The Brutalist
The Academy Awards often lead to debates on the province of filmmaking in general , and 2025 has reopened the long - running debate about whether intermissions still hold a valuable place when it comes to structure longer films ’ runtimes . One of the primary picture show to gather multiple nominations in 2025 houses the rare inclusion body of an unavoidable intermission redact straightaway into the literal celluloid , do it the best candidate to revive this old Hollywood trend .
As it stand , some of the best celluloid of all sentence have included suspension due to their fabulously long runtimes . Not only do these intermissions allow for bathroom breaks and external respiration space in the center of complex plotlines , but some of them really dish out to let out the tale into intimately standalone segments that work as effectively as divvying up episodes in a miniseries . The following are just a few expectant examples of pic with ramp up - in break , as well as why these intermissions well the storytelling experience of the films in question .
10The Brutalist
Directed By Brady Corbet (2024)
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Cast
Architect László Toth and his wife Erzsébet flee Europe in 1947 , seeking a fresh scratch line in America . Their fate shifts after forgather a affluent , enigmatic client .
Although it ’s hardly the least of reasonsThe Brutalistmade it onto the list of2025 ’s Oscar controversies , the comprehension of an intermission midway throughThe Brutalist ’s more than 3 - hr runtime did spark argument . The suspension falls right after Adrien Brody ’s Laszlo presents his plans for the Van Buren Community Center , cement his burgeon success as an architect . As it turn out , this fall at a highly polar turning full stop for the film .
Brady Corbet ’s epos , The Brutalist , has bring in amazing critical reassessment and illustrious Golden Globes wins , and the following picture show are cracking follow - ups .
The first half of the movie ends with Erzsebet compose Laszlo about a exposure of their wedding party , something in reality designate onscreen during the intermission . Erzsebet and Zsofia embark the film in a major way accompany the intermission , lead to a identification number of incredibly tense and tragic plotlines . Because the back half of the film is so fraught with tensity , this intermission allows viewers to expend some sentence basking in Laszlo ’s achiever before the carpet is ultimately rive out from under them by the incredibly disturbing level meter lead up toThe Brutalist ’s ending .
92001: A Space Odyssey
Directed By Stanley Kubrick (1958)
Stanley Kubrick’s2001 : A Space Odysseydoesn’t run much longer than two hr , sothe comprehension of an intermission at nearly 90 minutes is in reality somewhat odd . The intermission occurs just after HAL starts to go rapscallion , right when the intermediate watcher would expect the action to ramp up in pace rather than stem entirely for several minutes . Although unexpected , this placement works incredibly well for the film in question .
Stanley Kubrick ’s sci - fi opus 2001 : A Space Odyssey is just as mind - bobble and thought - agitating now as it was in the 1960s and still hold up today .
First , there ’s the diaphanous fact that this placement allow viewing audience to fall to their tooshie right when HAL begins increasing in aggressiveness . But there ’s also an intriguing2001fan interpretationbehind this intermission , which is thatthe black filmdom and its accompanying cliff-hanging music are meant to symbolize the monolith being topple over in front of the CRT screen . It gibe the themes of the film , and the unnerving experience of mind to the break medicine before have the first half arouse the tension for those who do n’t step away during the interruption ’s runtime .
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8Spartacus
Directed By Stanley Kubrick (1960)
The intermission for Stanley Kubrick’sSpartacusoccurs some midway through the film , and it marks an super of import turning point for the story . The cinema takes a pause right afterSpartacus wins a major victory for the slave army and sets an ultimatum for the senate to give the slaves their freedom . When the film returns after pause , the senate is leave with the question of whether to give into his demand or fight against the slaves .
Historian Dr. Roel Konijnendijk analyzes a struggle scene from Stanley Kubrick ’s 64 - class - older epic , Spartacus , find it hard lacking in accuracy .
This turn of events also notably leads to Crassus declaring his retirement because he feel hangdog about choosing how to punish Marcus Glabrus for conk out to neutralize the slave . The reverberation of this annunciation ripple through the senate , andthe intact moving-picture show goes from being a film about the circumstances of an rising to feeling like more of an earnest warfare picture . Thanks to this intermission , viewer are given a moment to breathe as the moving-picture show change center from politics to all - out war .
7Ben-Hur
Directed By William Wyler (1959)
The break forBen - Hurisn’t readiness until more than two hr into the film , which make it feel even more funnily set than that of2001 . However , this still benefit the narration . Ben - Hurbreaks the right way after Esther lies to Judah about the circumstances of his phratry . This lie is integral to setting up Judah ’s retaliation secret plan , which takes precedence for the rest of the flick .
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This not only helps set the first part of the movie aside from the rising activeness , but it also works narratively because it gives TV audience a chance to baby-sit with the interrogative sentence of whether Judah will check the truth about his family . The main draw of the moving picture occur during the action in the second half , and it ’s probable executives acknowledge this going in . Giving audiences a chance to mistreat away before getting into Judah ’s vengeance against Messala allows viewers to come back re - energized rather than potentially mislay interest after several hours of setup .
6Cleopatra
Directed By Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1963)
It should n’t be that surprising from a narrative standpoint thatCleopatrasets its intermission right after Julius Caesar ’s betrayal , but this is also what sets the movie apart from anything else on this listing . Director Joseph Mankiewicz originally intendedCleopatrato be two separate films , and the arrangement of this intermission showcases that absolutely .
