Quentin Tarantino Cannes: Outspoken Director Warns About ‘The Death Of Cinema!’ ‘Pulp Fiction’ Director Also Takes Great Pride In His Films!
Quentin Tarantino is always a quotable fellow. Thus, when there was a press conference held at Cannes to celebrate the 20th anniversary of 'Pulp Fiction' the outspoken director did not disappoint.
This excerpt from The Independent deals with digital video being the death of cinema-similar to the crusade espoused by Christopher Nolan, director of the Dark Knight trilogy and the upcoming "Interstellar."
"As far as I'm concerned, digital projection and DCPs is the death of cinema as I know it. The fact that most films now are not presented in 35 mm means that the war is lost. Digital projections, that's just television in public. And apparently the whole world is OK with television in public, but what I knew as cinema is dead."
When he was asked how cinema could be saved, he described this generation as "quite hopeless" but somehow he remains hopeful the next one "would demand the real thing".
He continue: "I'm hopeful that we're going through a woozy romantic period with the ease of digital. I'm very hopeful that future generations will be much smarter than this generation and realise what they lost. Back in my day, you at least needed 16mm to make something, and that was a Mount Everest most of us couldn't climb.
And of course, there would be expletives for a worthy cause: "But why an established filmmaker would shoot on digital, I have no ******* idea at all."
Tarantino also took a shot at directors who claim that they do not watch their own movies, with the implication that it's rather hypocritical. This excerpt from Film Stage:
"Whenever I hear directors say they don't watch their movies or they can't watch their movies because all they see is the flaws and it's just too painful, I feel so sorry for those people. How can you get up in the morning? How can you do what you do if you think your stuff was so shitty? If it was too painful to watch my movies, I wouldn't make another one. I would just give up at some point. I just feel bad for them. I feel their lives aren't as enriched as they could be. No, I watch my movies all the time. I'm always at home, they have a whole lot of movie channels. They show the films uncut and you just kind of hit the guide on your button and you see all the different movies playing for the next three hours or so, going down a line.
And you go down it and whenever I see one of my movies is playing, I turn it on. Maybe I'll watch it for a little bit, maybe I'm going through the scroll to see what else is on, but I always watch it. Wherever it happens to come up and sometimes I watch it for a bit and I'm done and sometimes I watch the whole thing. I hadn't seen Kill Bill: Vol. 1 in a couple of years. I had seen Kill Bill: Vol 2., I had screened it just for myself on film in the last year. But Kill Bill: Vol. 1, I hadn't, and I just noticed in 15 minutes it was going to be coming on on Showtime 2 or something. I'll watch the beginning, I'll watch it through the opening credits - the 'Bang Bang, You Shot Me Down' opening credits - and that'll be it. Goddamn if I didn't watch that whole motherfucking thing from beginning to the fucking end. I mean right to the very end, the last credits. I felt very, very gratified."
Tarantino's statements are logical and sensible. And yes, he does have a lot to be proud of.