Cinemas possess this certain magic, bringing the stars on Hollywood Boulevard to life on a 50-foot silver screen. Yet, for all their enchantment, movie theaters have this peculiar tendency to bring the most infuriating, irritating, and inconsiderate people to one place. The popcorn rustlers, the sweet-packet scrunchers, the natterers, the serial phone-users, the late-comers, the torch-flashers, the copulation-indulgers (seriously, get a room), the loud-eaters, the parents who let their babies talk and scream — there’s a special place in hell reserved for every single one of you. Yet, despite those exasperating inclinations, cinemas do not only play host to the irksome, but have also been the home to several movies that have been set in their very confines.
The trailer to Sam Mendes’ new movie, Empire of Light starring Olivia Colman, Colin Firth, Michael Ward, and Toby Jones premiered last week, and it is a film that pays homage to British cinema, and to the beauty of 24 frames per second. There are numerous, exceptional movies primarily set in movie theaters or which feature them in crucial ways, and here are some of the best…
6 Matinée
John Goodman stars as Lawrence Woolsey, a Hollywood director, and producer, who decides to premiere his new film Mant! in Key West, Florida, a town home to a US military base, during the height of the Cuban missile crisis where brothers Gene and Dennis Loomis reside with their mother. Excited by the prospect of the famous Woolsey being in town, leading to Gene and Lawrence’s paths crossing in the most random circumstances. Matinée is a love letter to film (especially '50s B-pictures about creepy giant bugs), that combines subtle humor with the joyous innocence of youth.
5 Inglourious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino’s obsession with incorporating the very essence of cinema in some of his movies is charming and often pays tribute to the craft of filmmaking, and the wonders of the movie theater. Margot Robbie’s bare-footed portrayal of Sharon Tate catching herself in The Wrecking Crew in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood continuing the director’s fascination with capturing both cinemas, and his foot fetish on the big screen was a memorable scene, yet the prominence of the movie theater has in his 2008 quasi-war flick, Inglorious Basterds is most notable.
Shosanna Dreyfus, the orphan and owner of the Le Gamaar Cinema (Emmanuelle Mimieux), and Marcel (Jacky Ido), her accomplice and projectionist, plot to overthrow the Nazi dictatorship occupying their native France by hosting a Nazi-propaganda premiere at their cinema and setting the entire place on fire.
4 The Majestic
Frank Darabont directs this heartwarming dramatic comedy, starring Jim Carrey as Peter (Carrey) a successful scriptwriter during the early 1950s. Following the second red scare, Peter is accused of participating in communist activity and is subsequently blacklisted, losing his job and girlfriend in the process.
After crashing his car, Peter suffers from amnesia, and inadvertently finds himself in a town where he assumes the identity of a missing WW2 soldier, Luke Trimble, whose father mistakes Peter for his son. Peter sets about helping the community rebuild its movie theater, The Majestic. The Majestic is a feel-good affair, and is a story of a man who fights back against the backwards ideologies of American congress and the injustices against him.
3 The Purple Rose of Cairo
Woody Allen is at the directorial wheel for his 1985 movie, The Purple Rose of Cairo. Starring Jeff Daniels and Mia Farrow as the central protagonists, the film follows the story of Cecilia, a depressed, and neglected wife who, despite living in the depression-era, is the primary breadwinner, with her husband splurging their income on alcohol and gambling. Cecilia uses the local cinema as a form of escapism and becomes mildly obsessed with a new film, The Purple Rose of Cairo, and with its title character, Tom Baxter (Daniels), who subsequently and quite literally steps off-screen and into her life. The Purple Rose of Cairo is a voice of hope about the power of cinema and its role in escapism.
2 Goodbye, Dragon Inn
Ming-Liang Tsai’s Goodbye, Dragon Inn depicts a movie theater's final screening before its permanent closure. Displaying the 1967 action epic Dragon Inn at the packed Taiwanese cinema in the town of Taipei, the theater quickly filters out over the film's duration, leaving just the ghosts of former filmgoers. The movie is a nod to modern-day cinema, and the frequent sea of empty seats, the only remnants of a bygone era. Although released in 2004, the film’s understanding of the threat to a once treasured communal establishment is profoundly poignant and has sadly foreshadowed the demise of cinema in the wake of streaming service success, increased television access, and piracy. The striking lack of dialogue is telling, and therefore the words that are used hold more weight, and power:
“I haven’t seen a film in ages,” someone says. “No one comes to the movies anymore," which is perhaps the most touching and consequential exchange in the whole movie. From what used to be a public arena for housing the latest films, where people would congregate to share an intimate experience of viewing a film for the first time, and the feelings, emotions, and nostalgia that it can bring, the film and cinema industry suffers as a result of sociopolitical and cultural changes, which place less importance on facilities for the working and middle class to enjoy.
1 Cinema Paradiso
Giuseppe Tornatore’s Academy Award-winning Cinema Paradiso tells the tale of a mischievous young boy, Salvatore, and his friendship with the local cinema’s projectionist, Alfredo. Initially cold, Alfredo’s inhospitable demeanor toward his young companion quickly dissipates, and the pair form an unlikely friendship, with Alfredo doubling up as his surrogate father. As Salvatore reaches young adulthood, at Alfredo’s behest, Salvatore goes off to Rome to pursue his dreams, and a career in the film industry.
Set against the backdrop of WWII, Cinema Paradiso addresses themes of the difficulty of single-parenthood, community, friendship, nostalgia, and the true power of cinema. It’s one of the great odes to movies, an innocent, heart-rending, and touching film that depicts the purity of youth, and how a mutual love for film can form the basis of a flourishing friendship. In a bit of cruel irony, it seems that Cinema Paradiso is being adapted as a miniseries for television.