May 13, 2011 |
This is Valentine. She’s by Bally. Fresh from the imaginations of their new creative duo, Graeme Fidler and Michael Herz. She’s a rather stylish drawstring tote, made of natural canvas with clover leather handles and detail, echoing her heritage of quality handmade accessories. By rights, she should have been Nastassja Kinski’s co-star in Paris, Texas. Really, Wim Wenders should have set his film in Valentine, Texas, to pay proper homage to the obvious star of his pièce de résistance. That’s what Graeme and Michael would have done – after all, the accessory is queen.
But back to the film: what kind of excuse is memory loss for leaving your wife, hanging out in the desert for a couple of years and then hiding out in your brother’s house? The least the lady deserves is a bag, and if that bag can replace her poor excuse of a husband, then so be it. The lady needs someone to depend upon, to always be there for her, and Bally always has been. As evidenced by Valentine, created in her honour.
The green trim perfectly complementing the pink mohair she wears. Though, to be honest, one of those canvas jackets with tan trim would have worked so much better against a desert backdrop, but those are mere details… Anyway, she wouldn’t have had to cry to her husband, telling him, “I used to make long speeches to you after you left… Sometimes your voice would wake me up. It would wake me up in the middle of the night, just like you were in the room with me… And now I’m working here. I hear your voice all the time. Every man has your voice.”
You see, Valentine has no voice; Valentine listens without passing judgment or talking back. Nastassja would have been able to carry on with her life, safe in the knowledge that Valentine would always be exactly where she had left her, eagerly awaiting her return, ready to offer up a smooth buttery soft leather handle for her to caress if upset, the canvas body soaking up any tears that should fall from her mascara-free eyes (well, you wouldn’t mascara runs on your beautiful canvas, would you?).
If only Wim had considered all the possibilities instead of chasing after rewards and recognition – he would have ended up with a happy tale of triumph over adversity that would have been released all over the US, rather than just a handful of arty picture houses, and would have made a much more significant contribution to the history of film-making. The bag – not just any bag, Bally’s Valentine – as leading star. How many people have done that? That would have been groundbreaking. If Michael and Graeme had been directing this epic, they would have at least scooped the Oscar for best supporting actress.
by Natalie Dembinska
