I like big cinema. Movies like “Ben Hur” or “Lawrence of Arabia“, “Titanic” or “The one who dances with the wolf“, “Magnolia” or “Apocalypse now“ Don’t break outside the norm simply because of their epic runtime. They also feel thoroughly big because of their powerful images and story that spans many years or a large number of characters. Films that take all the time in the world to tell their story without compromise – and not only drives the studio managers behind it to despair, but is often also viewed with skepticism by the audience. For several reasons.
On the one hand, the recent past (including in the form of countless overly long Netflix productions) has shown that in most cases it is not a good idea to always give filmmakers a free hand when it comes to running time. And once a director understands his or her film well and consciously chooses excessive length, you must first involve the audience.
Films longer than three hours usually require a certain amount of sitting time, because with such a running time it is virtually impossible to keep the tension and entertainment factor (and therefore the audience’s attention) consistently high.
At the latest in the year However, in 2019 I had to or was allowed to realize that certain films can or even have to take longer to achieve their full effect. At that time I literally had one of the greatest cinematic experiences of my life: “La Flor” by Mariano Llinas.
The cinema epic from Argentina, available on DVD and Blu-ray since 2020 a truly mind-expanding experience that pushes boundaries and thus broadens my horizons. Even spread over three screenings – of which the shortest part lasted more than three hours and the longest almost six hours – the gigantic work, spread over six episodes, is a rarity that you have to deal with.
“La Flor”: Just the tip of the iceberg
At this point I don’t want to delve too much into the fascinating mix of genres – and instead just refer to the recommendation of FILMSTARTS editor-in-chief Christoph Petersen. Why even “La Flor” for him “one of the most exciting, funniest, most surprising, most fascinating cinematic experiences” of his life, you can read about it in the following article:
My biggest concern is to stand up for XXL films. Because even though I notice that I increasingly pause a movie at home to do something or even reach for my smartphone if a movie is less exciting, I think it’s important to remember what cinema (and home cinema) actually is: a magical place that can temporarily take you away from everyday life.
But that is not possible if you just look something up on Google, quickly hang out the laundry or throw a pizza in the oven. And The longer a film is, the greater the risk that it becomes an afterthought when viewed. But ultimately you have to ask yourself if you can make it right away.
My advice: Decide in advance how long the movie you want to watch is; not knowing this could lead to unpleasant surprises in both directions in the short term.
But Trust the filmmakers and become involved with their stories and the associated running time without compromise. Immerse yourself in it without any possible distractions and let the length work its magic on you. If individual scenes are dragging or you’re bored, don’t sign off right away, get started. Because even a chatter of the plot may be desirable – for example, to be able to immerse yourself in the emotional world of the main character and, for example, to make his suffering and pain more tangible and to feel it firsthand.
Because In this way, a film ultimately becomes an experience – from which you can get much more than just entertainment for an hour and a half, two or even a few hours. Only then can you not only truly use cinema to escape reality, but also perceive it as an art form that knows no boundaries.
Are you open to such experiences that broaden your own horizons? Then the gates open to completely new, exciting film worlds – where unique mammoth projects such as “DAU” await you:
Author: Daniel Fabian
Source : Film Starts
I am Dawid Malan, a news reporter for 24 Instant News. I specialize in celebrity and entertainment news, writing stories that capture the attention of readers from all walks of life. My work has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications and I am passionate about delivering quality content to my readers.
