Really? A single film lasts 5 weeks ——Those longest films in history

What's the longest stretch of time you've spent watching movies continuously?

For me, it was undoubtedly on the premiere day of of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" at the end of 2003. A local cinema in the city where I was living organized an all-night marathon featuring all three films of the series. The extended editions were not yet released, so the total runtime for the three films was 560 minutes. Yes, that's 9 hours and 20 minutes. Including the halftimes, that day I spent around 10 hours at the cinema.

Additionally, I set a personal record of watching 7.5 films in a single day during a film festival. I dropped the last half of a film probably because I simply couldn't make it any longer and left early. Geez that was over 15 hours! Counting travel time, oh my! Two-thirds of my day were devoted to movies!

Then, what’s the longest film I’ve ever watched in theatre?

This might be hard to verify. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" is the longest in its series, with a theatrical release runtime of 201 minutes. This is comparable to Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" this year, which runs for 206 minutes. The extended edition of "The Return of the King" is even longer, clocking in at 254 minutes, and I can't recall if I've ever watched it. In 2016, at the Venice Film Festival, I watched Lav Diaz's " The Woman Who Left," which is 226 minutes long. Among his signature lengthy films, this one could even be considered a "short" one. The film also won the Golden Lion at that year's Venice Film Festival.

This summer in London, I revisited Edward Yang's classic work "A Brighter Summer Day" at the Prince Charles Cinema, with a runtime of 237 minutes, nearly 4 hours. In many countries, art house cinemas or cultural festivals occasionally screen the 366-minute Italian film "La Meglio Gioventù" ("The Best of Youth"). Considering the potential discomfort of prolonged sitting, most venues tend to split it into three parts, which also helps to sell more tickets.

The extended Blu-ray edition of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," running for 263 minutes, is not typically presented in cinemas. Therefore, it’d be different when taking into account the longest record for a single viewing at home on one's TV or computer. After all, compared to the immersive and disciplined environment of a cinema, it's challenging to maintain undivided attention at home.

I can’t recall if it was in a Korean or Hong Kong drama, where the female lead, dealing with a breakup, sought something to kill the time. The next evening at a gathering with her best friend, she said, "I found a really long Soviet film, 'War and Peace.' I watched it all night until dawn for healing." Checking it later, this classic filmed by Sergei Bondarchuk has various versions of different lengths in different countries. Its DVD version is probably 415 minutes, nearly 7 hours, long enough for the female lead to forget about the lousy ex-boyfriend.

I personally have binge-watched Ingmar Bergman's "Fanny and Alexander" on DVD in one sitting. Not sure if it was the 312-minute director's cut or the regular 188-minute version., but I’m certain to have watched Bela Tarr's 7-hour "Satan's Tango" and the 467-minute "O.J.: Made in America," which won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2017. The latter is moire like a series than a movie.

Alright, after reminiscing so much, what I want to say is this: "The Lord of the Rings," "La Meglio Gioventù," and "War and Peace" don't even make it to the top ten list of the longest movies in human history. "O.J.: Made in America" barely manages to reach the 13th. As for those that are segmented and showcased in art house cinemas in different days, such as Wang Bing's 511-minute " Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks," Claude Lanzmann's 566-minute "Shoah," and Lav Diaz's 593-minute " Evolution of a Filipino Family," I've only watched a small portion of each through DVDs or streaming platforms.

Even crazy cinephile would opt for watching selected segments. There are even longer ones out there, perhaps lying dormant in the vast hard drives of cinephiles, or maybe they're just mythical tales. I've compiled them into a chart below, and who knows if one day they will come to mind when you're going through heartbreak. After all, human behavior during lonely times is always peculiar. Years ago, for example, Norway's NRK television even introduced "slow TV" programs. The inaugural broadcast featured a centennial commemoration journey on the Bergen Railway, lasting over 7 hours, without narration or advertisements. Surprisingly, it garnered around 30% viewership. It’s that some viewers found it quite comfortable sitting on the living room sofa, idly gazing at these visuals.

Top10 longest Cinematic films:

Heremias(Book One: Legend of the Lizard Princess) (2006), Lav Diaz, Philippine, 519mins

Death in the Land of Encantos (2007), Lav Diaz, Philippine, 540mins

Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (2003), Wang Bing, China, 551mins

Shoah, Claude Lanzmann (1985), France, 566mins

Evolution of a Filipino Family (2004), Lav Diaz, Philippine, 624mins

How Yukong Moved the Mountains (1976), Marceline Loridan-Ivens and Joris Ivens, France/China, 763mins

Out 1: Noli Me Tangere (1971), Jacques Rivette and Suzanne Schiffman, France, 773mins

And the top 3 are:

La flor(The Flower) (2018), Mariano Llinás, Argentina, 808mins

La flor is cut into six separate episodes, connected only by an on-screen appearance by director explaining the film's structure. The first four episodes have the beginning of a story but finish in medias res (Classical Latin: "in the middle of things"). The fifth episode is the only one that tells a complete story from start to end, and the last episode is only conclusion of a story.

Resan (The Journey) (1987), Peter Watkins, Globally, 873mins

Watkins worked with support groups around the world to raise money and assemble crews while shooting the film in the United States, Canada, Norway, Scotland, France, West Germany, Mozambique, Japan, Australia, Tahiti, and Mexico. He spent eighteen months editing the more than 100 hours of footage he compiled, weaving together extended family interviews, documentation of the global arms race, recollections of survivors of the bombings in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Hamburg, community psychodramas of possible disaster scenarios, and works by other artists.

Amra Ekta Cinema Banabo (2019), (The Innocence), Ashraf Shishir, Bangladesh, 1265mins=21 hours 5 mins

The film is based on love, dreams, politics, revolution, and the aftermath of the Bangladesh Liberation War. It was completed of shooting over 9 years and was attended by 4,000 artists.

Top 10 longest Experimental films (by hours):

**** (1967), Andy Warhol, United States, 25 hours

The Longest Most Meaningless Movie in the World (1968), Vincent Patouillard, United Kingdom/France, 48 hours

The Cure for Insomnia (1987), John Henry Timmis IV, United States, 87 hours

Matrjoschka (2006), Karin Hoerler, Germany, 95 hours

Untitled #125 (Hickory) (2011), Josh Azzarella, United States, 120 hours

Beijing 2003 (2004), Ai Weiwei, 150 hours

Cinématon (1984), Gérard Courant, France, 154 hours

And the top 3 are:

Modern Times Forever (2011) Superflex, Denmark, 240 hours

Use animation to show the changing process of a building ruins in the next few millennia, when humans have disappeared and only climate can affect it. The chosen building is Helsinki's Stora Enso headquarters, and the film was originally projected against the building itself.

Ambiancé (2020), Anders Weberg, Sweden, 720 hours=30 days

On December 31, 2020 the Swedish artist Anders Weberg ends his 20 plus years relation with the moving image as a means of creative expression. After more than 300 films he puts an end with the premiere of what will be the longest film ever made. Ambiancé shown in its full length on a single occasion syncronised in all the continents of the world and then destroyed.

Logistics (2012), Erika Magnusson/Daniel Andersson, Sweden, 857 hours=35 days 17 hours

Where do modern electronic gadgets come from? Directors conceived the idea to follow the production cycle of a pedometer in reverse chronological order from end sales back to its origin and manufacture. The route of the journey commenced in Stockholm, then proceeded through Insjön, Gothenburg, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Algeciras, Málaga, and finished in Shenzhen at the manufacturer in Bao'an.