How Do I Watch A Movie That Is Over 7 Hours?
 

So I have been thinking about Satantango and Out 1 for a long time now, but can not find any time to watch them as I would not be alone for 8 hours a pop. I mean unless I started watching at 12 AM and finished at 8 AM, but why would I do that?

I was thinking about probably watching those two like tv miniseries where I watch an hour a day. However, I do not always have an hour due to school work and other things such as eat dinner, make tomorrow's lunches, and take a shower. I did manage to get time during the weekdays to watch movies though such as being able to watch Merchant of Four Seasons, Au Hasard Balhazer, and most recently Rosemary's Baby.

What are your thoughts on how to watch a ≥7 hour long movie?

I watched The Best of Youth, which is close to that running time, miniseries style, i.e., one hour per day. I don't think that ruined the experience, feel like I committed a cinematic crime, etc., so don't feel bad for doing the same thing. It's one of my favorite movies, FWIW.

Re: How Do I Watch A Movie That Is Over 7 Hours?
 

A friend of mine and I watched the complete film (Not Part 1 and then Part 2) of Red Cliff in two days. The full uncut film is about 5 hours long. Since it was the full cut we found a point where we could stop on day 1 and then picked it up at that point on day 2.

I don't think Satantango is a movie that could work at all in one hour installments. While I get 8 hours is a lot to take in all at once, I would at least try and watch 2 to 2 and a half hours at a time. It's hard to imagine its measured pace and brooding mood could survive being broken up into digestible bits and pieces. The endurance of watching such a thing, is also a part of the point.

Re: How Do I Watch A Movie That Is Over 7 Hours?
 

Out 1 is split up into eight episodes, so I just watched two episodes a day. Satantango isn't presented in a mini-series format, but I divided it up over three days and that worked out just fine.

Re: How Do I Watch A Movie That Is Over 7 Hours?
 

Diaper + Stimulants = Profit$$$


Anyone who says otherwise is no cinephile

Take a 7 hour long airplane trip.

I can't remember if I divided up Satantango over multiple sittings or not. But it does have chapters, and in each chapter you're following a character as they go along parts of the story (sometimes you get to see the same events from multiple perspectives). I remember it went faster than I would have guessed.
Keep in mind, when watching epics from yesteryear, that were 3 hours long, there'd often be a 10 minute intermission halfway through. So, that's my advice, after about an hour forty five, keep an eye out for the next chapter break and take a 10 minute intermission.

Re: How Do I Watch A Movie That Is Over 7 Hours?
 

Through unbroken exposure to a film, you sink into its atmosphere, let it work on your perception in a much more powerful way. Breaks and pauses ruin the immersion built so far and while this immersion can be rebuilt, constant breaks take you on and off from the mood of the film, resulting in a weaker overall experience. You might not find this a big deal or even think that this is not the case but long films are long for a reason. Investing an entire day into watching a behemoth of a film is an experience in and of itself. An entire day spent dabbling in the rainy, gloomy plains of Hungary can never be replaced with an occasional one-hour-long excursion you make every day for a week. Sure, you do not have to be a cinematic marathon runner and watch a 7- or 10-hour-long film in one go (but I always do, and this is the recommended way of watching long movies, for sure) but if you really can't watch it all at once, I don't think you should make it more than 3 different sittings. Otherwise, you're just making a TV series out of it.

I’ve seen Sátántangó twice & I would guess I divided it into two. Or maybe not, I can’t remember. It’s one of my favorite movies.

Re: How Do I Watch A Movie That Is Over 7 Hours?
 

Take advantage of your work and commute. Start at your house, while your having breakfast, then transfer it to your phone and mount it on your dash, and if there's still something left, transfer it to your work computer and drag it to a second monitor while you do some Excel stuff.

Good call. Get 5 monitors or TVs. Get five copies of the movie (in your preferred format), and start each one about 1.2 hours further into the movie than the previous one. You'll get through the entire thing in under 90 minutes.

Re: How Do I Watch A Movie That Is Over 7 Hours?
 

Angels In America is the longest thing I've watched in one sitting. That was already really stretching it. Shoah, as much as I'm interested in it... 9 and a half hours in one go? I don't know if I could survive that.

The difference being that Angels is a limited series & Shoah a documentary. Can’t imagine watching either in one sitting.

Get one of those hats where you can put beer cans on the side so you don’t need to break for refreshments. And maybe a catheter so you don’t have to stop the movie to go to the bathroom.

Yeah, but how many beers would I need for a 7 hour film, huh?

Your need to sip them slowly. You don’t want to get blackout drunk for Satantango.

The proper way to watch Satantango

Re: How Do I Watch A Movie That Is Over 7 Hours?
 

Been watching Satantango for almost a month now