Intermission

[domino harvey]

Where's the IAMMMMMMMMMMMMMW fanboys to tell us about how kewl the police chatter intermission being pumped into the bathroom was

[MichaelB]

And Napoleon has three, although I don't think that's quite what you meant. ;^)

I suspect musicians' union regulations are partly responsible for that! I doubt very much that you could make an orchestra play for six hours without a break even if that was your most heartfelt desire.

[TMDaines]

The utterly tedious epic Alexander had an interval at my local cinema. Can't remember if it was intended to. Did anyone else have this experience?

[Brianruns10]

I saw a 70mm print of Hamlet in 2007 at Ebertfest, and it came with an intermission. Of course that film was 4 hours to begin with, and I think they about HAD to have one in. Wound up being a 4 and a half hour experience but TOTALLY worth it for that glorious 70mm.

5 years ago I would've lobbied hard for longer films having an intermission, both for reasons of propriety, to give viewers a break to stretch or relieve themselves, but also to encourage sales at concessions.

But now with more theaters moving toward the dine in experience, where patrons can be served at their seats, a big motivator now less important, because theaters can still get their concession revenues.

[Brianruns10]

And on a related note, when you all have been in a screening with an intermission, how long was your intermission? I've found these tend to be pretty inconsistent. I saw Lawrence of Arabia in theaters twice, once with an owner who didn't know what intermission meant, and carried right over from the intermission fade out of part 1 straight into entr' acte of part 2. Rather annoying! Another theater did a better job, offering a 10 minute break, and even having a countdown clock on screen for good measure. When I saw Napoleon in a theater, each intermission was around 15 minutes, and the longest I can remember was for Hamlet, where we had a nearly half hour intermission.

[willoneill]

I've only been to three screenings with intermissions: for Lawrence of Arabia and The Seven Samurai, the break was 15 minutes; for Che, it was 25.