Recently, more and more filmmakers have been pushing the boundaries for how extensive and long runtimes can be, with some of the biggest movies of the year having huge runtimes. John Wick: Chapter 4 had a runtime of 170 minutes, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer ran 181 minutes, and Martin Scorsese pushed it even further with Killers of the Flower Moon running in at a whopping 206-minute runtime.
But have you ever thought about what the actual longest-running movie is? How many hours? Days? WEEKS? That’s right, experimental films are made to challenge filmmaking conventions, and today, we’ll be discussing one such experimental film that holds the crown for being the longest movie ever made.
How Long Is the Longest Movie Ever Made?
Several movies have come and tried to take the mantle of being the longest movie ever made. The Longest Most Meaningless Movie in the World was released in 1970 and had a runtime of 48 hours. The Cure of Insomnia, released in 1987, had a runtime of 87 long hours. But the movie that undoubtedly takes the cake is Logistics, which was released in 2012. Logistics has a total runtime of 857 hours (51,420 minutes, to be exact). This means it’ll take you 35 days and 17 hours of continuous watching to get to the credits!
What Is Logistics About?
Directed by Erika Magnusson and Daniel Andersson, Logistics is more of a Swedish art project that delves into the concept of time and the intricate logistics of the global economy we take for granted. The movie focuses on the manufacturing process of a pedometer. Yes, it might seem like a mundane and tedious concept to follow for such an extensive duration, but that’s precisely the point. The filmmakers wanted to shed light on the often-overlooked origins of what they call “anonymous clutter” — those mundane items in our households we don’t think twice about.
The pedometer, often present yet rarely acknowledged or used, becomes a metaphor for the countless everyday items we take for granted. The film meticulously follows the entire manufacturing journey of the pedometer in reverse chronological order, starting from a store in Stockholm and tracing its way back to the factory in China where it all began.
The Creative Process Behind Logistics
Creating a movie that lasts for 857 hours is no small feat, and the logistics behind it are as intricate as the film itself. The crew filmed the movie in real-time, taking viewers on a truck journey, then onto a freight train, and then another truck ride, following the entire path back to the factory in Bao’an, located in Shenzhen, China. This unbroken, continuous exploration allows audiences to witness extensive travel, intensive labor, sunrises, sunsets, and all the mundane conversations that happen throughout the process.
Logistics made its world debut in two Swedish locations — the Uppsala City Library and the Kulturhuset Stadsteatern. The film was screened between December 2012 and January 2013 at both venues. Following its debut, Logistics has been featured at various film festivals and art shows in Germany and China. The film’s full version was once available for online rental, but not anymore.
For a period, Logistics even found its way onto Twitch. But, the last stream occurred in early 2023, and there are no current plans for additional viewings. Although the full version may be gone now, film enthusiasts can still catch a 72-minute cut of Logistics on YouTube.
Has Anyone Even Watched The Whole Thing?
The sheer length of Logistics poses a challenge to even the most dedicated film enthusiasts, and that is why you won’t find any Rotten Tomatoes scores for the movie. While the movie does have a modest 6.6 on IMDb, it’s mostly from joke reviews. One reviewer called the film “too short,” while another wrote, “Had to watch it twice to make sure I wasn’t missing any details. Also, my toddler is allowed to watch one movie per month, and this is typically our go-to.”
Jokes aside, there is at least one film critic who claims to have watched the whole thing in its entirety. Ashley Darrow penned an extensive piece for The Maple, providing a detailed film review. Darrow describes Logistics as extremely crushing, highlighting the mental and physical toll of watching a movie that spans over 35 days. At one point, he writes, “There came a point about three weeks into my viewing where the maddening, non-Euclidean shape of Logistics fully formed in my mind. I had an unnerving migraine. I could barely get myself together, let alone watch a boat not move for nine hours.” And that feeling was exactly what Logistics was intended to evoke. To immerse viewers in the grueling reality of the logistical processes working diligently behind the scenes to produce the everyday items we often take for granted.