[CLOSED] Cinéville Colombier

L'Opéra de Rennes

Film: L'Italien (2010)

Screens: 6  Ticket price: 8€

This pleasant enough six-screener is doing quite well in the face of the shiny new Gaumont that's situated, somewhat aggressively, just over the road (see post below for more info on that one).  Staff at the ticket and popcorn counters were pleasant and helpful, and watching the fairly ordinary Kad flick L'Italien was a painless experience.  We went on cheap day Tuesday (an offer not extended by their close neighbours/rivals) when it was only 4€ or so to get in.  Films are almost always in French only but the programming was quite interesting, mixing summer blockbusters with slightly less mainstream fare (the 3-hour cut of Olivier Assayas' Carlos was playing when we were there).

It's easy to see how this place - situated in a busy shopping centre - would have ruled the roost in its day, but with the Gaumont breathing down its neck you do wonder if its time might be up before too long -- I certainly hope not.  Rennes is a major city and can certainly handle both of these cinemas per se, but perhaps not right next door to each other, and the Gaumont monster might well chew 'em up.  A lick of paint would help the exterior no end, though -- apologies to the cinema if they've tended to this since summer 2010 (but I somehow doubt it).

Update: After 46 years of screenings, the cinema closed down at the end of September 2019.  But there is good news in that Cinéville have recently opened two six-screeners just to the south of Rennes -- one in Bruz, the other in Vern.  The link below will take you to the chain's main page, where you can find listings for the two new cinemas.

Website

Gaumont Rennes

Films: Shrek Forever After (2010), Tamara Drewe (2010)

Screens: 13  Ticket price: 11.80€

OK, time to get hypocritical -- retroactively or otherwise.  Despite roundly booing Gaumont's decision to set up shop right over the road from the Cineville (see above post) I did go there twice during my Rennes stay. And despite the rather pricey admission charge (which went even further north when you paid out for the 3D supplement and glasses for Shrek 4) there isn't an awful lot to complain about here.  It's a very slick cinema with friendly staff, comfortable seats and excellent presentation of films.  The movies we saw were both in their original English with French subs, and the 13 screens mean they can afford to sprinkle such relatively minority screenings among the expected indigenous and dubbed French-language stuff.  Combined with the nearby Cineville it means you have a mind-boggling 19 screens to choose from if you're in this part of the city, although inevitably some overlap in programming does occur.  But this place is not at all bad for an establishment run by The Man.   

Website