Moonlight Cinema 2007/08
Botanic Park
November 29th '07 - February 17th '08


These days it's said to be harder and harder to get people to leave the house, part with their hard-earned cash and spend time in a cinema. Apparently the done thing is to install a home entertainment system, complete with surround sound and a TV only slightly smaller than the wall it occupies, rent a DVD and replicate the theatre experience at home and at your leisure. I can't say this idea really computes with me - whatever happened to the experience of the thing? - but regardless, movies seem to have to try a bit harder to get the punters out to see them.

Outside cinema is one such attempt. In Melbourne, they host these events on top of buildings to take advantage of the city skyline; here in Adelaide we have the far more agreeable surrounds of the Botanic Park for our Moonlight Cinema.

Probably most people are familiar with the concept by now. And probably, if most people are like me, they only end up seeing one or two of the films on offer due to either choice overload or general forgetfulness. Moonlight Cinema program encompasses a truly diverse set of entertainments. There are golden oldies like '2001: A Space Odyssey' and recent releases like 'The Darjeeling Limited'. There's light-hearted fare like 'Ratatouille', or the more serious 'Lions For Lambs'. There are old classics like 'Casablanca' or there's ... well, 'Zoolander'. In any case, there should be something for just about everyone.

Normally the point of having Moonlight Cinema in the summer months is that it's rather pleasant to be sitting outside in the balmy weather, letting Nature's own air-conditioning do its work. Occasionally, as when I went along to see 'The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford', the weather can be distractingly brisk. This is of course is the downside of the concept: you are entirely at the mercy of the wind, the heat or the rain (chance would be a fine thing). But this is more than compensated for by the rest of the experience.Surrounded by people setting up their own little space on the grass, complete with bean-bags, rugs and often great heapings of food, it doesn't take long to feel like this is how movies are meant to be watched; none of this scurrying about in the dark between rows of tiny chairs, trying not to knock over some poor stranger's drinks and popcorn. You can spread out and make yourself comfortable. You can bring alcohol. Most of all you feel as though you're amongst a crowd of people who really give a damn about the idea of going out to see a movie.

And then there's the setting itself: 'The Assassination Of Jesse James...", being a good old-fashioned Western, takes a lot of care to make the landscape a big part of the viewing experience, so what better way to see it than out in the open? And while you'd have to pay me, handsomely, to see 'Alien Vs. Predator' (another one of the offerings) think about the possibilities there: outside, in the dark, plant-life rustling in the breeze, lots of little noises...

Just one little thing to add: a couple next to us left early and decided not to take their empty wine-bottle with them, not even as far as the bins. Remember that we're lucky to have this event each year, and it is held in a public park. Just a bit of consideration makes it better for all of us.

Henry Nicholls