Quentin Tarantino blasts digital projection and also mentions he'd like to make 'Django Unchained' into a four part TV mini-series
Quentin Tarantino made an appearance at this year's Cannes Film Festival this past weekend to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his masterpiece, Pulp Fiction. But Tarantino had a few things he wanted to get off his chest, and Cannes was his desired place to let his feelings known.
It's common knowledge that Tarantino has never been a fan of digital cinema projection. In previous interviews he has mentioned that the day digital projection is the only way you can project your film at a theatre, will be the day he quits the film industry. Strong words that he re-iterated at Cannes.
Tarantino on DIGITAL PROJECTION
As previously mentioned, Pulp Fiction had a 20th anniversary screening at Cannes this year which Tarantino and stars Uma Thurman and John Travolta were in attendance for. The 1994 classic had a unique attraction to it's anniversary screening; it was the only film at this year's festival that was screened in 35mm. This was no coincidence either.
Tarantino said, "As far as I'm concerned, digital projection is the death of cinema," visibly heated, he continued; "The fact that most films aren't presented in 35mm means that the world is lost. Digital projection is just television in cinema. I'm hopeful that we're going through a woozy romantic period with the ease of digital," he later added when asked how cinema can be saved; "I'm hoping that while this generation is quite hopeless, that the next one will demand the real thing. I'm very hopeful that future generations will be much smarter than this generation and realise what they lost."
Tarantino wasn't all doom and gloom however. He confessed there is an advantage for filmmakers today, thanks to digital technology; "A young person can make a film on a cell phone, if they have the tenacity to do so. They can actually make a movie, and they can be legit. Back in my day, you at least needed 16mm to make something, and that was a Mount Everest most of us couldn't climb."
a possible 'Django unchained' tv mini-series?
Along with letting his opinions toward digital projection known, Tarantino also teased a possible TV mini-series for his Oscar nominated slavery drama, Django Unchained.
Tarantino mentioned that he has 90 minutes worth of unseen footage from the 2012 hit film, and is contemplating using that unused footage in a creative way. He said; “I would cut it up into hour chapters, like a four-part mini-series, and show it on cable television.” He noted that while audiences see a four-hour movie as an 'endurance test,' these days, they’re much more willing to binge-watch longer hours of television in a single sitting.
This possible mini-series for Django Unchained appears to be in early development or is just a thought inside Tarantino's head— whatever it may be, it does have potential in being an intriguing TV drama.
