Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is reopening a familiar argument about premium movie formats: whether IMAX is a meaningful part of the work or a very expensive seating chart. Charles Pulliam-Moore of The Verge says the answer, at least for Nolan’s new film, is that the format changes how major scenes read on screen.
Pulliam-Moore wrote that he first saw the film in a conventional 35mm presentation and later watched it again in IMAX. In the 35mm version, he said, several of the movie’s large-scale mythological sequences looked well made but felt visually constrained. The IMAX viewing, he reported, made the same scenes clearer, especially those built around the film’s giant creatures.
The distinction is technical, not mystical. The 35mm presentation he described used a 2.39:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The standard IMAX screening used a taller 1.90:1 frame. Nolan shot The Odyssey entirely with 70mm IMAX film cameras, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and the full 70mm IMAX presentation uses an even taller 1.43:1 ratio.
More vertical image area means the audience can see more of what Nolan and cinematographer choices put into the frame. Pulliam-Moore pointed to Polyphemus, the Cyclops played by Bill Irwin, as the clearest example. In 35mm, the character’s scale over Odysseus, played by Matt Damon, was apparent. In IMAX, Pulliam-Moore said, Irwin’s physical performance became easier to read, including details such as the creature bending to avoid the cave ceiling.
He described a similar effect during a chase sequence involving Polyphemus and during a scene with Scylla, the sea monster. The 35mm version conveyed that Scylla was enormous, according to Pulliam-Moore, but the taller IMAX image made the geography of the attack easier to understand: sailors rowing below, danger waiting above.
The catch is the hardware
Nolan’s format choice also exposes the boring, expensive plumbing behind the premium-cinema pitch. The Guardian reported that only about 40 theaters worldwide, including 25 in the United States, can show 70mm IMAX films. That means most viewers cannot see The Odyssey in the format Nolan selected as its fullest presentation.
Standard IMAX screenings are more widely available, but they are not the same as 70mm IMAX and they usually cost more than regular movie tickets. The scarcity has fed criticism of Nolan and of a broader culture that treats format purity as part of the event, according to reports cited by The Verge.
IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond told Variety that the company has mainly been retrofitting older projectors and that exhibitors have been reluctant to pay for the construction needed to install 1.43:1 screens. Pulliam-Moore also noted that the shortage of 70mm screenings is tied to IMAX’s inability to produce new projectors.
The result is a tidy little industry contradiction. Nolan made a movie whose staging may benefit from the largest available film format, while the exhibition business has kept that format rare enough to market as a pilgrimage. Variety has reported box-office success for The Odyssey, and The New York Times has reported that some fans have traveled across the country to see it in 70mm IMAX. That says plenty about Nolan’s pull. It says less about whether other filmmakers could get the same expensive machinery spun up for them.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
