First of all, thank you to those of you who have messaged me to identify the mystery film in the second chapter of Eleven Recollections. I've discovered that it's a 1987 Norwegian film called Is-slottet (which translates to "The Ice Palace"). I very much recommend watching it if you get the chance - it's a beautiful, haunting film.
I'm still writing my recollections and I'll be posting the third chapter soon. In the meantime I've started writing some short fiction. The first is what may end up becoming a series of magic realism tales (possibly about a magpie goddess, or possibly about the residents of a block of flats).
The second, which I'm still working on, is about the magnificent seven. In space. With pirates. And blunderbusses and a Christmas Tree. Hey, it's a work in progress.
My second recollection should be published soon. This one was difficult to write -- while parts of it are still vivid in my memory, other parts are annoyingly and tantalisingly vague.
These recollections are true, though I've had to be a little creative in the earlier ones in order to fill in some of the bits I don't clearly remember.
The film I've referred to is real. I wish I could remember more about it. I think it was a mainstream film, despite how explicit some of the scenes were. It's very possible that it was foreign -- not because I remember the language (I don't; I only ever watched it with the volume turned down) but because I think, perhaps, that I remember subtitles. Everything else I can recall about the film is in the story.
In the unlikely event that anyone can identify the film, please, please comment on the story or send me a message.