Keeping the doors open
by Elisabetta Galeffi

Richmond, the last stop on the District Line, to the south west of London, is a charming, up-market residential area on the banks of the Thames, which immediately brings to mind the adventures of the “three men in a boat” and their dog. Rowing boats float by one after the other on this Saturday in March 2024, which seems to announce the start of spring with the sun shining over London and the fog seemingly forgotten.
Fine houses, though not grand, where life appears to proceed at a slower pace. There is the impression of being a long way from the chaos of Piccadilly Circus with the neon signs of the West End’s cinemas and theatres, whilst in fact it’s only half-an-hour’s ride away on the tube.

From high up, the Odeon cinema theatre overlooks the banks of the Thames at no. 6 Red Lions street, close to the stone bridge built in the 18th century, which is the real symbol of Richmond. The cinema is a snow-white, elegantly decorated building dating back to 1930, with some fine tiles in bright blue and gold. The interior is pure Atmospheric, a style originating in the USA at the end of the ‘20s, with an auditorium inspired by Moorish architecture and windows typical of 17th-century Spain.

It is considered one of the finest cinemas in the whole of Great Britain. Although it had already been divided into three auditoriums in 1972, it conserves its period furnishings, including a beautiful Art Déco clock in the hall, even though a spectator will occasionally complain about the state of the armchair seats. The cinema building also commands attention thanks to a large banner covering a large part of the façade “Fanatical about film”, the slogan of the Odeon chain.

The programming offers several shows every day, both on this site and in its twin cinema-theatre, less charming but bigger, at no. 72 di Hill street: between them they have 7 screens.
When a crowd of film buffs start to queue at the entrance around 4 pm, it’s like travelling back in time, as though all the viewing platforms, not to mention the old DVDs and video cassettes, have suddenly disappeared.

In Florence, on the other hand, to ensure a future for itself, the historical and very beautiful Cinema Odeon in Piazza Strozzi, in close alliance with the Giunti publishing house, has decided to turn itself into a multi-purpose cultural hub centring around a bookshop, at least for most of the day. Almost all the armchairs in the large parterre have been eliminated, whilst in the middle of the room, between the gold-stuccoed walls, shelves full of books have been placed.

They range from political essays to novels, right up to the area for strip cartoons and mangas, while the gallery and the boxes have remained intact, retaining the cinema’s armchair seats which, in the evening, when the bookshop closes, once more become the stars thanks to a special screen. During the day a large LED wall, the largest in Italy, carries on its own programming, intended to keep the cinema atmosphere alive, yet one Sunday, whilst I was browsing through the bookshelves and “The Aristocats” was being screened, the children and a few other fans sitting up in the gallery were enjoying the famous animated film in relative calm on small screens with headsets.

The aim is for the project combining films and books to become a success, so that this magnificent theatre doesn’t have to close down. I was forgetting that there is also an elegant café which includes an outside space leading onto the square.

But there are even more surprising examples of the effort to resist the new era of home cinema.

Although much smaller than the Odeons in Richmond and Florence, the Nuovo Cinema Caporali in Castiglione del Lago, an hour drive from Perugia, recently re-opened, on 14 September 2023, with three screens instead of one large theatre and programming that changes according to the screening slot. And so, on the same day, more than three different films can be seen.

Even more incredible is the fact that in a small town like Castiglione del Lago, it is possible to come up with programming that covers the entire week, including other kinds of performances and lectures in between screenings. This is a great success, since it can certainly not count on a catchment area comparable to audiences in London or even Florence! But the Nuovo Cinema Caporali has a winning card up its sleeve: it screens films that are difficult to find elsewhere in many neighbouring medium-sized or small centres, and at competitive ticket prices.