El último cine del pueblo (The last cinema in town)
MCER B1225 palabras
The cinema in our town opened in 1954 and closed twice. The first time was in 2009, when the big shopping centre opened by the motorway. The second time was last winter, and this time nobody expected it to open again.
It has one screen, two hundred and forty seats and a projectionist called Emilio, who is seventy-one. When the cinema closed the first time, Emilio kept the keys. He went in once a week for four years, turned on the machines and let them run for twenty minutes with no film and no audience.
'A machine that stops working dies,' he says. 'And people are the same.'
In 2013 a group of neighbours bought the building. They had no money for new equipment, so for a long time the cinema showed films that other cinemas had finished with, three or four months late. Nobody complained. The tickets cost four euros and a family could still afford a Saturday.
Last winter the roof failed after a storm and the cinema closed again. Since February, four hundred people have paid ten euros a month to repair it. That is not enough for a new roof, but it is enough to keep Emilio's machines running.
He still goes in every week. The screen is still empty. He says he is not waiting: he is keeping something warm.
Palabras que quizá no conozcas
- screenpantalla, sala
- projectionistproyeccionista
- audiencepúblico
- equipmentequipo, aparatos
- to affordpoder permitirse
- rooftejado
- to keep something warmmantener algo caliente, no dejar que se enfríe
Preguntas
Se contestan con el texto delante. No es memoria: es entender.
How many times has the cinema closed?
Twice: in 2009 and last winter — El primer párrafo lo dice y da las dos fechas: 2009, cuando abrió el centro comercial, y el invierno pasado.
During the first closure, Emilio went into the cinema once a ___.
week — He went in once a week for four years: una vez por semana durante cuatro años.
During those four years Emilio showed films to a small audience.
False — Falso, y es lo raro del texto: with NO film and NO audience. Encendía las máquinas para nadie.
Why did the cinema show films three or four months late?
Because the neighbours could not pay for modern equipment — They had no money for new equipment, SO… El retraso no es una decisión artística: es lo que puede proyectar un cine con máquinas viejas.
How much money do the four hundred people give every month?
Four thousand euros — El texto no da la cifra: hay que multiplicar. Cuatrocientas personas a diez euros al mes son cuatro mil euros al mes.
What does Emilio mean when he says he is 'keeping something warm'?
That he is looking after the cinema so that it can come back to life — Se entiende con lo que dijo antes: una máquina que deja de funcionar se muere, y la gente igual. Y él mismo lo separa de esperar: no espera, cuida.