Indie Ghetto: Euro Arthouses Going Mainstream

Say it ain't so, my European friends: arthouse theaters on the Continent are -- shudder!! -- now showing mainstream flicks like Mamma Mia! and Wall-E alongside their usual specialty fare like the Israeli animated feature Waltz With Bashir. And not just on the Continent, according to Variety, but in Britain too! What is the world coming to? Is this the end of Western civilization?

It's not news that mainstream movies have crept steadily onto arthouse screens in the US. In my neck of the woods (Dallas), for example, Landmark Theatres operates two multiplexes that, once upon a time, showed independent and foreign-language pictures almost exclusively. The Inwood Theatre is currently showing Bedtime Stories in its large downstairs auditorium, with Seven Pounds and Rachel Getting Married screening upstairs in the two small (50-60 seats) rooms upstairs. It's similar at the Magnolia, where The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Yes Man claim three of the five screens. The Angelika Film Center operates two complexes in the area and does a bit better, with 10 of 13 screens dedicated to specialty releases this week.

Similar to the US scene, European exhibitors cite "changing audience tastes, a reduction in the number of single-screen venues that used to favor local fare as well as a glut of specialty pics." Western Europe has about 33,000 screens, of which "roughly one quarter" are single-screen venues. The single-screen houses are finding it tough to compete against the multiplexes, with more than 300 single-screen theaters closing in Italy alone over the past five years.

The upshot for indie film fans everywhere is that there are fewer places to go and fewer movies to see. It's almost as though we're living in an indie ghetto -- a phrase I'm stealing from IFC's Alison Wilmore, who referred to "the indie film award ghetto" at The Independent Eye -- because we have very limited opportunities to see what we want, with little potential for improved conditions in the future.

I consider myself lucky because at least three to four new specialty releases open each week in Dallas -- of which I have an interest in seeing at least one or two -- even though I have to wait weeks, and sometimes months, for some eagerly-anticipated titles. Still, I'm missing out on a multitude of films that people in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other cities get to see in theaters. And folks in smaller towns are pretty much restricted to the big studio releases.

As frustrating as it can be to be denied the opportunity to see everything I want to see in a theater, the good part is that most films that get distribution deals will eventually be released on DVD. (I'll save my ire about all the great pictures that fall through the distribution cracks until I can vent again.) And many online sites are becoming valuable resources for checking out independent films and world cinema at home. It's not the same as being enveloped by the big screen experience, but at least it's available.

There is one bright spot noted by Variety: in France, the number of arthouses is growing, thanks to government backing -- and they're thriving. Anyone want to move to France with me?