Column | Long films and series: a lot of filler, little killer

Pioneering you can use the funny ‘whodunnit’ See How They Run not mention.Still, the film felt like a breath of fresh air when I saw it in the cinema ona rainy Sunday. See How They Run is one of those solid three-ball moviesthat you don’t see very often anymore. Charming actors, good joke density, areasonably well-rounded mystery and above all: a relatively short runningtime. After 98 minutes you are done. “Sometimes you feel like haute cuisineand sometimes a simple pasta”, concluded my girlfriend afterwards in the pub.There was drink time we wouldn’t have after yet another bloated blockbuster(hello there, Jurassic World Dominion ).

I was a bit shocked that same day when I read about the playing time of Bardo(or False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths) the latest epic by Oscar magnetAlejandro Iñárritu ( birdman , The Revenant ). Visitors to the Venice FilmFestival were shown a film of no less than 174 minutes. The buzz afterwards:partly impressive, but far too long. Iñárritu went back into the editing roomand took 22 minutes off. “I tightened the film little by little,” he told thesite indie wire. Still, he defended the playing time. “I’ve seen 80-minutemovies that are too long,” he said. “Or three and a half hours and not toolong at all.”

The conversations about length also apply to the TV world. Streaming serviceshave given series creators fewer time restrictions and even encouraged to makestories longer. In addition, film scripts are increasingly being convertedinto miniseries, because they sell better these days. The successfulminiseries The Queen ‘s Gambit is a well-known example of this. Or thinkabout Obi-Wan Kenobi a Star Wars series that started as a screenplay. Aminiseries simply yields more ‘watching minutes’ than a movie, something thatthe streamers love. Sometimes that extra time gives room for characterdevelopment and beautiful moments that are not driven by plot. Too often it’sno more than filler.

Also read: Jeff Bridges growls like no other in ‘The OId Man’

Even while watching the entertaining thriller series The Old Man with JeffBridges I got that feeling. The series, which can be seen in the Netherlandsfrom this Wednesday, is worth watching because of the play of the growlingBridges. Unfortunately, almost every episode feels ten minutes too long. Themakers are not nearly as big as the team of Stranger Things , that lastseason only poured out long episodes over the viewers. The season finale evenlasted 150 minutes.

You can therefore understand why film director James Cameron does not caremuch about complaints about the length of his productions. His long-awaitedsequel to science fiction hit Avatar will finally be released in Decemberand will last about three hours. But please don’t whine about it, he toldmagazine Empire: “I don’t want to hear from anyone about the length whenthey can binge watch TV for eight hours.” Fortunately, Cameron gives uspermission to visit the toilet in the cinema: “It’s okay to get up and gopee.” I reserve a spot in the aisle in advance.