The year 2019 has provided the public with more blockbuster films pushing the three-hour mark than any other year in recent memory. “Avengers: Endgame,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and “IT Chapter Two” have all been noted for their considerable lengths as modern motion pictures, yet all of these films have shown themselves to be highly successful. “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” has yet to officially reveal its runtime, although comments from composer John Williams on the amount of music he has written for the film have garnered more evidence that this film, too, will be quite lengthy. In light of more movies starting to become lengthier, the question of whether or not intermissions should return to these films is beginning to become a subject of debate.
In the past, especially during the 1950s and early 1960s, films of three hours or longer were not as uncommon as they are today. “Ben-Hur,” “Gone with the Wind” and “Lawrence of Arabia” are prime examples of this. At that point in time, in order to distinguish itself from the television, going to the cinema was marketed as an experience you could not get anywhere else. Hence, the more widespread use of color, introduction of widescreen formats and production of films on an epic scale were introduced. Of course, many movies made then still ran the typical 90 minutes, but all of the longest films from that era included an intermission allowing for viewers to smoke, visit the concession stand or use the bathroom. With the jumbo-sized sodas being sold to movie viewers today and the relative unfamiliarity of most people with watching three hour movies in a theater, the decision to release these films without a break is probably not the best decision for general moviegoers. Many audience members might also find themselves unable to go a full three hours without checking their phones, where the inclusion of an intermission would help relieve this problem. It is a possibility that the directors behind these movies did not expect such a high number of other long motion pictures to be released in the same year, and chose to omit the intermission over fears that it might interrupt the flow of the movie. In the age of “spoiler culture,” it is also likely that there were concerns that viewers hanging out in the lobby and discussing the movie openly would have ruined the movie. While this concern is certainly valid, common sense and respect should be a remedy to this problem, although that seems to be severely lacking in many people when it comes to matters like this.
It will be interesting to see if this trend of long movies continues into the future. Clearly, based on the success of the long films released in the past year, especially with “Avengers: Endgame” becoming the highest grossing film ever, audiences have accepted these long movies with open arms and runtimes do not seem to deter too many audience members. Based on this, filmmakers who produce movies running close to three hours or more should strongly consider including an intermission.
Image from Pixabay
