Will the movies end or the cinema?!

Charso Press: Last year, in such days, the ominous shadow of Corona had not gone away, and cinema, as one of the first professions to be closed due to the spread of the virus, had not yet been able to stand tall. When the glimmers of hope started shining on the cinema from the summer, the occurrence of bitter events in the society upset all the equations and suddenly everything reached the line of silence and stillness.

But since Nowruz this year, when the situation has changed a little and the cinema box office has gained new life, the hopes for the improvement of the situation have also increased because apart from the mental condition of the society, after the boom of internet platforms and the migration of moviegoers to these platforms and the rise of serialization, there are other concerns for The fate of cinema, movie theaters and the changing taste of the audience came into existence. This concern is still expressed among many film experts, but one of the film critics has a hopeful view of this story.

Khosrow Dehghan has recently written a note in the magazine Dunyay al-Izab, which is republished here due to the design of many of these concerns.

Dehghan in this text titled “Maybe the movies will end, but the cinema continues…” is written:

“1) When we talk about the pitfalls of cinema in recent years, we must consider the fact that the roots of many problems go back to issues beyond cinema, and that they are more than one year, two years, and 10 years old. We should not forget that Iranian cinema has been accompanied by many defects in its 120-year history. Fortunately or unfortunately, some of the problems are not unique to us, and the cinema phenomenon in general has faced problems worldwide. Certainly, the definition of cinema that exists today and the people’s reception of movies in cinema halls cannot be compared with ten, twenty or thirty years ago. Of course, problems in our country take on other colors and become more complicated, but not in reality! Cinema’s dead end cannot be limited to geography.

2) Let’s skip the generalities and look a little more in detail and the factors that brought cinema to this day. In the last two or three years, we have had many crises, including the Corona virus, which is still there and apparently does not stop with these simple things. Corona was an important factor. It disrupted the assembly and affected the structures. It dimmed the associations and reduced the desires. It affected all aspects of social life, as a result of its shards, it also reached the cinema, because the cinema gained meaning with the presence of the crowd in the hall. So without compliments, we must take Corona and its subsequent consequences seriously. The issue is complicated because once the corona virus is gone, the habits that have been destroyed during this period will not come back.

3) It should be noted that the habit of going to the cinema has faded after Corona, going to the cinema no longer has the rituals and rituals of the past; Dressing up, making a date, standing in line to buy tickets, eating sandwiches and soft drinks, and these things that used to make a special night for moviegoers gradually faded and disappeared.

4) The next thing that cannot be ignored is the economy. The situation is not interesting anywhere in the world, but as usual it is worse for us. In the old days, cinema was the cheapest possible entertainment for people, but this cheap and comprehensive entertainment has now become an expensive and luxurious entertainment. An empty pocket does not answer. If we talk more simply, it should be kept in mind that people don’t have much patience left to go to the cinema for fun because we have learned to solve everything at home.

5) The next thing that should not be forgotten is technology. Technology has changed all aspects of life. In the era when a young person anywhere in the world can watch three movies every night on a mobile phone, the meaning of cinema is changing. Satellite, Internet, TV and smartphones have entered our lives and have left room for cinema. Instead of enduring the crowds and paying for a taxi or a parking space, you curl up on the couch or bed and watch any movie you want with subtitles or dubbing, censored or uncensored.

6) At home, the TV is not more than one or two meters away from you. You have all kinds of satellite channels and streaming services available, and you can watch different things from morning to night that are not necessarily movies anymore. For this reason, these days, serials and serial viewing have filled the place of cinema and watching movies in the form of ninety or one hundred minutes for people, and as a result, the number of customers for serialization has increased.

7) So everything has gone hand in hand to change the definition of cinema and watching movies for us, especially the technology that is progressing hour by hour and minute by minute and probably from the time I started this note until the time you When you read it, it goes a few steps further.

8) In general, more than the changes related to this side of the screen, that is, in the audience and external factors, it is the cinema itself that has changed, and it is these changes that are important. The nature of cinema has changed. Its dimensions and size have changed. Its rules and conventions have been updated and are no longer compatible with our previous ideas. We are transitioning from the era when watching movies was like a ritual for us. That time has passed and sooner or later this new era will be established and make its own meaning.

9) With these interpretations, it may seem that I think and write bitterly, but in reality, I believe in hope and the future. Probably and surely there will be ways to open it. I don’t know how and how, but the future is never dark and black because the sun will rise tomorrow…