Hurst Village Cinema
By David Saitch
The death of cinema has been predicted on many occasions; the invention of television was to be the first nail in its coffin; VCR signed its death warrant; HD Blu-ray and home cinema equipment would surely see cinema consigned to a cold, dark grave; streaming was the final executioner that would put cinema out of its misery. But, in all cases, rather like Mark Twain, the death of cinema has been greatly exaggerated. Cinema has survived all these threats along with wars and plagues of the past. The threat that was identified in the End of Cinema column last month was the closing of the theatrical window; that is, the period where films can only be shown in cinemas before being released for home viewing. Would you bother to go and see a film at the cinema if it was already available for home viewing, was the question posed, and the assumed answer was ‘No’. But, interestingly, we do have some evidence on this. Curzon Cinemas has been operating a streaming service for a number of years, where they release films on to their streaming platform on the same day that they release it in cinemas, but, crucially, this doesn’t seem to have affected audience numbers. Curzon cinema screenings are still full. I use Curzon Home Cinema and I am very fortunate to have an excellent home cinema set up, but I am still more likely to go to see the films at the cinema. Watching films exclusively on my home cinema over the last six months has shown me, if I didn’t know already, that going to the cinema is about more than just seeing the film, it is about the complete experience of going out, socialising, watching a film on the biggest screen possible and with the best sound, as a collective experience with an audience, as it is meant to be seen, without those dreaded words ‘Can you pause it while I go to the loo’. Home cinema will always be there to watch those films I didn’t manage to see at the cinema or to rewatch films. Yes, with the ever expanding plethora of streaming services, it is likely that viewing habits will change over the coming years, but the ‘end of cinema’? I wouldn’t bet on it.
First published in September’s Hurst Life magazine.