Being ill, I watched Garden State again for the second time in something like two weeks. This film, written and directed by, and starring Zach Braff of Scrubs fame, has made it soundly onto my list of favourite films (which I blogged about ages ago).

Thirty-year-old Braff writes a blog about the film, apparently frequented by obsessive commenters. One entry in particular currently stands at 3078 comments, although some lack gravitas (”hi! Wow. hi. lol.”). I guess if you want to have a popular blog it pays to be on TV in the States every week.

One of the themes of the (I’m guessing — partly autobiographical) film is the feeling of homelessness that results from moving away from where you grew up. This is communicated excellently through lighting, the minimal dressing of Largeman’s white LA bedroom, and a generous application of colour filters.

This is something I think about a lot recently. I have not felt “at home” in Athens since I came back last summer. I have been keen to explore it, like a tourist (or, sometimes, an anthropologist), but it has not felt like my crib for a long time. The image of the white room at the beginning of the film, populated only by a white bed with a white boy, a white answering machine, and a mobile phone charging on a stack of white magazines, was striking to me. To an extent because it seemed like a desirable space. Free of a home, I seek a non-home.

Momus, that urban nomad, has written about “non-residence” before, in his essay “Roomic Cube”. While, since I gave up my student status, I have been yearning for a place of my own, I am aware that some lifestyles only call for a modest solution to shelter. More thoughts on this are bound to follow.

In the meantime, do watch Garden State first chance you get. As an extra incentive, like Dalia said when she recommended the film to me: “you will fall in love with Natalie Portman.” Absolutely true.