Does the Covid-19 bring back a drive-in grace? This alternative cinema “hall” had its golden age in the 1950s and 1960s, mainly in the United States, its country of origin, where there were nearly 5,000. In front of a giant screen installed in in the open air, spectators discovered their film inside their car. The sound was broadcast in the vehicles through speakers connected to terminals located on the parking lot. The drive-in culture was particularly entrenched in American rural areas, where the car remained (and remains) essential, and where, for lack of an urban center, traditional cinemas were more scarce.
The works screened were often horror or science fiction films, produced by small companies, such as Allied Artists or American International Pictures (AIP), in which actors such as Jack Nicholson, or director Francis Ford Coppola had made their debut. Drive-ins had also developed in Canada and Australia – countries with a large territory and a low population density, much less in Europe, particularly in France, where the few rare attempts failed. Then, in the 1980s, with the emergence of video and the development of cable television, American viewers abandoned their spaces for their living rooms.
What does the coil matter
Due to the closure of dark rooms due to a pandemic, drive-ins are currently making an unexpected return, sometimes to territories where they had never prospered. Autokino in Essen, one of two drive-ins in Germany, is sold out every night – open-air screenings can only take place at night – since March 12, the date of the first containment measures in the country. We are planning Manta Manta, whose star, apart from the main couple, is an Opel Manta. This teenage comedy was a huge success at the German box office in 1991, never experiencing overseas exploitation – no doubt because of its extreme mediocrity.
Interviewed by the American magazine The Hollywood Reporter, the boss of Autokino Essen explained that "The work projected is of no importance. People want to go out and see a movie. We are booked several weeks in advance. "
The other "autokino" in Cologne also registers a large number of bookings and humorously registers on his Facebook page: "Methadone for movie junkies". This substitution drug is respectful of health standards, since only 350 cars, for a capacity of one thousand vehicles, are authorized in order to respect the regulatory distances. Still in Germany, a "wild" drive-in has even just opened, in the town of Marl, on land behind a biker bar.
You have 33.21% of this article to read. The suite is reserved for subscribers.
