Coffee has become an indispensable companion for film lovers all over the world. Coffee and cinema not only share similar experiences, but, by combining them, turn tea drinking and watching a movie into an enjoyable moment.
What is the relationship between cinema and coffee?
1. General experience
Both movies and coffee bring a dynamic and varied experience to those who enjoy them. Just like movies tell an elaborate story and recognize their creators and actors by their credits, making coffee is a painstaking process that consists of choosing the type of coffee you want, grinding the coffee beans, adding the exact amount of water to produce a gourmet coffee. This specific dynamic of each experience enhances the emotions and feelings of watching a good movie and enjoying a cup of coffee.
In The Breakfast Club, the scene where the characters meet in the library to get arrested perfectly captures the overall experience of a good movie and the accompanying good coffee moment. One of the scenes where the characters drink coffee becomes a fundamental part of the story.
2. Improve your movie viewing experience
Enjoying a good coffee can enhance your movie viewing experience. Coffee acts as a stimulant that sharpens our senses. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee wakes us up. Its use keeps us on our toes and involved in the story and cinematic offering.
In Pulp Fiction, Samuel L. Jackson’s character, Jules, sits down to drink coffee while engaging in a pivotal conversation for the story. On the other hand, in the film Amélie, Audrey Tautou, who plays the role of Amelie Poulin, serves coffee in the mythical Café 2 Moulin in Paris in one of the scenes. Also, in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, actress Holly Golightly, who plays the role of Audrey Hepburn, appears in a scene drinking coffee in front of Tiffany’s diamonds in Manhattan. All these productions have received recognition and have remained in our memory both for their history and for their film production.
3. Social relations
Coffee and movies have become the perfect occasion to connect, providing people with a common theme to meet and socialize. Whether it’s meeting up with friends for coffee before, during or after a movie, coffee shops have become a hub for cinephiles (people who love movies) where they can talk and discuss their favorite films.
In When Harry Met Sally, the characters often meet at a coffee shop to talk about their relationship and share their thoughts on love.
4. Cinematic inspiration
The films were inspired by coffee culture, making this experience the focus of many emotions and stories. Coffee has been portrayed as a symbol of conversation, comfort, intimacy, and pleasure on a social level and in the film’s narrative.
In La La Land, the iconic diner scene in which Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) share their dreams and aspirations over coffee perfectly captures cinematic inspiration and the key role that experience plays. coffee makes a difference in how stories are built and how they are told to connect with the audience.
5. Influence on cinema
Coffee has also influenced the creative and storytelling process of filmmakers. Many directors and screenwriters find inspiration in coffee shops, using these places for brainstorming, character development, or script writing.
In Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and Cigarettes, the story unfolds through conversations taking place in coffee shops. This reflects the importance of the situations that revolve around coffee, both for the characters and the filmmakers.
With Baby Driver, Edgar Wright unveiled one of the most exciting filmmaking endeavors of recent years. This can be seen in the frame of the scene in the film where Ansel Elgort avoids dropping the coffee cups he is carrying while walking on a rough road.
Perhaps if the coffee spills, the scene will look more artistic. This is exactly how it happens at the end of The Suspects. There, Chazz Palminteri’s coffee cup falls to the ground three times as the agent gets the case solved and learns the truth about the mystery he’s investigating. We can say that the darker the coffee, the more mysterious it is.
The experience of drinking coffee can transcend all barriers of imagination. Tommy Lee Jones serves coffee to aliens in Men in Black.
Movies and coffee share a magical and mysterious relationship that creates bonding moments between movie lovers and coffee lovers. Watching movies can be more enjoyable when accompanied by a cup of coffee. Also, enjoying both hobbies can improve social relationships through conversations between friends or new people.
Finally, coffee-drinking situations have been and will continue to be a source of inspiration for filmmakers and their film productions. Cinema and coffee have become inseparable companions. The next time you go to the movies, don’t forget to grab a cup of your favorite coffee and enjoy the perfect combination of these two passions.