Theater Etiquette — If Not in Cannes Then Where?
In Cannes’ own Salle Buñuel Theater, I waited for Akira Kurosawa’s 1943 directorial debut “Sanshiro Sugata” (newly restored in 4K quality) to grace the projector screen. As an introduction to the iconic film, Toho Studios executives spoke on the importance of this restoration, Kurosawa’s extraordinary influence on Japanese film and the humbling opportunity the Cannes International Film Festival gave them this year.
During these heartfelt and fascinating speeches, the majority of audience members stayed glued to their phones, thinking that the “no phone use in the theater” rule applied only when the lights were out.
But even as the lights dimmed for “Sanshiro Sugata,” a few stragglers remained looking down. Specifically, two young women to my left. With one woman on iMessage and the other on WhatsApp (and occasionally refreshing the “available tickets” page of the official Cannes Film Festival website), I felt the illumination of two small screens nagging at my periphery. One of the women eventually stepped over me to exit the theater, presumably attending to the ever so urgent situation on WhatsApp.
As frustrating as this was, it was by no means surprising. Some people text during movies — that’s just how it is. However, I was thrown a curveball as the gentleman sitting in front of me had something much more unique up his sleeve. Throughout the film, he held his iPhone closely against his chest, perhaps fearing someone would take it from him. During the film’s most striking shots, he would pull his phone away from his chest to take a picture of the screen as if at a concert. The phone was held vertically, perhaps uncoincidentally in line with Instagram’s posting format.
Attending the Cannes Film Festival is what most would consider to be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Not only do so few people have the chance to experience it, but the ones who are there should theoretically be some of the most passionate movie enjoyers in the world. Yet, certain experiences at the festival have made it seem that many prefer telling the world they are at Cannes than actually existing at Cannes.
Jenna Castellano — an Arts University Bournemouth student attending the festival for the first time — experienced similar troubles, noting that someone in front of her was using their phone at full brightness for a significant portion of “A Woman’s Life.” While Castellano said that it was an isolated incident, she had larger issues with audience behavior during the festival.
“People getting up and rushing out before the credits could roll was beyond disrespectful and irked me constantly,” she said. “It’s a film festival. Sit through the damn credits.”
Audience members’ refusal to sit through the credits might be explained by the festival’s strict policy about attending the films you have tickets to. If a festivalgoer arrives at a screening late and fails to get their ticket scanned, they risk being temporarily or permanently banned from acquiring future tickets. This might encourage audience members to hurry out of a finishing film in order to get to the next one in time.
Castellano went on to describe frustrations over how crowds reacted following the Cannes Classics screening of Jerzy Skolimowski’s “Moonlighting.” Those who worked on the film spoke about it as the credits rolled, but many in the theater were already heading toward the exits. “Fully grown adults showing that level of disrespect for the creators of [what] they just watched was insane,” Castellano said.
Since the popularity of at-home streaming has grown exponentially in recent years, many seem to forget how to act when watching a movie. The convenient and private nature of turning on a film at home creates no barrier between the viewer and their phone. It has been reported that three-quarters of Americans tend to use other devices while watching movies. This leads to the question: What can we expect in theaters worldwide if what are supposedly the most dedicated film fans can’t respect the films they are watching?
Regions: Cannes