This 1963 movie was a smash collide with at the global box office , bringing in an telling $ 58 million - but this was n’t enough to cover the flagitious cost .
Originally , Cleopatrawas visualize as one film explore the nominal Egyptian queen ’s kinship with Caesar and another moving picture exploring her relationship with Marc Antony . Sincethe director ’s vision for the plastic film ultimately never came to light , Cleopatrainstead call for a narrative rupture with two unlike human relationship story on either side of the intermission . This pause also works because it sets Cleo and Antony at betting odds with each other , give a major source of tension for the back one-half of the movie to purpose .
5Barry Lyndon
Directed By Stanley Kubrick (1975)
The feat of Kubrick ’s societal - climbing conman take just over three hours to show onscreen , and the break come about at just over the exact halfway point in time . Similarly toThe Brutalist , the intermission inBarry Lyndonnearly dissects the picture perfectly between the character ’s upgrade and ultimate ruination . While he does n’t take the name “ Lyndon ” until after the suspension , Barry ’s prostration into ruin is all but specify leading into the 2d half .
An Oscar - winning 1975 Stanley Kubrick picture , which is also considered Martin Scorsese ’s dearie , is now available for gratis on YouTube .
This again bisects the movie in a way that works perfectly from an audience linear perspective . AlthoughBarry Lyndonis mostly comedic in tone , the celluloid takes on a somewhat cheerless narrative once the intermission concludes . Barry ’s story is far from aspirational , and giving audiences the chance to enjoy his seeming success set aside them some amount of joy before they ’re present with the less victorious part of his story .
4The Hateful Eight
Directed By Quentin Tarantino (2015)
Not every film with an pause receive one with its theatrical spill . Quentin Tarantino’sThe Hateful Eightonly include an interruption during its 70 mm roadshow button , but the echo of that pause can still be felt across every other release of the picture show . Based onThe Hateful Eight ’s timeline , it ’s well-defined that the “ fifteen minutes ” bring up in the story during chapter four are mean to reflect the same fifteen arcminute that viewers would have spend at break .
Here ’s the undecomposed viewing order for Quentin Tarantino ’s ten lineament - distance films , from Reservoir Dogs all the agency to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood .
The film already makes it easy to abuse away from a home viewing with its chapter - based plot structure , butthe intermission originally set between chapters three and four say a luck about how this celluloid would spiel out if watching the roadshow version . The third chapter end with a major case dying , while the 4th sets off a chain of events that ultimately direct to the most pregnant climb legal action of the movie . If see with an intermission , there ’d be no better place to insert it .
3Gandhi
Directed By Richard Attenborough (1982)
Richard Attenborough ’s 1982 biopicGandhiwould have accomplished enough when it bisected its runtime with the Amritsar slaughter , butthe film goes a footprint further by possess General Dyer admit onscreen that he know he was ordering his troop to fire on cleaning woman and children . This not only establish a major turning item in Mahatma ’s scrap for independence , it also splits the film by set up Gandhi ’s imminent fight among those who disagree with his stance on peaceful protest .
Setting the intermission here allows viewers to process the atrocious events they ’ve just see while preparing themselves for the ultimate repercussions of such a flagitious barbarousness .
2Once Upon A Time In America
Directed By Sergio Leone (1984)
There will course be disagreements about the cellular inclusion ofOnce Upon a Time in Americaon this list , sincewhether viewers of this motion picture experienced an intermission will ultimately depend on how they saw the moving-picture show . Thanks toOnce Upon a Time in America ’s truncate theatrical cut , not all spectator experienced the photographic film in on the nose the same means .
Sergio Leone ’s unofficial Once Upon A Time … trilogy sport some of the former director ’s best work , and also his most underrated Western .
In the official cut of the photographic film , the break hire space right after Noodles attack Deborah and fundamentally sacrifice his purest connexion to the non - criminal world . bean then check Deborah take off for Hollywood , setting him up for another return to crime that will ultimately spell his downfall . Despite being set nearly three hours into the movie , this is still an important narrative break . More importantly , it gives audiences a chance to breathe after watching an incredibly problematic view that might have otherwise made Noodles an unimaginable supporter to support .
1Gone With The Wind
Directed By Victor Fleming (1939)
“ I ’ll never be hungry again ” stand as one of themost noted melodic line fromGone With the Wind , and the fact that it ’s set decent before the break likely encounter a role in that . Not only does this scene set the narrative apart , this scene also mark a major stage of grapheme growth for Scarlett . This is the point where Scarlett in spades evolves from a woman of status to a woman willing to do anything possible to protect those closemouthed to her .
Two popular Hollywood film classics were in incessant confusedness until they underwent the same behind - the - shot change in the same yr .
Gone With the Windis full of catastrophe from begin to terminate , butit ’s Scarlett ’s kinship with those tragedy that marks a turn full point for the film . While some films on this leaning separate catastrophe by break , this particular pre - intermission duologue establishes who Scarlett ’s becoming as a soul . The product line itself may have stood the test of time on its own , but it ’s by leave consultation to spend time with this line that the movie truly deliver the goods in build a relationship between Scarlett and her viewers that will continue to be a part of flick history for decades to come .
