The showing of AVE (2011, Konstantin Bojanov, Bulgaria, A) is a total disaster for me

The showing of AVE (2011, Konstantin Bojanov, Bulgaria, A) is a total disaster for me. The film was shown at Esplanade Ratchada, Theatre 10, at 1540hrs. The picture was a little bit blurred since the beginning of the film. The subtitles were obviously blurred, which made me guess that the projector might be out of focus or something like that. This problem had occurred before in the showing of THE HAPPY HOUSEWIFE (A+) at the same Theatre 10.

In the showing of THE HAPPY HOUSEWIFE on Monday, November 19, at 13.00 hrs, the picture and the subtitles were blurred like this, but the problem was fixed after 15 minutes. The subtitles became clear after that.

So I assumed that would happen too with the showing of AVE, but after 15 minutes had passed, everything was still blurred. So I decided to walk out to inform some movie theatre staff about the problem. A female staff told me that the problem couldn't be fixed, because AVE was shown in "film". She said that the problem could be fixed if it was shown digitally. I told her that THE HAPPY HOUSEWIFE had been shown in film and the problem could be fixed. She still insisted that the problem of AVE couldn't be solved. I asked her if there were any festival staff near here because I would like to tell the festival staff about this. She said that the festival staff stayed on the second floor of Esplanade, while Theatre 10 is on the fifth floor of Esplanade.

So I came back to my seat and watched AVE for about 30 minutes more, and felt that I could not stand the blurred subtitles any more. So I decided to run all the way from the theatre to the second floor to tell the festival staff about this. With the help of a festival staff, the picture and the subtitles became a little bit clearer than before, but they were still a little bit blurred. I didn't see about 10 minutes in the middle of this film, because I had to run up and down Esplanade to inform this problem. The ending credits showed us obviously that the picture was blurred, because the names appearing in the ending credit were blurred.

To sum it up, the first half of AVE was moderately blurred, and the second half of AVE was a little bit blurred. The festival staff said that it was because of the film print. I don't know whose fault it is: the film print, the projectionist, the movie theatre staff, the festival staff, etc. I just hope this problem would not occur again. Things like this make me want to watch DVDs at home instead of going to see blurred films and blurred subtitles at Esplanade Ratchada.