The art of... sitting in the cinema all day

Last year was my first time seeing Sátántangó, a seven and a half hour long film by Béla Tarr, a film they show every first Saturday of the year at Eye. My reason for going: what else can you do on this dark and gloomy Saturday but sit in the cinema all day, suffering through an agonizingly long film - and have every other Saturday of the year be more colourful by comparison? Today, I saw Sátántangó for the second time, and over the past year, I have gained a lot of experience in sitting in the cinema all day. I wanted to share some of my tips & thoughts regarding the process.

Why?

• Why not? First of all, it's always worth spending your entire day devoted to the arts. Some films just are extremely long, and if you want to have an opinion on them beyond the superficial judgement that they're too time-consuming, you have to watch them.
• If you watch a really long film, you can brag about it to your friends and colleagues. Alternatively, you can use it to shock your parents as to how much you're wasting your time.
• Perhaps it's cold and dark outside, or hot and sunny, and you want to escape the weather.
• While I can't advise you to spend a whole week in the cinema, I think it's worth it to challenge yourself to just a day - how hard can just sitting there & watching a film be? It's a marathon for a particular kind of nerd.

How?

• One of the most important aspects of sitting in the cinema all day is finding the correct balance between mind and body. You want your attentive spirit to be reduced to your head: watching & listening. In order to achieve this, the rest of your body needs to be as comfortable as possible.
• Wear layers so you can adapt to different temperatures. You might be cold from cycling to the cinema, but the room can heat up after it's been filled with people for multiple hours.
• Think about your sitting posture: make sure you don't stress your ligaments too much. Try to find a way so you can rest your body on the cinema chair as much as possible - experiment with manspreading.
• If there is a break, try to move and go outside. It's probably good to get some caffeine into your system, but I don't think it's worth it to stand in line to get a coffee: if you get an energy drink, you can immediately start sipping & walking. If it's rainy outside, maybe try to do some stretches.
• Make friends with the people next to you. You can share snacks & drinks, and if you're all there to see a super-long film, it's good to commiserate together, and find the power to push through to the last minute. And maybe you'll make some friends.
• Bring snacks, but don't eat them during the film. You need all your energy to think about the moving image, you can refuel during the break. Also, people might think you're annoying if you eat to loudly. Stay hydrated.
• If you're watching a film that you think is boring, I recommend meditating or paying attention to your breath. This gives me new strength & patience.
• In a similar vein, there is always the chance that you fall asleep: maybe this is your body telling your mind that this film is too boring to engage with, maybe you didn't get enough sleep the night before. If you don't want to fall asleep, try to pay attention to your posture, and if that works for you, drink something with caffeine. However, sometimes you simply have to take a little nap.
• If you haven't seen the film before, try to pee during the breaks. If you have seen the film before, you know when you can take a pee. If you really need to pee, you need to pee. Otherwise, your mind will become too consumed with the desire to pee so you can't pay attention to the film.
• This might be obvious advice, but turn off your phone, and do not speak a word during the screening unless you're telling someone else to shut up.
• Forget about time. A film might be '432 minutes' but that's not a span of time you can properly conceptualise. In some ways it will feel like a long time, in other ways it might surprise you how the time flows.
• If you hate the film and don't want to continue watching, leave. Being bored is something different from hating the film. If you hate a film, your mind will just be filled with criticism and disgust for what you're seeing. If you're bored, your mind might wander but it can return to the screen, so I think it's worth sitting it out if you have nothing else planned.

What?

• There is a Wikipedia page with the longest films ever made, but I don't think many of those films will be shown in the cinema. You have to be on the lookout for these kinds of things, subscribe to the newsletters of your favourite cinemas, or have a good cinenerd friend who tells you about these types of things.
  • While you can also do a movie marathon at home, I think this is a different experience from watching a very long film or watching multiple films in a row in the cinema. You can pause the film at any moment, there's a different social etiquette, and it's less immersive. It's a different experience from sitting in the cinema all day, and maybe I'll write a guide to that in the future.
• Another approach could be to just watch a bunch of different films throughout the day at the cinema. During a film festival, I peaked at about 5 different films per day, but I think this is also accessible outside of a festival. Another fun aspect is that you're not tied to one cinema - you have to pay attention to the start & end times, as well as the distance between cinemas, but this could be a great way to get some movement in between screenings.
  • Something worth experimenting with: Do you think it matters what the pace of the films is? I can imagine watching many short films on a single day can be overstimulating, but also enriching to see what's possible in film. On the other hand, long films are generally kind of slow. This requires sustained attention for a longer period of time, which can be exhausting in its own way. Film series are an obvious choice. Another fun challenge could be to stick to a certain theme (genre, country, director, etc.)
• If you want specific Amsterdam recommendations, I believe they show film series (e.g. the Godfather Trilogy, all of Lord of the Rings, etc.) at LAB111, including a dinner at least once a month.