Those who know me, might be aware of the fact I’m a film enthusiast. I am not, however, a connoisseur. I have never studied anything film-related, nor do I know most of the terms used in the professional field. Why I consider myself an enthusiast is this: I’d rather buy a movie, so that I can watch it anytime I like, than rent it. Furthermore I prefer small, independent arthouse movies over the major Hollywood productions.
I like some historic awareness in a movie, I like it to be more than a made-up story. The basic storyline of many movies is quite similar and I even often fail to tell one movie from the other. When a movie is on tv, I often revert to my girlfriend to find out if I’ve seen a movie before, or not. I tend to mix up names and think I’ve seen that particular movie, or at least part of it.
Sadly though, it’s hard to come by a good, well-equipped ‘arthouse’ movie theatre. They often have just one ‘screen’, which limits them to one or two films a night, and in effect limiting the possibilities for beverages and snacks. In Sittard, I once had to satisfy myself with coffee, tea or soda in a way the local bingo night serves coffee, tea and soda. Even that will not keep me away from a movie theatre, though, as it’s the film what it’s all about, but being able to get that something extra certainly helps my desire to go back to a particular film theatre to grow.
When Hecubah and I went to Aachen last week, we decided we wanted to see a movie as well. Two months earlier, we wanted to see ‘Das Weiße Band’, but opted for ‘Berlin 36′ instead due to more convenient screening times. The Apollo theater we went to wasn’t bad, at all, but screens mostly mainstream movies. ‘Das Weiße Band’ was, sadly, already cancelled so we decided to opt for a movie in Maastricht instead, which we have to pass through on our way from Aachen anyway, as we both refuse to watch a non-German movie in German cinemas. They’re more often than not dubbed.
Lumiere, Maastricht
Looking up show times for Maastricht, I found out that ‘Das Weiße Band’ might be cancelled in Germany, it was screening in Maastricht’s Lumière arthouse cinema, one of the country’s few A-class arthouse cinemas, according to Hecubah. Once we got there, I was stunned by the building. Located in an old factory building right in the city centre of Maastricht, Lumière looks like it does not cater to the mass, but to those who embrace what’s left when the masses abandon things, like the building itself. It screens films that might not be popular by the masses, but are worthy of showing anyway.
When we entered the hall our film would be screened in, I was stunned, again. Only four rows of seats with eight seats each. Neither does this feel like mass entertainment, as the large cinemas do, nor does it have the massive amounts of empty seats making you feel like it doesn’t matter if you pay or not: the film will be screened for a lot of empty seats regardless. With 27 of the 28 seats occupied, ‘Das Weiße Band’ wasn’t hugely popular, but that didn’t matter. This room was designed for such small groups of people.
The film itself was stunning. Set in the 1940s, it’s shot entirely in black and white whereas the full-color-era actors manage to get their part across, even in black and white. The
Tonight, I will be seeing something of a totally different league, though. I’ve got tickets to see Avatar together with Hecubah in Amsterdam’s largest cinema. On Amsterdam’s largest (IMAX) screen. And in 3D. This, however, will not be a matter of watching a movie. I am just curious about what modern technology can do for a film. What it can add to old filming techniques. As the most expensive movie ever made, I’ve certainly got my expectations set high for the special effects and 3D technology.
