We Come to This Place for Magic
By Catherine Murphy
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Not quite hidden away in the streets of Florence, Italy, is a place like you’ve never seen: Giunti Odeon Cinema. Part bookstore, part theater, part something that I assumed only existed in my dreams. During the day, there are free showings of older movies with varying themes (my personal favorite being Wes Anderson). On weekends, families flock for the Disney classics: Alice in Wonderland, Pocahontas, Cinderella. Children sit on parent’s laps, chattering on while their attention flickers between the screen and surroundings. At night, the theater switches to ticketed shows, anything from cult classics to the newest blockbuster release. The lights are dimmed, and a packed theater sits anxious to watch Scarface or Dune Part Two. Young, old, tourists, locals; for two hours, these people, normally divided by cultural differences or language barriers, become a community. Together, we laugh along with holiday classics. We weep for the Lisbon sisters. And when it's over, and we’re released back to the streets of Firenze, something in us has changed.
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Embarrassingly, I admit that my Italian skills are rusty (to put it generously), but as one can imagine, being in Italy, the language surrounds me. The murmuring around me is soft and foreign; it hits my ears sweetly. In the seat next to me, a young girl and her friends alternate between studying for midterms and planning a holiday to Spain. They idly chat in low tones over whether Ibiza or Madrid would be the most fun and what the theater’s theme for the next day would be. Across the aisle, a woman sits reading a book, likely bought from the store downstairs. She’s entirely focused, headphones on, eyes scanning through the pages. She pays no mind to the movie in the background. She could be anywhere, but she chooses to be here. And it’s not difficult to understand why.
The cinema is treated with reverence. Seats you might find in the finest opera house, stained glass domed ceiling where the light shines through, not unlike the ones in the city’s ancient churches just down the street. The theater has been around for over a century and in this time, has developed quite a star-studded history. In addition to the film screenings, the Odeon also presents the occasional lecture. Back in its beginning, Odeon was host to a concert by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Since then, it has featured actors from the likes of Kate Winslet to Kenneth Branagh. Today, local authors or actors come to speak about their work. Crowds flood the cinema in hopes that they might be able to speak to their personal celebrity.
Then, there’s the typical Italian cafe towards the side of the building. Serving classic cappuccinos, iced coffee (although reluctantly), and perhaps the best chocolate muffin I’ve ever had. It’s almost entirely separate from the bookstore on the first floor, and it takes you a moment to realize it's even there. But once you do, you can't avoid it. What better way to spend a rainy afternoon than grabbing a quick espresso and pastry before settling down for a movie and letting the world outside melt away?
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I think of the rare third space, something beyond the home and work, where community can flourish. Feeling ever more elusive, especially one that offers free admission, Giunti Odeon Cinema is no less than a haven. As parks turn into parking lots and libraries lose funding, we’ve lost the ability to commune with strangers and friends alike in shared locations. We think of third spaces as being welcoming, accessible, and comforting. What better way is there to describe the Odeon Cinema? The place where no language barrier, cultural difference, or generational divide could keep us apart.
Months after leaving the city, I think of all I had known. What do I miss most? The food, no doubt, comes to mind. Perhaps the rich history on my walks to class where passing the Cathedral of Santa Maria has become almost routine. Surely, I mourn the loss of the many museums that hold some of the most famous works of art.
But back at home, in a near-empty chain theater, with dirty floors and broken AC, I think of my time spent at the Odeon.
