On Length: A Short History of Long Cinema

Abstract

The question of running time in the cinema has often been relegated to the margins throughout much of film history. This essay attempts to rectify this by opening up some preliminary avenues of thought towards a more systematic historicisation of the long film across different forms and practices. In so doing, the essay hopes to show some possible directions in which the study of long cinema and the question of cinematic length more broadly can be taken in the future.