While many filmmakers are championing the use of film when shooting movies and defending the cinematic experience, Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg (“The Shrouds”) won’t be in either’s corner.
The king of body horror recently spoke with fellow director Jim Jarmusch for Interview Magazine (via IndieWire), where he pointed out that seeing movies in theaters isn’t all that it is cracked up to be, and pointed out his age and not having that “communal” feeling contributing to the lack of importance to him when viewing movies.
Specifically using an example at the Venice Film Festival, where Cronenberg “joked” to fellow filmmaker Spike Lee that he could watch the classic “Lawrence of Arabia” on his watch (assumed to be an iWatch).
“I only see movies in real theaters every once in a while, mostly at film festivals, and I’ve found that the projection isn’t always so great,” Cronenberg said of his feelings on the theatrical experience. “I remember being in Venice onstage with Spike Lee and some others. He was talking about the Cathedral of Cinema, the whole religious aspect of it. And I said, ‘Spike, I’m watching “Lawrence of Arabia” on my watch, and there are a thousand camels there. I can see every one of them.’ I was joking, but what I meant was, I don’t find the cinema experience all that great. Maybe it’s because I’m older. I don’t feel that communal thing.”
“I do find that people talking about streaming can be very passionate in the way that we were passionate in the movie theater after we saw a film. So it’s different, but I don’t think it’s worse,” Cronenberg added when expressing previous sentiments about preferring working with digital over film stock due to the intense editing process. “I also don’t miss working with film. The cutting and editing was a nightmare for me. It was very restrictive. You have so much more control now. And of course, we are control freaks to a certain extent, if you’re making a film.”
Cronenberg doesn’t reflect the majority of the industry and other directors, but, then again, he’s obviously stating this is his own personal preference when it comes to how he consumes film.
Quite the stance given that David Cronenberg’s latest film, the supernatural sci-fi thriller “The Shrouds,” starring Vincent Cassel and Diane Kruger, is heading to theaters on April 25 thanks to Janus Films.
