The Weinstein Company delivered a wonderful Christmas gift for hardcore cinephiles everywhere as filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson sat down to discuss 70MM (which Tarantino used to shoot The Hateful Eight). Along with praising the epic scope of 70mm, the pair discussed the current state of film. Tarantino addressed the benefit of shooting The Hateful Eight in Panavision 70, which is a format used previously by only a handful of films, including Ben-Hur and Khartoum.
Anderson, who used 70MM for 2012’s The Master, explained why he decided to shoot in that format. The two directors discuss why the current state of cinema has something like a big-event type of feel. Currently, The Hateful Eight has a limited roadshow engagement, which has a musical overture, an intermission, and a souvenir program for attendees. The filmmakers hope that this can bring a jolt to cinema, which has been severely lacking in the past decades.
The discussion inevitably leads to digital versus film. Tarantino explains why he thinks filmmakers didn’t get a say when theater owners and studios decided to make film obsolete in favor of digital projection. Tarantino states that he feels that digital and film could exist alongside one another without one being eradicated completely.
