In 1895, Louis and Auguste Lumière hosted the first commercial, public cinema screening of silent, wordless films – made with the Lumière’s own cinématographe – at the Le Salon Indien du Grand Café in Paris. Coined by the Lumière brothers, cinema, meaning “movie hall”, is shortened from the French word cinématographe – a device for recording and developing film, and projecting it as a series of moving photographs in sequence.
Cinema has since evolved through the years, from the early scripted films of Georges Méliès, initial spoken-dialogue films such as The Jazz Singer in 1927, and the popularization of colored features with The Gulf Between and The Wizard of Oz, to fainting audiences from visceral screenings such as The Exorcist and The Blair Witch Project, and sold-out IMAX screenings of globally witnessed, record-smashing films such as James Cameron’s Avatar and the Avengers films.
The theatrical experience is a fundamental facet of cinema. Cinema’s origins descend from the theatrical experience, and the evolution of the craft parallels the growth and progression of the theatrical experience. And yet, despite theatres and the theatrical experiences’ deep connection to cinema, its valued experience is slowly fading away from its original archetype.
Speaking on his latest film, Dune, Denis Villeneuve stated, “the enemy of cinema is the pandemic.” Adding on to his comments, Villeneuve addressed the current condition of the theatrical experience and its relation to his upcoming film, “Frankly, to watch Dune on a television, the best way I can compare it is to drive a speedboat in your bathtub […] It’s a movie that has been made as a tribute to the big-screen experience.” The director’s comments have elicited quite the response online, with a divided reception to his remarks.
Many have been quick to applaud his statement, agreeing to his emphasis on the importance of the theatrical experience. However, there have also been equally counteractive arguments to his comments, various individuals even labelling his stance on the theatrical experience as ‘classist’. Although I don’t fully disagree with that, I do believe that there needs to be an accentuated urgency placed on the state and situation of the theatrical experience.
In defense of Villeneuve’s remarks, I am all for keeping the theatrical experience alive. Theatres are an important essence of the cinematic artform, not just in its precedent history linking to the origins of the craft with the Lumière’s first public screenings, but also in its current deep-rooted bond and resonance with individuals who go to theatres to watch films with other moviegoers seeking the same experience, in a solitary environment specifically built and formulated around providing audiences with this exact theatrical experience.
In our current film landscape, audiences are experiencing films in different ways. High-end home setups, streaming websites, and online premieres (particularly exclusive to the pandemic’s closure of theatres) are a few examples of the many ways in which the theatrical experience has been emulated over the years. But for me, the theatrical experience is much more than just being at the cinema in-person, seated in a dark room with other audience members, watching a motion picture projected onto a wide-screen. Being at the cinema in-person is inherently part of the theatrical experience, but it isn’t the only crucial aspect of theatres.
The theatrical experience is intrinsic to an artist’s vision. The mode of delivery of a film – as in whether audiences watch a film in cinemas, at home on a TV, or on their laptop – is a key to the audiences’ experiences with a film. An artist’s intended mode of delivery is an extension of their vision for their film, a further expression of their preferred way to see their film. As Christopher Nolan expressed about his film Tenet during the heights of the pandemic when most theatres were shut: “I think of all the films that I’ve made, this is perhaps the one that is most designed for the audience experience, the big screen experience. This is a film whose image and sound really needs to be enjoyed in your theaters on the big screen.”
If an artist regards seeing their film in cinemas as the intended way to experience their films, it should be viewed as a request from the filmmaker on how to watch the film most authentically in-tune with their vision for it; their intentions with delivering the film are an essential part of the vision.
Often, the theatrical experience also reflects the desires of other individuals who worked on a film, including cast and crew members, like actors. Recently, during Beckett’s Locarno Film Festival debut, John David Washington dwelled on the survival of movie theatres and how it connected to his titular character’s own story: “I think of survival and that’s very personal to me. Part of the reason we’re all here tonight is survival of the theatrical experience, so that’s what connected me to it.” But this desired experience goes beyond the cast and crew, it’s also a firmly craved and valued experience for audiences who want to experience these films on the big screen.
For audiences, movie theatres generally represent a controlled setting for experiencing films. When a theatrical experience goes right, it tends to avoid outside distractions, such as disruptive phone calls, talking individuals, and any sounds or sights that act as a diversion from the main spectacle, unlike on a TV at home or on a laptop, where there are constant threats of interruption to the experience.
Theatres are environments with regulations that prevent any disruption to the audiences experiencing films within them, allowing for unbroken attention that further helps people connect with films more easily, readily, and thoroughly. This leads to a more direct engagement with film, its visual, audible, and visceral storytelling, as well as many extensively explorable themes. Film is communicated through nuance and direction; a more direct engagement with it – through an isolated yet mass experience of bright images in a dark room – leads to a heavier connection with it, a firmer understanding of it, a more meticulous experience of watching it.
Besides, theatres are evolving beyond what they used to be, not just in the experience of watching a film – with new formats such as IMAX, Dolby Atmos, and 3D – but also in the content screened in cinemas. Relative to theatrical tradition, movies continue to show at cinemas, however, new content has begun to appear on the big screen – selected TV episodes, theatre productions, and even sporting events.
TV shows, such as Game of Thrones, are now available to be experienced as viscerally and cinematically as possible. Theatre productions (like National Theatre shows in England) and sporting events (such as football matches) now screened at cinemas emulate the live experience through a large theatre screen. New media introduced into movie theatres redefines what was originally quantified as the theatrical experience, in more ways than one, but it also means experiencing other media in fresh, different ways than previously available.
Above all else, my most cherished and considerable argument for keeping the theatrical experience alive is spectacle. There is nothing quite like watching a film on the biggest theatre screens — I can watch a film on my phone, but nothing quite reaches the heights of the experience of watching a film in cinemas. If you know me, you know my favorite film is Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, and I’ve seen it in every format available, besides on my phone, because I’m certain it wouldn’t do the film’s ambition and immersion any justice.
Christopher Nolan is one of the biggest advocates for the theatrical experience – even long before he made Tenet – and his commitment to the experience knows no boundaries. Ever since The Dark Knight, all his movies have been filmed, premiered, and screened on IMAX – a high-resolution large film format with large cinema screens. Nolan has always shot his work on film, whether it be his short film Doodlebug and debut feature Following on 16mm, his breakthrough Memento on 35mm, or his later films on 70mm and IMAX 70mm. I’ve seen Interstellar on my laptop numerous times, as well as through my Blu-ray on tv, but I’ve also seen it in cinemas on digital IMAX, 70mm film, as well as on IMAX 70mm film.
I assure you, there’s nothing quite like watching Interstellar on the largest screen possible, especially on IMAX 70mm film projected onto an IMAX screen – the highest-resolution, largest film format on the most gargantuan of screens. It’s an experience that simply can’t be described: it’s visceral, fully immersive and its wholly larger than life, as if you’re living the film itself, as realistically as possible.
As a massive fan of Frank Herbert’s landmark novel and Villeneuve’s capabilities as a director, Dune is easily my most anticipated film of the year. I’m fully confident in Villeneuve’s vision for the film and if that includes viewing the film in the biggest cinema screen possible, then I’m all for it. I think he has every right to comment on his preferred way for us to watch his film. Dune was made with the theatrical experience in mind, and I’m in full support of safely seeing it in cinemas as a way of ensuring that the theatrical experience will continue to be a part of the film landscape in the future.
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