Chris Kenneally’s “Side by Side’’ is a surprisingly accessible documentary about an often very technical subject — the revolution surrounding Hollywood’s rapid conversion from 35mm film to digital technologies.
Producer Keanu Reeves, who also serves as the on-camera narrator, is a far more adept interviewer than you’d suspect from his oft-somnolent screen persona, asking smart questions of a who’s who of directors and cinematographers, and letting them reply with long, thoughtful responses rather than sound bites.
Twentieth Century Fox has put movie-theater owners on notice that it will no longer ship film prints after the end of 2013, and the rest of the Hollywood studios are expected to follow not far behind. Fox CEO Tom Rothman tells Reeves that it just doesn’t make economic sense to ship 70-pound film prints at a cost of about $1,500 — versus $150 for its digital equivalent, the Digital Cinema Package.
What exactly is the point of transferring the bulk of “films’’ shot on digital formats to film for cinematic release?
“Side by Side’’ doesn’t take a side in this increasingly loud debate, but with each passing day it’s clear that 35mm film — the dominant theatrical format for a century — is going the way of typewriters, except perhaps for revival theaters (where digital is gaining a foothold).
Director Christopher Nolan, of the “Batman’’ movies, and his cinematographer, Wally Pfister, passionately and articulately argue for the superiority of images provided by film. But even Pfister admits he’ll probably be shooting digital in a few years.
Other directors, such as David Fincher (“The Social Network’’), James Cameron (“Avatar’’) — as well as Reeves’ “Matrix’’ directors Andy and Lana (formerly Larry) Wachowski — sing the praises of digital photography, which they say can provide effects that are difficult or even impossible to achieve on film, as well as allow actors to film lengthier scenes without stopping to reload the camera or for lighting changes.
This documentary gets a bit wonky in chronicling the advance of digital cinematography, which at the turn of the 21st century was confined to foreign films, independent productions and documentaries but gained popularity with the development of increasingly sophisticated cameras championed by the likes of George Lucas.
Even my eyes began glazing over a bit when the discussion turned to issues of resolution (sharpness) and the dynamic range (basically darkness/lightness) of film versus video formats.
Bottom line: As someone who watches hundreds of projected movies a year, I can no longer tell the difference between high-end (and increasingly lower-end, like last week’s “Hit & Run’’) productions shot on film or video. Which certainly wasn’t the case as recently as three or four years ago.
“Side by Side’’ is an eye-opening, comprehensive look at the biggest technological revolution in Hollywood history. One huge irony is that digital formats are evolving so rapidly that the only foolproof way to archive and preserve a movie shot on video for future generations is . . . to transfer it to film.