"While the projectionist changed the reels, the theater personnel would sell soda and snacks to the audiences. "It forcefully pulls the viewer from the world of a film to that of the reality."Īccording to film critic Esin Küçüktepepınar who headed the FIPRESCI jury in this year's Cannes Film Festival, intermissions are nostalgic things that belong to an era when cinema was considered little more than a form of entertainment. The intermission is a nightmare," Gürel said. "Suddenly the image freezes and the lights are turned on. As digital projection systems became more popular, however, intermissions now catch the audiences unawares. In the old times one could tell the coming of an intermission, thanks to special little marks on the film. When I asked the film critic Selin Gürel about her take, she pointed to how intermissions destroyed the pleasure of watching films. With the exception of special events, like the Istanbul Film Festival or "Baska Sinema" screenings in a handful of movie theaters in Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa and Eskisehir (see for details), there is almost no chance of seeing films in theaters without intermissions. Nothing could be more wrong than to turn an artistic experience into an opportunity to make more profits.īut somehow intermissions stood the test of time, and as my generation of movie buffs reached middle age (you can call middle age an intermission between one's youth and old age), they are still with us. But the real purpose of the intermissions was clear: They were preserved so as to allow theater owners to sell snacks and candy to audiences.
It was true that in the past films like "2001" or "Barry Lyndon" had special intermission sequences placed inside them, giving the audience a chance to think about the first half of the film. They cut crucial scenes in two and destroyed the illusion of living in an alternate world. The 10-minute break obviously got in the way of enjoying films. I belong to a generation of movie buffs who grew up with the hope that one day in the future there would be no intermissions in film theaters.
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