country where I am from, you were supposed to make a wish before trying new food. Or, maybe, it was just my family… At La Ciccia, Mediterranean flavors of sea-washed Sardinia transport your Sunday night dinner from a foggy Noe Valley to a sun-drenched island, where you feel instantly at home. Or, maybe, it’s just a family of Massimiliano Conti and Lorella Degan—the owners of this neat little restaurant—who make this happen. The food at La Ciccia starts with extra fresh and organic produce, homemade pasta, and oils, cured meats, and cheeses delivered from Sardinia. Try that 18-month aged prosciutto, and you will never want to open a store bought container again. A dish of fresh spaghetti, cauliflower and bottarga (dried fish) brings an instant sea breeze to the table. Add to it a glass of Sardinian nero (and the wine list here is endless and all-Italian), and you might completely forget about Monday. But, once again, it’s not only food and wine, however excellent. While waiting to be seated, you’ll be well attended to, showered with smiles, and you can read a brief history of the owners’ home island, placed on a bar. The restaurant’s small yet exemplary hospitable staff, and the husband-and-wife team will check on your comfort level more than once, and will make you enjoy your every bite in their warm and friendly space. Before closing time, while we were indulging in our Pecorino and fig gelato (not to mention lemon zest-saffron-honey one) the chef and the hostess (Conti and Degan) were making rounds hugging their regulars, and a waitress who finished her shift, and was heading through the door, blew a kiss to the chef on her way out. My wish? To visit Sardinia one day, and in the meantime, to try everything on the menu of La Ciccia. La Ciccia is located at 291, 30th Street, San Francisco. 415-550-8114, www.laciccia.com

Mozart Fest Sweeps Bay Area In Three-Week Run

This year’s Midsummer Mozart Festival brought back “The Abduction from the Seraglio,” which was performed at the beginning of the Festival 34 years ago. Then, as well as now it was conducted by Maestro George Cleve, the founder of the only music festival in North America dedicated exclusively to Mozart. “The Abduction,” whose story line requires a lot of suspended disbelief, was written by Mozart in-between his famous “Idomeneo” and even more famous “The Marriage of Figaro,” and first performed in Vienna in 1782, at the peak of societal obsession with exotic lands and their presumed delights. The current lower-cost “semi-staged” production, presented at the beautifully renovated California Theatre in San Jose, featured a real gem of bass-baritone Jeremy Galyon (Osmin) who made his debut with the San Francisco Opera in 2006, and is scheduled to debut at the Metropolitan Opera in the upcoming season. Other parts were performed by sopranos Christina Major (Konstanze) and Khori Dastoor (Blondchen), tenors Isaac Hurtado (Belmonte) and Matthew O’Neill (Pedrillo), with William Neely in the speaking role of Pasha Selim. The Festival also featured in its other programs international soloists Jon Nakamatsu (piano), Laura Griffiths (oboe), Nikolai Demidenko (piano), Yong Jean Peak (piano) and a guest conductor T.W. Kang. For more information about the Festival and its upcoming events, visit www.midsummermozart.org or email amadeus@midsummermozart.org.

Ask Emma

Q: My boyfriend is such a mama’s boy. We’ve been dating for five years on and off, and each time when it comes to the question of marriage, he can’t make himself take the final step because of his mother. She doesn’t like me and she doesn’t want us to get married. We broke up several times because I walk away each time he backs out of it again, but then we get together through our mutual friends and continue dating until the next big talk. He always says his mom wouldn’t survive our marriage. That’s what she told him. She’s so manipulative! I only met the woman once, but she hates my guts. I don’t understand why, and she is not even close, she lives far away from us. She doesn’t seem to care much that he lives in my apartment when we are together. Why can’t she leave us alone, and what can I do to change her mind?
A: I am not so sure that his mother is the one who does not want you two to get married. If you only met her once, why not try to make her know you better, and let’s say, start a regular correspondence with her, updating her on the latest events in the life of her beloved son? No mother on earth would reject an opportunity to know more about her child’s everyday life while the child is far away. Through a nice email exchange, you could probably win her heart. But… she might not even know about your marital plans. It sounds like your boyfriend is using his mother as an excuse. There are plenty of indecisive young (and old) men out there, who like to live in their girlfriend’s apartments and be treated like beloved husbands without any obligations. With those characters, there are only two options—you either live together and forget about marriage, or you dump him for good. If he does not want to lose you, he’ll marry you despite his mother.