Somewhere between a film’s final scene and the exalted audience’s first clap at either the Venice or Cannes film festivals, cinema loses its dignity. We have entered a standing ovation arms race. What ...

In cinema, applause is more than a polite gesture—it can become a historic performance of its own . At film festivals like Cannes and Venice , standing ovations often last far beyond the usual few ...

The practice of clapping to signal approval goes back at least as far as Roman times, if not earlier. But at some point, we decided we needed another, better way to say “Yes, that was good”—a kind of ...

According to The Guardian, the applause following Pillion’s screening at last year’s Cannes Film Festival “lasted several minutes, with the inevitable awkwardness of seeming dutiful”. The Alexander ...

The applause at premieres like “Mission: Impossible” or “The History of Sound” is often timed and reported breathlessly. But there’s more to the story. Paul Mescal, right, with his “History of Sound” ...