Question and poll about eligibility of the mini-series in the movie polls.

[Petri]

Last round we had a lot of mini-series in the finals of the best of the decade movie polls (list of the movies later). Do you think those ones should be eligible this time too or not. We can also debate some of the ineligible ones like Decalogue and I, Claudius etc. The most crucial things for eligibility for me is that the whole mini-series is directed by same director(s) wholly and there have been film screenings on the big screen (at festivals or at film archives etc.)

Die Zweite Heimat (Heimat II) (1992) by Edgar Reitz
A 26 hours long (mini-)series that is divided in 13 parts This ultimate work of cinema is second part of Heimat film-series. The first part (15 hours long Heimat (1984)) is in TSPDT top 1000 and in many 1000 movies you should see lists. There is also (12 hours long) Heimat 3 (2004) and (only 4 hours long) Die andere Heimat (2013)). If Heimat II is eligible we should also decide is it a 1992 movie or a 1993 movie (last time it was a 1992 movie (like IMDb says) but all of the episodes were broadcasted apparently first time in 1993. If it’s still eligible it’s going to be my #1 of 1992 or 1993 for sure (and antonius’ too I guess)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heimat_%28film_series%29

Riget I [The Kingdom I] (1994) by Lars von Trier.
The first season of Riget trilogy (the last part was never completed (never say never maybe someday von Trier finishes this with new actors ). One of the most acclaimed works of von Trier.

Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Almost 16 hours long mini-series divided in 14 parts. Is in the TSPDT top 1000 and one of the most acclaimed works of Fassbinder.

Scener ur ett Äktenskap [Scenes from a Marriage] (1973) by Ingmar Bergman
About 5 hours long mini-series divided in 6 parts. In the TSPDT top 1000 list. Among the acclaimed works of Bergman.

[BleuPanda]

I'm fully in support of including mini-series; I find them as a midpoint between television and earlier episodic films (and honestly, I feel television and film are already close enough that it's odd they're not discussed together). Mini-series especially feel like a result of the unwritten 'rules' of cinema; stories that are too long to get theatrical releases, and are thus more digestable through a televised release. You could argue their episodic nature makes them different, but there are plenty of shorter (and long) films that are split into distinct parts.

In the end, the leading difference is that one group is released through cinemas (and that itself isn't true of all film, especially as we head into a digital future) and the other is through television. You could argue there is a difference in storytelling and technique, but similarly, doesn't something like a season of Breaking Bad feel more like a traditional film than, say, Mothlight? To me, the division is kind of arbitrary, and if a mini-series is popular enough that people want it included, I don't see a good reason not to.



Ultimately, there are a dozen mini-series I find essential for any film fan, and there are even some television series I would put on that level (Twin Peaks, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Breaking Bad); while television is big enough that we could do its own poll, I find people are more likely to discuss mini-series in film circles than when discussing television (hence all these mini-series in the TSPDT list - though the Twin Peaks show is also in the top 2000 range). Mini-series don't quite fit with either, so I think allowing mini-series would be nice.

And, in the end, didn't Berlin Alexanderplatz get a theatrical release? And Scenes from a Marriage got a 'theatrical cut,' which still has an episodic nature, just shorter. As I've said, the dividing line is rather arbitrary, and these two in particular question the format (additionally, we only consider Fanny and Alexander a film because its film cut was released first, even though it was longer and made for television).

[Dexter]

I think those films that were first shown in TV/cable but later shown in theaters are acceptable, for example: The Last Seduction or TV/cable mini-series that later had a theatrical release such as Fanny and Alexander; but how about those that did not get a theatrical release? for example Angels in America.

[bonnielaurel]

I didn't vote for any mini-series because I thought they were'nt eligible. E.g. "House of Cards" (the real version) is from 1990. I would prefer to make no exceptions and hold a smaller, separate poll for mini-series.

[Petri]

Good points everyone. Looks like the majority wants to include mini-series.

I agree there have been a lot of mini-series straight and only to TV from 00’s and current decade that could have been in my yearly top 20 (Angels in America is definitely one of them.) Although I think at least some mini-series should be eligible I also see the problem that many of them are very close to (seasons of) some TV-series (HBO-stuff, Breaking Bad, Twin Peaks etc. etc.) that are not eligible (and on the other they are similar to film series from 1910s (like Les Vampires) that are definitely eligible. And if we have at some point a TV-series poll mini-series should definitely be eligible in that… So it’s complex.

In general I guess there aren’t that many potential finalists mini-series (mostly only the ones you can find in different 1000 movies you should see lists) so we don’t have “the problem” that every year one or two 15 hours long mini-series (that only two people have seen) will qualify.

So because majority of the voters wants to include mini-series they are eligible at lease in cases if they had have a theatrical release (at movie festival etc.) and some other cases too (you can ask if some mini-series is eligible and then we can decide about it.)

So if Heimat II and other stuff are eligible so it’s original House of Cards (1990) I think. So bonnielaurel and all the rest of you too if you want to change your 1990 list there’s still three days to do it.

[bonnielaurel]

I think it's best to make a number of exceptions for cases that had a theatrical release and are more like a long film. The ones I had in mind are more like an ordinary TV series and didn't have a theatrical release, so I'm not going to include them.