The Sunday News
Raisedon Baya
ONCE upon a time movie houses were the places to be; the places to take loved ones to.
I remember how we would go about from Monday to Friday looking for movie money. I know quite a few friends that would literally starve at school as they saved for their weekend entertainment. Others, like myself, sold cigarettes and boiled eggs at Big Bhawa after school or secretly played head and tail just to be able to go to movies during weekends. Watching a movie in a proper movie house in town was actually a status thing, especially if you came from the townships.
Bulawayo City Council halls in Makokoba, Mzilikazi, Matshobana, Mabutweni and other townships showed cheap Chinese Kung Fu and Western Movies. This was the era of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Buddy Spencer and Terrence Hill.
But these township halls are not the movie houses I’m talking about today. These were not good places to take one’s girlfriend to. For girlfriends it was always town and proper movies houses where they sold popcorn, chocolates and drinks, where the air conditioner was always working. True. Movie houses then played a critical part in the socialisation of young people, teenagers and young adults especially. It was en vogue then to be seen coming out of Kine 600, Elite 400, Vistarama or the drive in cinema along Harare road with a young woman by your side.
Unfortunately, that is not the case anymore. The news around movie houses these days is more about closure than anything else.
First to go were the bhayiskhopo in the city council halls. The machines became obsolete and the patrons stopped looking forward to the next movie. Then the drive-in followed. It closed and was replaced by a drinking place which has also folded down. Kine 600 closed years later and is now home to one of the biggest churches in the city.
Vistarama also closed and the church took over. Most recently the Rainbow Cinemas at Bulawayo Centre closed shop leaving the city with only one cinema house. Will the remaining cinema survive the test of time or is it merely a question of time before it also closes its doors to the public.
The film industry outside Zimbabwe continues to grow. Big budget movies continue to be made and they continue to make money. So we pause for a moment and pose a few questions. Why have movie houses fallen on hard times? Is it because of poor management? Or poor vision? Or is it that new technology and new social trends have rendered them obsolete? Just across the border in South Africa movie houses are still viable, racking in good profits. So what are they doing right and Zimbabwean movie houses are doing wrong?
I have heard the argument that our movie houses are going down because television has taken over? Others claim that piracy is all to blame. That movies are getting into people’s homes faster than they are getting to the movie houses is very true, but clever managers could counter this by providing a different and unforgettable experience at the movies. Something a television at home will not be able to provide. Frankly speaking, also not all people want to sit at home and watch movies Sunday to Sunday. You will be surprised that quite a huge number actually prefer a different atmosphere. But have our movie houses tried to provide for these people?
And so as the movie houses shut their doors one after the other we are left wondering where the youths will be going for fun on weekends and holidays? Please don’t tell us they will be reading their books and watching television at home. No. The honest truth is night clubs and secret Vuzu parties is where they will be headed. Perhaps now is the best time to start a Save Our Movie Houses campaign.
