Adios cinema....
Sadly our local cinema shut its doors. It was an old cinema dating back from the 50s which opened only on Fridays and week ends. We didn’t go much because the movies were not always our type of movie. The last film I saw there was Volver by Pedro Almodovar. I remember how thrilled I was, to be seated in an old Spanish cinema, watching a Spanish movie about Spanish women, by one of my favorite Spanish directors.
Tickets were sold outside at a little booth, at 3€ the entrance. The man who sold the tickets also sold packets of popcorn or chocolate bars in the hall. If the movie was to start at 9.30pm and very few people would attend the session, we would wait a bit more time just in case late spectators would show up. Then the same man would start the projection. I can't say the Spanish audience is a very quiet one. Kids usually eat pipas (sunflower seeds). There is always someone cracking up a packet of crisps, or commenting constantly to its neighbor thinking nobody can hear it. But the Spanish audience is also very “bon public” as we say in French, meaning they show good humor and are not too critical (like the French, for instance!); they shed a tear easily and I like that.
The other film I saw in our local cinema was the French movie, The Chorus. I could say the whole audience was very much taken by this poignant story because not a sound could be heard. At the end of the movie, everybody clapped for a few seconds. I had cried, the woman next had red eyes too, another woman kept saying Que 
The ambiance of our local cinema always reminded me of the movie Cinema Paradiso. It felt like another time indeed which the kids in the village will not know anymore. I feel nostalgic about it because it is such a great thing for a village to have its own cinema. People were proud about it and enjoyed it as a place of social and cultural gathering. Now that it’s gone, we will all miss it. I wonder what the town hall will make of it. I pray it won't be some horrendous modern flats.pics : scene of Volver
our former local cinema
Comments
so very Cinema Paradiso.
I, too, rarely go to my local theatre-
for the same reasons you've voiced.
I don't want to watch what most of my neighbors want to see.
Too much violence and too many ridiculous themes. I often feel I choose a time warp ... . historical films which take me to another place and time.
Jjjj
Sorry to hear about your cinema. I hope they don't open a department store or a parking lot there! You know how much I love film so I'm hoping you'll be able to find a new theatre that shows great films.
Best,
David
http://www.globalaroundtown.blogspot.com
PS - Please include pictures of Penelope Cruz in all future posts.
Like in your world in Spain,
it is also the same, here in small towns of the US. The local Cinema's days are gone. They have all shut their doors. Some have been remade into live performing arts venues, but most are simply disintegrating. Like the "drive~in" movie. Have you ever go to one of those?
Didn't you like the movie Cinema Paradiso? It was a good one!
Hugs to you!
xo
Constance
The owner pushes a little cart selling treats through the aisles while chatting up customers and then runs back to show the films himself. He's a bit of a character and this is his second career -- just because he loves the movies! Brilliant!
Catherine xx
P.S. We are headed to Arcos de la Frontera on Saturday. Plan to spend a week there while my husband attends an artist workshop! You are so right about the heat here in Madrid - WHOA!
There is still a one man cinema in Olivares.
Yes, I agree with you - and pray that whatever take its place will be charming and lovely and not something horrendously modern.
I immediately thought "Cinema Paradiso" when I read that another movie venue has closed down.
Here in Vienna, a couple of old movie theaters are holding on, thanks to foreign films they show in the original language. Some have survived because people fought for them to stop open. There is even one that offers breakfast with movies.