Super Panavision 70 On an Indian Reservation |
This article first appeared in |
| Written by: Scott Marshall | Issue 63 - December 2000 |
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The
Mashantucket Pequot Museum in Connecticut, USA looks in almost every way
like a "spare no expense" facility. Nestled in largely unsettled
New England woodlands, the museum is an architectural wonder with wide
curved lines, astonishing vaulted windows, and a hair-raising observation
tower. The historical exhibits inside are extensive and beautifully designed
and maintained. It seems natural that their main film program would use one
of the greatest methods of audiovisual storytelling...the 5 perforation 65mm
and 70mm motion picture process. |
Further in 70mm reading: |
 The
movie runs continuously in two wide-screen theaters deep in the museum. Each
seats 110 people. I was able to see the film once in each theater. What
follows are my technical and artistic reviews of these two screenings. I was
there incognito in order to view the screenings as they commonly ran for the
public, rather than to announce my presence, and avoid any special effort
that may have been invested in the particular screenings I attended.For my first screening I sat about one fourth of the way back from the screen so that the picture nearly filled my entire front field of vision. A railing but no curtain protected the screen. It appeared curved about to the radius of projection and was either a toroidal or a spherical section shape, and not perforated. Sound came from three speakers above the screen, a huge sub-woofer below the screen, and a few moderate-sized surround speakers along the side walls. A Century projector could be seen through the porthole threaded with 70mm film from a platter. Right on schedule the lights dimmed and the film began. The opening credits, sharp and steady, were green and blue against black - a very unusual color combination for credits, presumably representing Pequot tradition or part of a coordinated motif, since they resembled the color scheme at the Foxwoods Casino. The DTS sound (stored on a separate disk) was flawless. A thin, blurred, black film scratch the full height of the screen cut through the center of the frame for the entire duration of the film. There was no visible sign of the cross reflections that sometimes plague large, curved screens. The picture was quite sharp except for the top three or four feet of the screen, which was noticeably blurry. There were objectionable shutter streaks (descending comet tails on bright objects) during the credits and on subsequent superimposed subtitles (Pequot characters spoke in Pequot language). In the closing credits, a large film tear repaired with clear tape passed by. Because of these distractions and my closeness to the screen, I paid little attention to the story and reserved my aesthetic appreciation for a second screening. After browsing the museum for a few hours, I returned to the second screening room for another viewing of "The Witness". Outside the theater, we heard customers complaining that the lights dimmed in the first theater but the projector had never started. They filed into my room. The film began and ran without a hitch. I sat near the back of the theater for a different vantage point. This time the entire screen was well focused and the print was free of scratches. This made it easier to pay attention to the artistic merits of the work. This is an absolutely beautiful film. There are sunsets, landscapes, ships at sea, and reconstructed Pequot villages that resonate with authenticity and dazzle with color and detail perfect for the huge 70mm cinema. Generous panoramas fill the 2.20:1 aspect ratio screen. The acting is sharp and the dialogue is clear and well written. Music heightens emotions to good effect. Costumes and makeup are faultless. This is a first-rate production. The only complaint might be that 35mm techniques of cinematography and editing (close-ups and frequent intercutting) predominated. When 70mm is used to greatest effect, close-ups are less frequently needed. At the high resolution, the audience makes their own close-ups by focusing on the action or speaking actor or other detail that interests them. This enhances the sensation of watching reality instead of viewing a concocted drama at arm's length. In "The Witness", though, that "70mm feeling" is nevertheless manifest. The story line of "The Witness" is, on the surface, the frequently-retold tragedy of European colonialism's pillage and rape of indigenous peoples. The worldwide legacy of this horror of human history cannot be underestimated. Whether in India, Australia, North, Central, South America, the South Pacific, Asia, the Mideast, or Africa, the pattern is endlessly repeated. Europeans with guns enslaved and stole the property of people without guns. But the Pequot's story, as told in "The Witness", expounds on the particular details of their struggle. The Pequot War was ignited by a series of misunderstandings. To Europeans, the native tribes were all the same. When a non-Pequot tribe murdered a Dutchman, the Dutch would retaliate against any Indian tribe. When the Dutch retaliated against the Pequots, the Pequots would retaliate against any European. The result of this mutual confusion and reciprocal dehumanization led to the genocide of the Pequot people and culture, portrayed with heart ripping authenticity in the large format. The Pequot loss was not just the consequence of their failure to acquire modern weaponry, but also the result of their inability to cooperate with their neighboring tribes...tribes who collaborated with the invading Europeans to annihilate their ancient foe. The failure to band tribes together to expurgate imperial invaders links "The Witness" with the most famous of 70mm epics, "Lawrence of Arabia". In that masterpiece of the giant screen, feuding tribes of the Middle East could not expel the invading Turks until Lawrence banded them together into a successful, though at times uncomfortable, coalition. Even though some Native American tribes were able to put ancient squabbles aside to fight the Europeans, collaboration was not widespread enough to let them keep their homeland. Uncomfortable divisions remain to this day between some Native American tribes. Arabia, likewise, remains divided. This is a primeval leit motif of the human struggle. We collaborate in some efforts, and squabble through others. The large format struggle exemplifies this. While big screen enthusiasts engage in bitter debates about whether Todd-AO was better than Cinerama or Super Panavision or IMAX, 35mm, with its marginal resolution, annihilates 70mm and takes over the screens of the world. The feuding formats denied 70mm's chance of surviving against the more cost efficient and lower quality standard. Against the likely prevailing standard of digital cinema with even lower resolution, large formats have little chance of prevailing. My recommendation is if you can visit Connecticut and the Foxwoods/Pequot complex, that you see "The Witness". It may be the last time a new 5-perf 70mm narrative film will ever be made. December 19, 2000 |
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