The true measure of a great show is not its length, but its excellence.
In Hong Kong, local movies are usually 90 minutes. Foreign ones are commonly 2 hours, may be longer. To me, foreign films are too long, and sometimes time-dragging.
Nowadays, it is trendy to make online short films. They can be anywhere between 5 minutes to 30 minutes in length.
Directed by the Danish artists’ group in 2011, Superflex Modern Times Forever has the second-longest running time at 240 hours. It is a ten-day-long recent movie that explores the transformation of a building over time. Can you stand it?
The 97th Academy Awards ceremony was held in 2025. The grand event has never be cancelled since the 1st time held in 1929 and the nickname “Oscar” was commonly adopted in 1930s. Every year, good films resurge in Hong Kong after the presentation of the Oscar awards to the outstanding achievers. The films of the winners are shown in cinemas, as they usually mean box-office hits.
I just watched a film The Brutalist (粗獷派建築師) which won the Academy award for the Best Actor. Adrien Brody (艾哲倫保迪) received for the honour, taking home his second career Oscars. He won his first award for Best Actor in 2002 because of his wonderful portrayal of W Szpilman in the war drama The Pianist (鋼琴戰曲).
This time, Adrien played successfully the role of an architect. He was a visionary architect, and he and his wife fled post-war Europe in 1947 to rebuild their legacy. They witnessed the birth of modern United States. Their dramatic stories intertwined with happiness and misery, in particular, bullying from some Americans.
The film clearly displays the sincere and dedicated efforts of the director Brady Corbet. Unfortunately, it is excessively long, almost 4 hours including the unnecessary intermission of 15 minutes. I felt as if I were watching a Cantonese opera that often takes 4 hours. The first half of the film is interesting but the second half, as the audience are already tired, does not stimulate us anymore. The work is an ideal piece, perhaps covertly for the art lovers. It is however not very attractive to an ordinary member of audience who merely looks for cinematic comfort or delight.
For lengthy movies, they are usually shown in high-class cinemas marked by expensive ticket charges, and added to that, the places habitually ask for an extra fee due to the long duration of the film.
These days, everybody is busy. We do not have enough time. We get too much stress to do with things, and for all I feel, including such a long movie.
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