Concessions is a film about the last day of the fictional Royal Alamo Cinema, where employees, outcasts and oddballs cross paths in interwoven stories of rejection, redemption, and fate.
“It’s about the experience. The sound, the screen, the communal feeling of it all.”
So, what better place for Mas Bouzidi’s ode to the enduring legacy of the temple of moviegoing to make its world premiere than at the Filmhouse during this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival. A cinema that itself closed down a couple of years ago, only to rise triumphantly from the ashes thanks to the support of the community.
As he calls it, his film is “a eulogy to a bygone way of watching movies, but with some help, we could make it a wake-up call”.
The name of the cinema containing the word Alamo, and the sign on the wall that reads “Always on 35mm”, help bring to mind a certain “boutique” chain and repertory cinema owned by a famous director, however, it evokes the feeling of every cinema you have ever visited as a customer, or worked in as a member of staff.
It is part love letter, part break-up note, to the cinema-going experience. While the 16mm cinematography lends the film a nostalgic, rose-tinted haze, Bouzidi is smart enough to know that there are many issues with the way we currently interact with movies within the theatrical space, and doesn’t shy away from them.
The cinema and its staff find themselves at a crossroads, whether it is the owner realising his family’s dream is coming to an end, or the employee who took the “transitional” job years ago and now is forced to decide what to do with their life. The final day plays out through a series of vignettes, peppered with Kevin Smith-esque slacker humour, that takes aim at annoying customers, bad auditorium etiquette, and obnoxious, elitist staff who criticise the films they show and their audience’s choices and knowledge.
Of the ensemble cast, Greg Roman stands out as the monologuing Theatre Philosopher, but it is impossible not to mention Michael Madsen. He is only in it for a short while, but his performance as Rex Fuel, Kevin Bacon’s former stunt double, enjoying one of his final roles on the big screen, oozes the gruff, laconic old-school charisma that made him a star. As Fuel exits the cinema and saunters off into the distance, it is impossible not to get emotional knowing this is one of Madsen’s final roles following his tragic passing.
One might be quick to lapse into that golden age-style of thinking about the halcyon days of the cinema exhibition. However, it is not over yet. Drectors like Tarantino, Nolan, and Sean Baker are championing the theatrical experience, and it is heartening to see young filmmakers like Bouzidi tell their stories. Even to the point of ensuring it is told on 35mm prints.
Concessions combines poignancy with an acerbic wit that will make you fall in love with the movie theater again. Think Clerks meets Cinema Paradiso.
Concessions had its World Premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival
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Director: Mas Bouzidi
Stars: Michael Madsen, Steven Ogg, Josh Hamilton, Lana Rockwell
Runtime: 90 minutes
Country: USA
