Why I Went Back to the Movies
1917.
No, not the year. But the film “1917”. That was the last film that I saw in an actual movie theater over a year ago.
Being an avid filmgoer, awards show fan, and documentary film distribution consultant, movies are a big part of my life. The fact that it’s felt like the year 1917 and not January 2020 since I stepped inside a movie theater before the pandemic made me realize how much I missed the movie-going experience. I stress the words “going,” as in physically traveling somewhere aside from my bedroom to my living room sofa and “experience,” since seeing a film in a theater is always different than even sitting in your home with your current quarantine “pod.”
We’ve all been watching or streaming films and TV shows since the pandemic started. Many movie theaters, forced to close last year, have reopened with limited attendee capacity. My current city of Washington, D.C., along with New York and other large cities, continue to keep movie theaters closed. Meanwhile, in nearby Virginia and Maryland, some theaters are open, again with limited capacity.
For a variety of reasons, mostly because we had some free time and really needed to get out of our house, my partner and I decided to go to the movies. We decided to see the new film, “Supernova,” starring Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci. (The film is very good, by the way, but this will not be a film review). We drove out to an AMC theater in Alexandria, Virginia, that was showing the film.
Overall, the experience of going back inside a movie theater in today’s current situation was everything I could have hoped for.
First of all, being a Tuesday afternoon, there were very few people inside the building, aside from the staff. In the actual theater where we saw the film, there were four people total, two of them being us. This may not seem like a lot, but for a Tuesday afternoon screening of an arthouse film, the attendance was par for the course. Everyone in our theater wore a mask during the movie. And, the theater staggered the times between screenings to allow extra time for cleaning.
Yet, it was the experience of watching the film in a theater with a vast screen that made the most impact on me. The movie screen commands the viewer to pay attention. That feeling of being enveloped by the visual experience inside a movie theater was something I wasn’t expecting, but when it happened, it was like I was seeing a film for the first time.
Several scenes during “Supernova” take place throughout the English countryside. As those landscape scenes played out, I was immediately struck by how I felt I was actually there, in the hills and valleys with the actors. I felt like I was traveling through the countryside myself.
The sheer size of the big screen is an integral part of the viewing experience. Just as much as the plot, the acting, and the directing. In fact, I would argue many films, even dramas, are much more impactful when seen in a theater.
One film that comes to mind is “Roma,” a Netflix release from a few years ago. Many saw that film at home, but I saw it in a theater, and let me tell you, that’s where the film should be seen. Same as with “1917”. I can’t imagine watching that war epic on a small screen.
Seeing a film in a theater is still the best experience. While I agree we will all continue seeing movies online or streaming, especially with technology improving how we watch at home, there will be nothing like the theatrical experience.
It will not go away.
I mean, let’s face it. Restless teenagers will always want an excuse to get out of the house and see their friends on the weekend. And after these last 12 months, many of us will be more than ready to get out and see a movie whenever we can. Because the communal experience of watching a film with strangers is something primal and something that, again, adds to the whole experience.
That’s why I feel that movie theaters, especially in cities where they haven’t been able to yet, should be allowed to reopen. Of course, proper safety and limited capacity protocols need to be adhered to. But it’s time to let these movie theaters open and generate revenue and allow people who choose to do so, attend and watch a movie. Especially independently owned theaters. They need to return now, or they may never reopen.
People are free to choose whether or not they should go into a grocery store, a restaurant, a drugstore, or even a movie theater. While the arts may not be viewed as “essential,” they really are. For people’s mental health, personal growth, and to get a break for what’s been a very tough time.
The experience of the movies, in a movie theater, is something we’ve all missed. Once you experience it again after all these months away, trust me, you will never forget it.