Christopher Nolan is known for his daring storytelling, stunning visuals, and fantastic use of sound. It’s no surprise that he’s a fan of Stanley Kubrick‘s seminal masterpiece “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Recently, Nolan performed what he refers to as an “un-restoration” process on the classic film, which he presented at Cannes to members of the Kubrick family and the main actor, Keir Dullea. Essentially, he transferred the film onto 70mm and utilized its excellent audioscape to the max, the use of which even he calls daring.
READ MORE: The Essentials: The Films Of Christopher Nolan
On the podcast The Treatment, Nolan explained to film critic Elvis Mitchell how divided ‘2001’ made audiences when it was first released. That wasn’t the case at the premiere at Cannes, which was overwhelmingly well-received. Nolan is famously partial to analog film. But why celluloid? Why present ‘2001’ in 70mm?
“Celluloid film, the photochemical process – it’s the best analogy for the way the eye sees that’s been invented,” Nolan said to Mitchell. “So, there’s a depth to the color, there’s a superiority to the resolution, there’s a depth to the blacks, the contrasts, everything. I mean, there are all kinds of things that digital technology can’t duplicate. It can do its own version and all that, and there are a lot of filmmakers who respond really well to that and really enjoy that version of imaging, but it’s different. And so when you start looking at film history, and you start looking at ‘2001’ and the experience that I was able to have watching it on an early re-release, to be able to give audiences today that same analog experience, I think it’s very important.”
Nolan also proclaims that Kubrick is the greatest filmmaker in the history of film, a bold statement from a true auteur. Film preservation and restoration is important to Nolan. However, its synonymous with digitizing film with upgrades such as 4k restorations. He believes the best way to restore a film is to transfer it to its original format.
“With analog film, there’s an emotional involvement to the material, there’s a depth and there’s an openness to your relationship to the imagery and to the narrative,” Nolan told Film Comment. “I mean, I can tell you with absolute certainty that if we had screened a DCP [Digital Cinema Package] last night [the presentation] would not have had that response. I know that in my bones. I know that it was about the freshness of the experience, it was about the emotional content. A lot of the information is thrown away when you digitize. In sound terms, it’s overtones and subtones—things that you can’t consciously hear.”
Nolan seems to be much more in favor of film, in general, than television. He explains that television is very uniform; it can be seen everywhere, on any platform. Film, however, is greatly impacted by the environment in which it’s seen. He’s a firm believer of the theatrical experience as a moviegoing event, encapsulating the emotion, imagery, sounds, and impressions of a film to its fullest potential.
“At Alamo Drafthouse, they run projectionist workshops every year, training people up. We owe it to ourselves as a culture to watch films this way. It isn’t nostalgia—that’s like accusing galleries of indulging in nostalgia if they display paintings. It has nothing to do with nostalgia. It’s the right thing to do and the appropriate way to do it. It’s also fun, and it’s the best time you’re going to have at the movies. That’s the bottom line.”
