Drive-ins and outdoor movies: Holdouts of cinema culture

This story originally appeared in URBANIA, an online magazine based in Quebec focused on pop culture and society.

The line of cars stretches all the way to Highway 640. Past the gate, vehicles scatter in front of five massive screens. It's hot, the air thick with the smell of popcorn and summer vacation. While waiting for their movies to start, people toss balls, play board games, load up at the snack bar, walk their dogs, or sip beers from camping chairs.

Open for half a century on the site of a legendary flea market, the Saint-Eustache Drive-In gives me the feeling of coming home.

That's literally almost the case, since screen #4 practically backed onto our family bungalow on Leclair Street. Some summers, I'd head to Grande-Côte Park with a portable radio to catch free movies from atop the soccer field goalposts.