Our earliest memories of films we love usually come from a trip to the cinema. The strange, silent communion to which we are drawn again and again to live other lives, walk in other worlds and be changed forever. Well, that’s the plan at least…
A cinema trip is a ritual. Precious to some, holy to others. And whether you have your favourite seat picked out in advance, your preferred confection (except Revels – no-one really likes those do they?), go alone or with friends, flip out your phone with the Cinime app or sit in silent anticipation of the BBFC advisory, there is nothing quite like enjoying a film as it was meant to be seen.
Here are our choice moments from five films to feature scenes of our favourite pastime. Down at the front, phones off. The show is about to begin.
Gremlins (1984)
Dir: Joe Dante
Taking a break from defenestrating grumpy old ladies, ploughing down the neighbours and getting tanked on Kingston Falls’ finest brew, Stripe and his gruesome crew decide to visit the cinema. The film? Snow White of course. While they watch the Disney classic they break out into song as they watch the cartoon dwarves whistle while they work.
If they weren’t about to be incinerated by a cunningly improvised explosion, it would have made for quite the touching moment.
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Dir: John Landis
For London’s present day cinema goers, the sight of the seedy West End found in John Landis’s hilariously terrifying lycanthropic screamfest can provide quite a shock. Porn theatres and X-rated double bills are on full show here, and are a quaint contrast to the hyper-family friendly megaplexes that can be found there today.
Landis’s film has many wonderful scenes, but for me it is the scene in the cinema when horror and hilarity mix, that makes a perfect star in the cinematic sky. It’s rude, gruesome and very, very funny.
This is, obviously, not safe for work.
Annie Hall (1984)
Dir: Woody Allen
OK, this isn’t exactly in the auditorium but it does take place in the cinema building, and man – if it isn’t the best kind of wish fulfilment! Years ago when I was waiting to go into a cinema in Cambridge, and found myself surrounded with the outpouring of the previous audience for Billy Elliot, one loudmouth jactitatied that the film had ‘pulled mechanically at the heart-strings’. How I wish I could have been standing next to Stephen Daldry at the time.
Alas, these scenes only ever happen in the movies…
Donnie Darko (2001)
Dir: Richard Kelly
Whether or not you prefer the theatrical or director’s cut there is an air of mystery to the world of Donnie Darko. The high school teenage angst, combined with a Doomsday prophecy and a smattering of time travel, made for a remarkable debut for Richard Kelly and made a star out of Jake Gyllenhaal.
There is a curious ennui inherent in the film, set before the nostalgia hounds and navel gazers have run amok over twenty-first century’s popular culture. The scene in the cinema is pivotal, but makes no sense without the rest of the film to bookend it. If you haven’t seen it do so now…
Sherlock Jr. (1924)
Dir: Buster Keaton
Keaton is my preferred genius of the silent age and Sherlock Jr.‘s playful whimsy and meticulous construction is just one reason why. It’s a deceptively simple premise, almost as straightforward as boy meets girl and falls in love, but with Keaton nothing is as simple as it seems.
It includes one of the earliest examples of a film-within-a-film, and there is a succession of visual treats as reality begins to blend seamlessly with the projected reality. Sublime.
Honourable Mentions:
The chaos of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the extraordinary blossoming of The Purple Rose of Cairo, the moment when Amelie turns to see the faces of her fellow audience members, the pure love and joy on Johnny Depp’s face in Ed Wood, Leon’s detour from the killing for a moment of Grace Kelly, the moment of Vertigo in Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys and many more!
