Kirill Galetski wrote:
"Have you ever noticed that when you watch a film, in certain strife torn
scenes, such as ones where characters are being killed or suffering, that
suddenly some goosey guffaws erupt among the audience?
I'm not talking about intentionally cynical violence or tragedy played for
laughs or the occasional unintentional humour that crops up. I'm talking
about fairly straightforward dramatic happenings. Those unstrung giggles
almost make me wanna get up and shout, "Shut up!!!""
Well, I can assure you this phenomenon is not limited to US or Russian
audiences. It happens often enough in Australia to be puzzling, and
annoying, in equal measure. When the restored print of Vertigo was doing
the rounds in cinemas, the 2 audiences I saw it with giggled & sniggered
from start to finish. A friend said 'modern audiences will laugh at
anything'. Fair enough, I guess - but is it really a new development?
Without knowing how audiences in earlier decades behaved, we can't put it
entirely down to 21st century short attention spans, boredom or
embarrasment. The 'bullshit detector' may have something to do with it,
too.
Some film reviewers prefer to see movies with 'real' audiences because they
think the group can pick up the nuances of a film faster & more accurately
than any one person.
Laura
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