Many cinema owners don’t care about the actual quality of the cinematic experience they provide (go to nearly any of London’s incredibly shitty cinemas for evidence of this), only about finding new ways to squeeze out an extra pound or two from increasingly compliant Europeans.Ī recent trip to Antwerp left me boiling when, after paying an exorbitant amount for an afternoon showing at a popular cinema near the central train station, I was informed that I had to pay to use the bathroom. Which brings us to the real reason for intermission, the reason it’s implemented in whichever countries cinema owners think it’s possible to pull off. That said, go for a leak at your own risk, and think twice before ordering that extra-large coke from the concession stand. Frodo and Sam still won’t have thrown that ring in. ![]() If you absolutely do have to pee, darting out for two minutes isn’t likely to disrupt your understanding of the plot. Foreign directors often play by different rules but even then, 2 hours into the 4+ hourlong Das Boot you’d rather pee your pants than pull away from what’s happening in that submarine. Hitchcock’s rule that “No film should outlast the endurance of the human bladder” has generally been followed by everyone in Hollywood outside of Peter Jackson (who has earned the exception) and whoever made the dreck that was Tree of Life… but maybe that just felt like it lasted an eternity. Cinema goers are watching the latest Taken or Ice Age sequel, not Götterdämmerung. ![]() The intermission is tradition.įilms, on the other hand, don’t need to be split in two like a French monarch. Furthermore, such art forms are designed to work around the intermission with a ‘first act’ and ‘second act’ (sometimes more). It lets the audience recoup after all that mad singing, and ensures that your bladder won’t burst in the middle of a particularly piercing Aria. Sure, if you’re watching a stage play, fighting to stay awake during a classical concert, or bursting to pee during a four-hour opera, a well placed intermission can be a welcome reprieve.
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