Quantum of Solace of Assigned Seating Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 2, 2008 in Culture
I just went to see the new Bond movie, and it’s as explosive as everyone says. That’s true. “Quantum of Solace” opened in some European countries this past Friday, and for once, Sweden was on the lucky list, along with the UK and France. How’s that for speshul, huh? Normally, we get big movies looong after the rest of the world, so it was a nice surprise to be able to see something ahead of the US. I still can’t forgive the Swedish distributors for releasing “The Constant Gardener” here when it was already available on DVD in the US.
But anyway, you all want to know about the new Bond movie. But since this is the Swedish Blog, we need to somehow tie it in with something Swedish. Hmmm… Not easy… Neither one of the Bond girls was Swedish – one was British, and the other – Ukrainian. The movie doesn’t take place in Scandinavia, instead it jumps from Italy to Haiti (in fact filmed in Panama) to Austria to the UK to Bolivia (in fact filmed in Chile and Baja California) and very briefly to Russia at the end.
The only bit of Sweden that I could dig up was a product placement for Sony Ericsson and that’s it.
So instead, let me tell you about a certain custom you will experience when going to the movies in Sweden. Namely – assigned seating. I’m still not sure whether I like it or not. I miss the American way of rushing in and fighting for those prized middle-of-the row seats with all the accompanying mess and commotion akin to boarding a Ryanair flight to Barcelona.
There’s none of that in Sweden. Your seat is assigned when you buy your ticket. If you order your tickets on the Filmstaden website, you have a choice of selecting where you want to sit. Once you do that, you’re pretty much stuck with your choice, even if a very tall guy happens to sit in the row in front of you.
But on the other hand, there’s no need to rush and push, your seat waits for you and if you find someone else sitting in it, you just show them your ticket and they move to their assigned seats without arguing. But… Box office clerks tend to assign seats right next to the already filled ones. This can (and in 4 of out 5 instances does) lead to the super annoying situation when the entire row is empty, and yet you find yourself sitting right next to a couple who always engages in a vigorous make-out session practically in your lap (and for the life of me, I can’t understand why anyone would pay 100 kronor to make out in a crowded room, if you can do it in the privacy of your car or home for free). If you are lucky, you can move to an empty seat once the film starts.
But chances are, there won’t be any vacant seats left during the opening weekend of a James Bond movie… Oh, the things we do for the love of Daniel Craig…
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Comments:
giovanni:
hello
ive been getting your blog for quite a while now, and ilove it.
i find it helps alot , especially with the milk secario, i was lost too.
but i have a questionand i was wondering if u can help:
i am moving to stockholm, from montreal.i dont speak swedish …YET. but i just want to inform myself. here in montreal i am an orderly. will i beable to work in seden as that or do i have to take a course to fill in what i am missing.. is there a place where i can find this out, if my certification is valid in a hospital or nursing home.
also . in the mean time, are there ANY job for ebnglsih speakier in sweden
thx you
Lisa:
I also can’t understand why they want you to sit practically on top of another person in the cinema, especially on those occasions when 99% of the theatre is empty! Very annoying. In the US, you would sit as far away as possible from other people. Although I tend to get to the movies very early, and without exception a “seat kicker” will come in right as the film starts and sit directly behind me. (sigh)
Giovanni, sorry to say, it’s pretty difficult to get a job in Sweden without speaking any Swedish — especially one like yours, where it sounds like you would have contact with people as part of your job. You can bet that most of the people in nursing homes aren’t going to understand anything but Swedish (well, maybe Norwegian, but even that’s not guaranteed!). Take it from one who has worked in Swedish nursing homes . . .
natasha:
I must say that I hate the US system and I think the Swedish one is better. The best one though is Russian – you can choose your own seats. First come, first serve, but still. I wish everyone would do it that way. Sorry, a little bit off topic, but I wanted to share.
Mo:
to continue the world tour of the movie theater , in France it’s first come first served too and it works pretty well, I was quite surprised w/ the Swedish system but also found it quite…cool, especially w/ those super cool “couch” in the back, for 2 people 🙂
Anna:
hi Guys!
I remember that Bill Bryson also kvetched about this movie seating issue in his “Neither Here Nor There” book about travels in Europe. After thinking about it, I gotta say I prefer the Ryanair, I mean the American, version of first come first sit down.
Natasha, here technically you too have the option of selecting a seat if you buy your ticket online. But the problem is, I am short, much shorter than your average Swede, so I always end up sitting behind some 2-meter Viking who’s blocking my view. It happens no matter what seat I select – it must be one of the Murphy’s laws about movie theater seating, or something…
Giovanni,
You will need to speak Swedish, and depending on what kind of certification you have, you will most likely have get it again in Sweden.
Andrew Waddington:
kan vi läs svensk på finlansvensk svensk blog eller ur Anna!
Hvor för brukas Engelska jag vill gärne blir bätre på svensk va!