Do Italians have smaller bladders than other nationalities? Well might you ask - especially after coming out of the movies and learning that in 2009, along with Greece, Malta and some movie theatres in Germany, Italy appears to be one of the few countries in the developed world where there is an intermission about halfway through a film, even if that happens to be in a rather important dramatic moment. Personally, not having a compulsion to rush out to the street to smoke a cigarette, and being able to get through a movie without having to pee (at least most of the time), I find this most annoying.

This intermission system goes back to the early days of the cinema when reels and possibly projectors needed to be changed to get through an entire movie. People could use those few minutes to stretch their legs or go to the bathroom (there was no need to go outside to smoke since in those fortunately far-gone days, in a movie theatre you could smoke to your heart's content. But with today's technology, even a three-hour film can be shown without any technical need for a break. So why do Italians hang on to their ïntervallo"? The only exceptions I know of are some film clubs and the Nuovo Sacher movie house in Rome which is owned by director Nanni Moretti who clearly concurs that the integrity of a film is sacrosanct.

It is no secret that those most in favour of the intermission are the candy and popcorn concessionaires who in Italy do their selling, row by row, during the break. But although it is clear that habits die hard (in Italy foreign films are also still dubbed) , the fact that the Italian public regards this intermission as normal and not annoying may mean that most spectators see movie-going more as a social occasion (in fact, anyone who has been to the cinema here knows how many people think nothing of having conversations in a normal tone of voice, not a whisper, during a film) than a cultural or artistic event. In other words, an exchange of views, the possibility of buying more popcorn during the intermission, or having the chance for a smoke, seems to have more importance than the artistic integrity of a film.