A few years ago, Saturday Night Live ran a song heralding the joys of a Short-Ass Movie. Let’s face it, sometimes you want something perfectly timed, no filler and with the promise of a reasonable bed time. At the time, the PCC picked up on that and ran a season of feature films running 90 minutes or less. Then they flipped the switch, highlighting movies of 150 minutes or more. That’s right, Long-Ass Movies. Out of this strand I have seen Interstellar, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Lord of the Rings movies, Hamlet (Branagh), Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair, Blade Runner 2049, The Good. The Bad and the Ugly, Grindhouse, and The Godfather. But “Out 1” leaves them all standing. A 1971 French New Wave feature that clocks in at just under 13 hours. It is divided into 8 episodes of 90 to 100 minutes each. Ten years back, the PCC screened it over two days, half on Saturday, half on Sunday.
On our last Bank Holiday Monday 31 August 2026, at 9:00 am, about 80 fearless souls and I hunkered down for the whole darned thing. We finished approximately at 10:40PM. The film was shown with 3 breaks of about 20 minutes each. Nowadays, it would be considered binge watching a series of television. Except in 1971, there was no bingeable, prestige, “Television as novel” approach. This was made to be seen in the cinema, with an audience. We watched it together, and when it was over, someone in the audience said, “Well done, everyone.” We had accomplished something. I scoff at “long” 3 hour movies now. I’ve seen “Out 1.” (So named because, “in” means “cool.” This is a cool movie, but it’s like out, man.)
(So named because, “in” means “cool.” This is a cool movie, but it’s like out, man.)
We start with a theatre group doing warm up exercises. This happens in real time. Then they start with the text and stumble on a genuine, fresh meeting between characters. They try to recreate it, but become too self-conscious in recreating that particular moment. They are a joyful, spirited bunch. It isn’t clear, at first, who the leader is. This scene is inter cut with a con man (Jean-Pierre Leaud) who goes from table to table at a café in Paris handing out slips of paper that introduces him as a deaf/mute who will dispense wisdom for 1 franc. When people pay him he gives them an envelope. When they don’t, he plays his harmonica at them aggressively until they pay.
We then encounter a different theatre company. This one is far more intense and their warm ups are more aggressive and intimidating. Their leader is played by Michael Lonsdale (best known internationally as Hugo Drax in Moonraker.) This scene is broken up with cutaways to a charming pickpocket played by Juliet Berto.
The plot of the movie, when it kicks in, regards a secret society called the 13. Our thief and con man become involved in finding the root of this conspiracy separately. There are mysterious messages that reference the writings of Balzac and Lewis Carroll’s “The Hunting of the Snark.” (It was delightful to hear Colin, the con man who can actually hear and speak, repeating the words “snark” and “boojum.”) Their investigations are the narrative heart of the film, but it also ends up involving the two theatre groups.
I enjoyed this movie and was remarkably unbothered by its length. By the third or fourth ending of Return of the King at the end of a long day of Hobbit watching, my lower extremities start protesting. Out 1 left me feeling happy and pain-free with its playful tone. We have time for philosophical discussions. When Colin learns a version of solitaire called “The 13”, we get to see him play it a number of times. In real time. We get more theatre group scenes than I would have expected, including a debrief after some improvisations. The pacing made it feel like we were participating with the cast and crew of this film, that we were fellow collaborators.
The people that seemed to be outside of our circle are the people of France. There were a lot of scenes filmed on location in the city. No roads were blocked off. No one was told there would be a movie filming that day. I’ve never seen a movie with so many people looking directly at the camera as they go by. There were also scenes with young children smiling at the cameramen while their parents were talking.
It was a very enjoyable experience. I don’t need to repeat it. Although, there is a 4 hour version out there somewhere that I understand has a very different tone. Who knows?
Next time: Raider of the Lost Ark (USA 1981)
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