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Until last Friday, you probably hadn’t considered that there might be a wrong way to watch a movie.
Then Christopher Nolan Odyssey came out and the Internet exploded with talk about the “best” way to watch the film based on Homer’s epic about a man who spent a decade trying to return home after fighting in the Trojan War.
This all stems from the Hollywood director’s decision to shoot the entire film on IMAX 70mm film cameras, the largest format available.
This means that the film will look slightly different depending on which theater you’re watching it in.
Add promotional material from star Matt Damon urging viewers to “experience Odyssey in IMAX 70mm format,” and one corner of the Internet concluded that “Nolan intended” to show the film this way.
In another corner of the Internet he is simply roasted for this.
What director makes a film that can only be shown in “perfect form” in 41 theaters around the world, only nine of which are in Canada?
“Someone who wants people to consciously go to the movies,” said Lesley-Ann Coles, founder and executive director of the Women’s Eye Film Festival in Toronto.
“It’s absolutely brilliant that he shot this with IMAX cameras, which are bigger than God and don’t lend themselves well to the small screen,” she said in an email to CBC News. “Glory to him. Let’s keep movies in theaters.”
Audiences make long trips to IMAX theaters
When CBC News asked whether Nolan actually intended for his film to be seen in one specific format, his publicist did not respond.
But that didn’t stop countless people from heading to their nearest IMAX theater.
WATCH | The Odyssey sells out 70mm IMAX theaters a year in advance:
Tickets for Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey in 70mm Imax are selling out a year in advance.
The film will be shown in 70mm Imax in 26 theaters worldwide, including the Kramer Imax Theater at Regina Science Centre.
IMAX says its theaters account for a whopping 20 percent share Odysseyglobal debut with sales of US$52 million.
The excitement was so great that IMAX put tickets on sale for approximately 70mm screenings a full year in advance. Some theaters even added midnight and 3 a.m. screenings—and they sold out.
On average, watching a movie on an IMAX screen costs about $10 more than on a regular theater screen. Transport to the nearest theater can increase the cost of a ticket, and this is a source of frustration for some people online.
For others it is simply unnecessary.
Spectacle vs. Accessibility
Watching this particular film in an IMAX 70mm theater will allow you to “feel the full effect of how it was shot, so you’ll be in the know.” Odyssey with all of us,” Damon says in the film’s promotion.
While this may be an incredible experience, for Jamesie Fournier, coordinator of the Auladut Nunavut International Film Festival, it’s simply not an option.
Iqaluit has only one movie theater and Yellowknife, he notes, doesn’t have one, let alone one with a 70mm screen.
Jamesie Fournier, coordinator of the Auladut Nunavut International Film Festival, says the film format can add to the spectacle of a story, but at the same time detract from the core of its message. (CBC News)
“Ideally, we’d all like to be able to see it that way, but for a lot of people, it’s just not realistic,” Fournier said.
As someone who works hard to bring the movie theater experience to communities that don’t have one, he’s not convinced that the format is what matters.
“Being able to see this in some way can make a difference,” Fournier said. “Whether you’re overwhelmed by the brilliant visuals… or whether you kind of internalize the story.”
And there’s a lot to learn Odyssey.
“Holding so much grief and regret and pain and trauma and being able to finally come back to our home,” is a theme Fournier said will resonate with people no matter how they view the film.