Yelling at clouds of celluloid
At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, streaming is the new thing, which is kind of hilarious because Netflix, Amazon, and the like have been the new thing for a while now. If anything, the streaming services have already proven themselves to be a dominating force in film these days.
However, jury president Pedro Almodóvar made it very clear on the festival’s opening day that, in his opinion, movies that cannot be seen on “a large screen” should not be rewarded, claiming younger generations are out of touch with “the capacity of hypnosis of a large screen for a viewer.”
“The screen should not be smaller than the chair on which you’re sitting,” he said. “You must feel small and humble in front of the image that is here to capture you.”
There is nothing quite like sitting in a dark movie theatre, the big screen and sound enveloping me. It’s a sweeping experience. But I don’t have the time or money to go to the movies every week or every few days to consume content like I do with a streaming service. I can watch an unlimited number of movies for less than the cost of a single movie ticket.
Streaming services offer a place for independent filmmakers to present their work to people who may not be able to see it otherwise – and isn’t that the true beauty of cinema?
Insisting otherwise is the equivalent of playing vinyl or insisting on shooting on film – practices that are more about nostalgia than quality, a brand of vintage that it feels right to say is superior because it came first. The tendency to be frightened by advancements in technology or to assume it offers less is an out of touch viewpoint, old-fashioned in the worst way, because it condemns new ventures simply because they are different.
But Almodovar is far from alone is his yelling at the clouds. In December, Martin Scorsese also lambasted the future of film. “Cinema is gone,” he moaned. “The theatre will always be there for that communal experience, there’s no doubt. But what kind of experience is it going to be?” Like Almodovar, he blamed it on the young: “It should matter to your life. Unfortunately, the latest generations don’t know that it mattered so much. TV, I don’t think has taken that place. Not yet.”
Two months later, Netflix announced the purchase of his next film, The Irishman, for $100 million, because, as it turns out, there’s a lot of money to be made in streaming.