ABSTRACT
To look at the history of cinema through the experience of moviegoing involves taking the particular circumstances in which audiences encounter moving pictures as a starting point. The frequency of local or regional studies and other forms of ‘microhistory’ is a consequence of this form of investigation. As a rule, however, cinema historians look at situations that represent a degree of ‘normality’ and permit extrapolations, or generalizations to a broader level. Analyses of moviegoing under more exceptional circumstances such as political crises, conflicts or changes are less common: such moments may appear too atypical, too much out of the ordinary to reveal anything that can be taken beyond the anecdotal or incidental. On the other hand, such situations may also shed new light on the ‘normal’ state of things by simply marking the possibility of a difference.
