And On The Big Screen

To My Youngers,

So we've talked a lot about storytelling this week. Storytelling through books, in life, through art, and arguably in music (though it seems not so much through lyrics as through the experience of a song or band as a whole...) but surprisingly not really at all about storytelling through film. Maybe that's because it seems a bit obvious (what with characters and plots and narrative being some of the key elements necessary to film-making) but there is a whole other dimension to movies that tends to goes overlooked in today's age of downloading, streaming, and netflix...ing- the movie-going experience.

As lame as this sounds, one of my favourites was seeing Snakes On A Plane on opening night. It was like being at the first participatory screening of Rocky Horror, the audience spontaneously got actively involved in the showing: shouting out lines in time with the actors (they were so predictable that we could guess at what was going to be said and be right every time); cheering or booing key characters; and even counting down to with the clock and yelling 'Snakes on a plaaaaaaaaaaaaaaane!' when the carton of snakes burst open... It was awesome. I don't, however, recommend watching it at home. Its just not that great. Its not! The plot is disruptively simple, the characters are one dimensional and the snakes are just, well, just snakes. I know many people who have seen it and asked me 'How on earth did you like that movie?' and I just tell them that it wasn't really about the movie by itself, it was the whole thing all together.

If you're someone who only watches movies on your computer, at home, pretty much by yourself, I'm tellin' you, you are missing out. Few things can compare to the experience of seeing a film on the big screen in a room full of people who are really into it. Its like a concert, only with plot, characters, and no cell phones.

One of the many things I love about my city is the abundance of alternative choices for movie viewing. I mean the silerplexmcmegatheatres have their place I suppose, but they just don't give you that same sense of community that you get at a local venue. We've got a great place that shows independent movies, a fantastic old repertory theatre, and our own cheapie Rainbow cinema (where you can still see Tuesday toonie movies for an actual toonie!), not to mention an real live actual drive-in but twenty minutes down river. I have yet to make it out to the drive-in, but the past two weeks have been absolutely chock-a-block with trips to see old movies on the big screen.

Last night I saw JAWS in a theatre full of people, flanked by two friends who had never seen it before and a small dinosaur we found on the street (we named him Wash, he sat on the seat-back). It was an original print, pieced together from three separate copies of the film, chocked full of scratches, warbles, shifts in colour, and cigarette burns. And it was amazing.

I have seen Jaws before. I remember really liking it (I mean really liking it- it is one of those gems that remain inexplicably un-spoiled despite feeling like you know the movie before ever having seen it). I saw it up at the cottage with my sisters and my neighbors. We rented it from the marina. We didn't go swimming for days. It was really good, really effective, really great story telling, music, atmosphere... it was fantastic. But nowhere near as fantastic as sharing that experience with 150 other people. Hearing a collective gasp at the discovery of the severed arm, feeling everyone around you tense up when the dog is missing, the spontaneous applause that erupted when the shark explodes! Getting caught up in the moment, getting swept up in the crowd reaction. Mob mentality at its finest.

Jaws has got it all- suggestive framing, fantastic pausing, lingering camera shots, and the music- oh the music! But the effectiveness of each and every one of these things is exponentially increased by the presence of a crowd, a big screen, and the smell of popcorn. 

If you haven't seen a movie on the big screen in a while, do yourself a favour and just go. Tonight! This afternoon! Now! Pick something horrible (best at the drive-in!), something scary (midnight showing!), or something classic (from Hitchcock to Evil Dead, even if you've seen it before, I promise you it'll be even better in theatres!).  Find a locally owned independent cinema, get yourself some popcorn, slouch down in the seat, and enjoy spending the next two hours bonding with a roomful of strangers over a fishing boat being eaten by a shark.

-E