[공감] Reasons to go to the cinema – Busan Ilbo

[공감] Reasons to go to the cinema

Literary critic Kim Nam-seok

Watching movies via OTT after the pandemic
Regulate the tendency to watch movies alone
There are many alternative places to hang out and socialize.
Traditional reasons for going to the cinema are disappearing

Movies, a genre more people should see
Movie theaters find a new reason to survive

The first theater I walked into with my aunt was a place where I was hunched over in the dark and could barely see a person’s head. It seems that there was also a slight smell. Viewers who arrived late had to look for a seat with their heads down, but this was a place where they had to raise their heads by mistake and be ashamed of their own shadows reflected on the screen. The movie I saw there was “The Three Kingdoms”. It was a memorable work with shaggy gear and a humorous boy character. But I don’t remember why I had to see the movie. “Why did we come to the theatre? The question didn’t leave the theater as quickly as he entered after following his rapidly passing aunt.

These days, questions that were vague at the time sometimes come to mind. After the pandemic, many people got used to watching movies alone. We are now starting to watch movies in our living rooms, in our bedrooms, in front of our computers, on our cell phones and on YouTube. As a form of extreme questioning in this situation, we can bring back the question: “Do we need to go to the cinema now?” First, you can get the answer you want to go see the latest movie. A company’s movie content service OTT (online video service), which a fraction of the world’s population subscribes to, is also at least a month or two behind the latest movie releases. Given the logic of the capital invested in film production, films should first be released in theaters and then served elsewhere. So the answer can be found that you have to go to the cinema even for the latest movie. However, this answer will be resolved over time. For those who don’t want to see the opening movie right away, this is a problem that can be solved by enduring a month or two.

You can also expect you to go to the cinema to date or socialize with your lover. Giuseppe Tornatore shows the pleasure of rushing to the cinema in ‘Cinema Heaven’. There, people do various things. You meet your lover, listen to world news, find joy and share your time with others. However, in modern cities, there are too many individual places to replace these functions. It doesn’t have to be a movie theater.

Some say watching a movie in a theater increases concentration, and I remember hearing the response that the screen is big. That doesn’t mean it’s useless. However, it would be hard to explain why so many movie theaters succeed with this alone. While working as a programmer at the Seoul Cinema Center for a year, I had no choice but to delve into the questions that had followed me from childhood until now, from the bright world to the narrow world of the pandemic. Why do we go to the cinema? I haven’t found a satisfying answer yet, but I’m sure this question is needed in the world right now. Indeed, the traditional reason for using cinema is gradually disappearing.

The number of films shown in cinemas continues to increase. From old films to the newest films, from favorite films of many to films that excite only a few viewers, from polished films with universal subjects and themes to films armed with extreme professionalism. But movies have always been a genre that takes more pride when more people see them. It is time for cinemas to invent a new reason to survive, even if it means preserving the characteristics of these films.

Moreover, we have become re-inhabitants of the post-pandemic world, so we have the privilege of choosing more meaningful comparisons between before and after. So I dare throw the right door. where is your movie theatre? Because if you can find your own movie theater, you can also find unique movies that can be seen there.

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