I always liked the idea of watching movies outdoors more than the actual practice. Open-air cinema coincides with summer, which coincides with heat, humidity, and mosquitoes. Why not stay inside and watch Netflix on the couch? Or just go to a regular movie theater?
I have gone to outdoor movies: Black Swan in Baltimore, Goonies in Louisville, and a Southern Indiana drive-in. In D.C., I saw lots of ads for outdoor movie series, but I never made it to one.
“I have movies at home.”
Somehow, this summer, I went to two different open-air movies. The second converted me, and it’s going to be part of every Swiss summer.
One of the benefits of living in Switzerland is that English-language movies are shown in English. In Germany, movie theaters show films dubbed into German. Here, if you go see Challengers or The Holdovers, the films are in their original English with German and French subtitles. A German dub may be available at a different time or in another theater. It’s similar in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, so it’s important to check whether a screening is in the original language. When I looked earlier this week, a theater in Lausanne had Hit Man and It Ends with Us (Jamais Plus) both showing in “Français, non sous-titre”.
In 2005, I took a friend to see Batman Begins in Geneva. I didn’t check, and the movie was dubbed in French. If there were subtitles, they weren’t in English.
Finally, Ticino, the Italian part of Switzerland, seems to prefer Italian dubs. So we’re lucky in Basel to have a wide availability of movies in their original language. Of course, the luck ends if the original language isn’t English, because the subtitles aren’t in English. So we have yet to see Anatomy of a Fall or Zone of Interest.
Fortunately, the original language rule applies to outdoor movies, too. The first one we saw this summer wasn’t just an outdoor movie, but a drive-in, in a Basel suburb called Pratteln. Gabe reported on this American-style drive-in experience for The World, and I went along for interpretation (I’m rarely needed in these situations, as most people speak English).
The Auto Kino shows two movies a night, projected onto the side of a warehouse. For the car-free, the organizers provide a bike and pedestrian seating area. As far as I could tell, we were the only people who came by bus.
The movie that night was Blues Brothers, and among the American classic cars, there was a replica of the Bluesmobile, purchased in the US, shipped to Switzerland, and faithfully restored, down to the paint job and license plate. A teen DJ played ‘50s music, women in gingham and polka-dots rollerbladed food and drinks to the cars, and food trucks served burgers and ice cream to those who didn’t pay for the food delivery package. This was back in chilly July, and I was underdressed for the temperature drop that came at nightfall. Otherwise, this was a fun night.
Fortunately, I don’t have to travel an hour to Pratteln to watch an outdoor movie. There are open-air movies all around town and the region. The Swiss love the outdoors, so it makes sense that they offer such a range of outdoor movie theaters. The biggest is organized by the insurance company Allianz. Allianz Cinema also organizes open-air series in Zurich and Geneva. In Basel, the outdoor theater takes over Münsterplatz, the plaza in front of the cathedral. In addition to the screen and rows of chairs, there’s a mini food court, a bar, and a tented VIP section. We took a friend visiting from the US, and when we got through the gate, she said, “Oh I thought this was a going to be a ‘bring a blanket and sit on the ground’ situation.”
Instead, attendants handed us cardboard nameplates and pens as we waited in line, so we could reserve our seats and wander. Vendors from Markthalle, a food hall near the train station, sell everything from Thai and Indian to arepas and empanadas. The 16 CHF ticket includes free ice cream: caramel, raspberry yogurt, or cappuccino in a little cup. If you want to reserve a fleece blanket, it’s 10 CHF; if you want an upgrade to the VIP tent, which includes a meal and a drink, it’s 99 CHF. We also had a meal and drinks, and they did not come to 99 CHF per person.
We went to see Furiosa, the next Mad Max movie. I’d wanted to see it in theaters, since Fury Road was amazing, but we missed it. We could have missed it entirely – after dinner, amazing weather, ice cream, and beer, that movie really brought the evening down. Fortunately, Basel personalized the experience with its own soundtrack. Somewhere, a band of piccolo players was marching or practicing, and because the screen is set up in the cathedral plaza, every 15 minutes, the church bells rang.
Someone in the movie is being tortured. “Toodle-deedle-dee,” go the piccolos.
Chris Hemsworth gives another long-winded speech. “Ding-dong,” go the bells.
And you cared what was in Chris Hemsworth’s speech, there were German and French subtitles.