I don't believe it! I don't believe it! But it does seem to be happening. The beauty, the grace and the extreme latitude of film is vanishing forever because of insatiable greed, as well as an abundance of ignorance.... Or is there a conspiracy going on?
One example is Roger Deakins, the man who shot The Assassination of Jesse James - which is arguably the most magnificent piece of pure cinema since Apocalypse Now - who is saying that the Alexa camera outshines film. Now either he's being put up to it as some conspiracy (I'm joking - I hope), or he has had a mental breakdown, or he's doing drugs. Because there's no possible way that this man and all these other cinematographers can't see how much better film looks than video - any kind of video!
Thank goodness for P.T. Anderson, one of the few great American directors. His new film, which comes out in October, was not only shot in 70mm, but he doesn't like a digital intermediate and he uses a complete photochemical process.
Some of the critics that saw a four-minute glimpse of his new film at the Cannes film festival reported that other films being made today can't hold a candle to the texture, the detail and the beauty of his new movie.
The director Christopher Nolen says it's all about economics. That it's a hundred times cheaper to send a hard drive to a theater than it is to make and send a print. So because of the love of money, the physical beauty of film will be lost to our future generations. And lastly, to all you so-called directors out there, please, if you're shooting digitally, you may be making a movie, but you ain't making a film.
Allen Williams is an editor who operates Las Vegas's E.motion Productions. He can be reached at e.motion@cox.net.