Movie theaters face economic hardship
In summer 2012, St. Petersburg lost one of its oldest movie theaters. Known as Znanie (Knowledge) during the Soviet period, it was the first cinema in the city to show films with sound. Given back its pre-revolutionary name Crystal Palace in 1997, it became a pioneer in digital screenings.
The movie theater has been closed for more than a year, and the owners have declined to answer questions about whether or not the movie theater will be reopened after the completion of the building.
Yet the fate of Crystal Palace can be seen as a success compared to other similar cinemas built during the Soviet period. In the 1950s and 60s, the first Soviet movie theaters were constructed in St. Petersburg.
Theaters such as Yunost (Youth) on Ulitsa Savushkina, which has been closed since the early 1990s, and Sputnik, near the Lomonosovskaya metro station, which will be demolished as soon as construction begins on a new multi-functional entertainment complex set to occupy the same piece of land, could accommodate in excess of 1,000 spectators. Built to identical plans, the ground floor of such theaters included a large lobby and a projection room while the theater itself was found on the ground floor. With the growth in popularity of the cinematic arts, new cinemas with glass facades and a theater which could accommodate 1,250 spectators, began to be built in the late-60s and early-70s.
“Almost all of the old Soviet cinema theaters that are in the more remote districts of the city are closed or expected to be demolished. New shopping and entertainment complexes are going to be constructed in their place,” said Yelena Prozorova, a consultant at Maris, part of the CBRE Affiliate Network, speaking to the St. Petersburg Times.
The Prometheus movie theater, located on Prospekt Proscveschenia, closed five years ago and was finally demolished to make room for a new shopping center. Planet, another Soviet movie theater, was destroyed in 2011, after remaining abandoned since 2006. At first, there were plans to construct a residential building in its place, but the Committee for City Planning and Architecture kept the commercial zoning of the area.
On the place where the Okhta cinema once stood, there is now a new building which has been occupied by the Buff Theater for the past three years.
The Nevsky cinema on Narodnaya Ulitsa and Zenith on Ulitsa Gastello have been demolished, with nothing new taking their place due to disagreements between developers and city planners.
Some cinemas are simply abandoned, becoming uninhabitable after years of neglect. Discussions about how to resurrect them generally do not lead anywhere. Money earmarked for their reconstruction usually disappears, as is the case with the Maxim theater which continues to await renovation.
Those cinemas that are reconstructed rarely retain their original function. The Coliseum movie theatre on Nevsky Prospekt, which had existed as a cinema since 1913, was closed in 2011 and sold to Good News Mission. The Korean mission turned the theater into a concert hall and holds church services there.
The popular Leningrad cinema in the Tavrichesky Garden is currently being turned into a club with a restaurant and cabaret similar to Le Crazy Horse de Paris, according to the owners. True to the Russian mania for multi-functionality, the building is due to be used as a business center during the day. The building which formerly housed the Sovremennik cinema on Nayki Prospekt is now home to a brewery and restaurant that is part of the Maximilian chain. The legendary Barrikada cinema on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Ulitsa Bolshaya Morskaya closed in 2007. One of its wings was pulled down to make way for an elite hotel, offices and private residences. A penthouse with a swimming pool was added to the building.
The Priboi (Surf) movie theatre on Vasilevsky Island is now home to the Sergey Kuryokhin Center of Contemporary Art and hosts the Sergey Kuryokhin International Festival. The SKIF festival emerged in 1997 in New York City and has been held in the former Soviet cinema since 2005. Kosmonavt may have retained its name but has been transformed into a respected music club with a capacity of 1,700. The Narvsky cinema on Bulvar Novatorov now contains a fitness club.
According to some, the disappearance of standalone cinemas and the emergence of a variety of multiplexes in shopping and entertainment complexes is a natural stage in the development of the Russian economy.
“There is no catastrophe in the current situation,” said Lyudmila Tomskaya, the general director at Petersburg Kino, the only state-owned chain of cinemas, speaking to The St. Petersburg Times. “To recover old cinemas one needs a huge amount of money. From an economic point of view, it is not reasonable. Multiplexes provide variety, while one large theater seating 1,200 viewers with just 15 spectators at noon on a weekday can hardly bring either a profit or the opportunity to show different films. Such a theater only allows six screenings per day.”
Petersburg Kino now includes six state-run cinemas operated under a single brand: Aurora in Petergof and the Voskhod, Druzhba, Zanevsky, Uran and Filmofond theaters. The Aurora cinema on Nevsky Prospekt also belongs to the city.
“The small theaters in modern cinemas are explained by low attendance rates,” movie critic Vladislav Nikitkin told The St. Petersburg Times.
“When five or ten films are released weekly and a spectator has such a variety to choose from, it is not surprising. The times when the same film was shown for half a year in cinemas are beyond retrieval.”
“Commercial cinemas must earn a profit, yet lots of Russian movies are often not very competitive. To save the situation and provide an opportunity for Russian films, a state-supported network of cinema theaters was established,” said Tomskaya.
St. Petersburg, Moscow and Krasnodar are the only Russian cities with state-run cinemas.
“We show second-run movies alongside older movies, so those who missed a film during its first run, can come to our theaters and see them,” said Tomskaya.
“We also have a cinema club with film discussions. Two-thirds of our visitors are young people, which is especially gratifying. We just have another mission than commercial theaters. We bring culture to the masses. And this is the normal situation, everyone has his own niche.”
Three of the state-owned cinemas have already been renovated; the others are waiting to be equipped with digital and 3D technology.
“Such old cinema theaters try to attract audiences by showing ‘other’ films,” said Prozorova. “So now there is the Shakespeare festival at the Aurora cinema, with performances by famous British actors.
The Dom Kino and Rodina cinemas focus on festival films and movies that might not be for everyone, so they occupy a certain niche that is not represented by more modern theaters. Of course, modern theaters are popular because they are more comfortable, however, movies in chamber cinemas such as Dom Kino and the Angleterre Kino Theater will find their own spectators as they offer hearty and interesting films rather than blockbusters,” said Prozorova
Tomskaya confirms that such screenings and meetings with directors are very popular and are always oversubscribed. Yet, with the variety of choice, people’s attitude to movies has changed.
“I think it was lost when the Soviet system of film distribution and exhibition was destroyed,” said Nikitkin. “At that time most district cinemas were closed and shops were opened instead. The new culture that emerged does not have any relation to the old culture. Visits to the cinema is a form of entertainment for young people, much like going to a club or a cafe. The interiors and atmosphere of modern cinemas are all the same, as if to appeal to a young audience.”
A different movie and spectator culture is the natural development of society, taking into account Russia’s history.
“Before we had only cinema, the theater and occasionally a restaurant,” said Tomskaya. “Going to the cinema was like a feast. Today there is a greater variety of leisure opportunities and cinema is just one service among many offered by entertainment complexes.
“Of course, something has been lost. When you watch a movie in a large theater and there are lots of people around sharing the same emotions, you have a stronger response.”
By Olga Kalashnikova