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As summer approaches and social distancing becomes problematic, a question: what was #TheLastDriveIn you ever went to, if you've ever been to one at all? In my case I think it was The Swan Drive-In Theatre [sic] in Blue Ridge GA in 2008 to see a Batman movie. "The Dark Knight"?
I ask not only because the very notion of drive-ins brings back childhood and, yes, some adolescent memories. (Remember those long bench seats in American cars?) But because here in France they're making a comeback "while waiting for theaters to reopen." https://driveinfestival.org
In Germany, I gather, a new *autokino* opened in Mönchengladbach last month, and one in Essen has been going strong since 2015! (Have you been to the drive-in lately @takingaction4us ?)
How do you say "drive-in" in French? "Le drive-in." And while prior to the pandemic they'd pretty much disappeared there's always been a fascination akin to France's enduring interest in cowboys, Harleys and Zippo lighters as bits of quintessential caricatured Americana.
According to the French weekly Le Point, in the United States, "berceau du drive-in," Robert De Niro will champion "la renaissance de ce loisir mythique" with drive-in shows around the country this summer. https://www.lepoint.fr/pop-culture/resurrection-des-drive-in-en-france-les-exploitants-pas-contents-15-05-2020-2375641_2920.php#
I don't own a car (why would you in Paris?) but if I did, I'd love to start hitting the drive-ins once again. And if they started showing movies in the parks with social distancing observed I'd definitely go. Alfresco cinema, done right, is wonderful.
My friend Caroline Baron started @FilmAid in 1999 to lift morale, educate and inspire refugees in the Balkans and Africa with outdoor screenings. The U.S., with 95,000 COVID-19 deaths and counting, could use some similar safe cinema, with or without the cars.
