EDGAR WRIGHT
With big screens everywhere closing due to the coronavirus pandemic, director EDGAR WRIGHT reflects on the precious experience of filmgoing in an exclusive essay
If there were a movie Prime Minister, Edgar Wright would be it. At this time of crisis, he makes a rallying cry to the nation: celebrate our cinemas!
ONE OF MY favourite things to do is sit in the dark watching a movie. Whether I am with loved ones, a group of friends or just all on my lonesome (but with the tasty company of some Cadbury Dairy Milk Giant Buttons), going to the cinema has been the closest thing I have to a religion in my life. Sometimes people use the word escapism as a negative term, but there is real pleasure in being transported when the lights go down.
The ongoing pandemic on this planet has made that experience a little darker than I care for, as silver-screen projector lights the world over are being switched off. Before this crisis I could, like many, appreciate the convenience of watching movies at home, but deep down for me, really experiencing a movie meant getting my arse off the sofa,going to the cinema, sitting down with friends or strangers and appreciating the flickering art (or trash) up on the big screen.
So I dearly hope, as a fan of the cinema, that any light at the end of the tunnel of this period in history includes the Xenon bulb that so many of us worship. Since big-screen exhibition has fought in recent years to combat the comforts of home cinema, the climb back from this shuttering of picture palaces may be tougher than ever, especially for many independent cinemas that you may cherish. So how can you, a fan of cinema, help the big screens out there that you adore even as their doors stay closed?
One way of showing your unwavering support is to become a member of your favourite cinema. After you’ve read this, why not buy a membership for yourself, or for someone close to you. Buy some gift cards. Donate where you can. Consider, if you can afford to, not asking for your unlimited subscription to be refunded. Yes, you may not be able to go back in the coming months, but you’ll feel better for having helped now than if you later found your local church of cinema had been forced to close for good. I myself have been buying memberships to cinemas I frequent that I hadn’t already joined. This is not a luxury that everyone can afford, but for those who can, think of the many hard working staff at your favourite cinemas who may have just lost their jobs. This just might help ensure they have a place of work to return to.
When this is all over, I can’t wait to get back in there and support my favourite cinemas in any way I can, even if it means watching way too many commercials, sitting through trailers that I’ve already seen several thousand times and watching a franchise film that could easily lose 15 to 20 minutes (whispers: ‘they all can’).
My life was forever changed by a cinema trip when I was three years old (Star Wars in 1978 at the Galaxy Cinema on Hinton Road in Bournemouth), and I’ve spent the best part of my career trying to recreate the magic of that night out by making the films I’d want to see as an audience member. I promise to keep doing that and everything I can to still give movie acolytes a place of congregation. Stay safe out there and I’ll see you at the big screen as soon as we are able. Giant Buttons are on me*.
(*Not legally binding)