Denis Villeneuve is one of the most treasured directors working in Hollywood today. With modern genre classics like Dune and Blade Runner 2049, the filmmaker has captured the hearts of moviegoers countless times over the last decade. One of the things the French-Canadian director has been fighting for over the last couple of years, like many movie lovers, is the preservation of the theatrical experience. At the Advanced Imaging Society’s Lumiere Awards, Villeneuve accepted the Harold Lloyd Award for his work on Dune and dedicated his speech to the movie-going experience.
The Harold Lloyd Award is given out every year to a director who uses technology to empower storytelling. Villeneuve started his speech by saying that Harold Lloyd, a famous early cinema actor alongside the likes of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, was born around the same time as film itself. He goes on to say that the antique cameras of that time period were cutting edge back then. “Lloyds genius came in part from his use of optical illusions, false perspectives, visual tricks, inspired by stage theater,” Villeneuve said. He continued,“ still to this day, it is one of the aspects that move me about cinema. That beautiful dance between high-end technology and old fashion tricks.”
Villeneuve transitioned into talking about how cinema always found a way to blend the old with the new and went on to say:
“Cinema was born in theaters. The language was created for the big screen. Today these roots have been weakened by the pandemic. I think it is imperative to bring back an equilibrium between the theatrical experience and the streaming services.”
Villeneuve then joked about being a fan of streaming services, calling them a “powerful tool,” but then he states that:
“Theaters need a reasonable amount of time to preserve that original language. I absolutely believe that there is space for both to exist, but theaters need our love right now. Otherwise, we may lose something even more fundamental as human beings. We need the cumulative experience. There is nothing like the feeling that we are one together.”
The director finished his speech by saying that that powerful feeling is “at the essence of the human experience. We are meant to be together, not isolated.”
This sensitive topic has been a part of many heated debates since the pandemic began in 2020, which shut down theaters across the country. Since then, while theaters are reopened and slowly getting stronger, more and more high-profile films have been going straight to streaming. Villeneuve himself was in the middle of that drama last year when Warner Brothers went behind the backs of their filmmakers, saying that all their 2021 film slate was going day and date to both theaters and streaming. This included Villeneuve’s Dune and prompted the filmmaker to write a piece in Variety voicing his frustration with the move. Since then, the director has been one of the loudest voices advocating for the theater industry, which has seen many changes for the worst, like a much shorter 45-day theatrical window.
Whether it is the previously mentioned Dune and Blade Runner 2049 or Sicario and Prisoners, Villeneuve has given us some of the best movie-going experiences of the past decade. However, beyond just him, films like Spider-Man: No Way Home, No Time to Die, The Batman, and Scream have reminded us of the great power that the big screen has. As Villeneuve said, there is no better feeling than watching a film as a collective group. Ask yourself this. Would the Avengers: Endgame portal moment or the three generations of Spider-Men coming together in No Way Home have left as much of an impact on you if you just watched it at home alone? The answer is a resounding no.
When you go to the movies, you are not just paying for the film itself. You are paying for the experience and the unforgettable memories. You are renting out the best recliner seats, sound design, and picture quality around — it is a cultural experience.
To reiterate Villeneuve, theaters and streaming services can and should coexist. They have for the past decade leading up to the pandemic, and we do not have to eliminate one to have the other. It is great to see a director of Villeneuve’s caliber continue to fight for this important issue, and for all the latest news on the ever-evolving state of the film industry, stick with Collider.
You can watch Villeneuve’s full speech down below.