The Longest Most Meaningless Movie in the World

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The Longest Most Meaningless Movie in the World
The Longest Most Meaningless Movie in the World film Theatrical release poster (1968-2).jpg
German poster
Directed by Vincent Patouillard
Produced by Tony Scott
Release date
  • 1968 (1968)
Running time
48 hours
CountriesUnited Kingdom
France

The Longest Most Meaningless Movie in the World (also known as The Longest and Most Meaningless Movie in the World, The Most Meaningless Movie in the World and Meaningless Movies [1] ) is a 1968 British underground film lasting 48 hours directed by Vincent Patouillard. [1] It was produced by Anthony Scott [2] and created as a collaboration with French [3] and British filmmakers in association with the Swiss Film Centre and the London Film-Makers' Co-op workshop (both located in London). [4] [5]

Contents

Content

No actual footage was shot for the project, which instead consists entirely of outtakes, commercials, strips of undeveloped film, Academy leader, discarded reels recovered from Wardour Street dustbins, and other filmic cast-off material, creating a seemingly endless stream of news-reel and stock footage. [4] Many segments are shown upside down, in reverse, or without sound. Some are shown many times over to wear out the viewer. [6] At one point, a commercial starring Donald Campbell advertising a boys' adventure magazine is looped forty times, [7] amounting to half an hour's worth of video. [4] The film notably features Hermine Demoriane, Roger Dixon, Graham Stevens, Carla Liss and Martine Meringue. [5] As British artist David Curtis has noted, the film had low production values. [4] [8]

Release

The was originally released in 1968 at the Arts Lab and the Cinémathèque Française, [5] [7] being one of the first films made by London Film-Makers' Co-op. [9] It was subsequently aired at various locations within the next 2 years. [4] At the time of its release it was the longest film made, but has since been superseded by other films; the current longest film ever made is Logistics [10] .

References

  1. 1 2 "The Longest Most Meaningless Movie in the World". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  2. ↑ Rose, Steve (24 April 2016). "Uncomfortable viewing: the seven-hour trailer for a 30-day film". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  3. ↑ Brenez, Nicole; Lebrat, Christian (2001). Jeune, dure et pure!: une histoire du cinéma d'avant-garde et expérimental en France (in French). Cinémathèque française. ISBN   978-88-202-1461-6.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Ten Longest Films Ever Made". America Fun Fact of the Day. 21 August 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 Robertson, Patrick (1985). Guinness Film Facts and Feats. Guinness Books. p. 25. ISBN   978-0-85112-278-6.
  6. ↑ Dixon, Wheeler (1 December 2013). Cinema at the Margins. Anthem Press. ISBN   978-1-78308-026-7.
  7. 1 2 Reekie, Duncan (August 2003). "Not Art: An Action History of British Underground Cinema". Faculty of Arts, Plymouth University. doi:10.24382/3766.
  8. ↑ Payne, Joy I. (17 July 2015). Reel Rebels: the London Film-Makers' Co-Operative 1966 to 1996. AuthorHouse. ISBN   978-1-5049-4626-1.
  9. ↑ Street, Sarah (2 June 2009). British National Cinema. Routledge. pp. 208–209. ISBN   9781135253356.
  10. ↑ "At 7 hours 20 minutes, this is the world's longest movie trailer - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 28 January 2017. 'Logistics', released in 2012, was 857 hours (35 days and 17 hours) long.
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