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Source: The AV Club
Can an artform ever truly die? Not necessarily. As long as there’s at least one person willing to create something through the usage of a given artistic medium, then that medium cannot really go extinct. However, while that may be the case, it’s still very possible that said medium can lose its place in global culture as other, more modern forms of artistic expression surpass it in terms of appeal and popularity. Take painting for example; there are certainly plenty of paintings being produced on a daily basis (whether for personal or commercial purposes), but when it comes to recreating the image of a person (or multiple) in a manner as realistic as possible, photography has proven itself to be a far quicker and more successful medium. Inevitably, every art form will have its peaks and valleys, and while none of them may die out entirely, there are still worries that some of them – at least those that have historically been considered major money-makers – will no longer be as profitable as they once were. This is a predicament that the art of cinema is currently facing; while film has undoubtedly gone up and down in terms of its mass appeal, many are more concerned that ever that the medium has reached a point of no return and might never be as prominent as it had once been in the decades prior. With new forms of entertainment gaining traction and various economic factors forcing studios to direct more of their resources towards safer (in theory) productions, it does appear that cinema, if it isn’t completely going away, is nearing the end of its days as it’s currently perceived. That’s the belief held by one noteworthy filmmaker, one who’s been a revered name in the film industry for over thirty years and, while not without his fair share of controversies, continues to be seen as one of the most distinct auteurs currently working. His name: Quentin Tarantino.
To most cinephiles, the name Quentin Tarantino needs no introduction, with a reputation built on the success of films like “Pulp Fiction”, the “Kill Bill” duology, and “Django Unchained” preceding him and cementing his status as a modern-day master of the cinematic art form. With such a place in Hollywood, Tarantino seems to have at least some credibility in terms of how film is currently perceived as an art form, which is why so many were quick to take notice when he declared that cinema had died in the year 2019. This was a claim he made during a recent appearance at the Sundance Film Festival, where he boldly asked (with his trademark profanity), “What the f*** is a movie now?”, before going on to discuss how the theatrical experience was being weakened by studios choosing to release their films to in-home viewing only a few weeks prior to when they were first put in theaters. “What—something that plays in theaters for a token release for four f***ing weeks? All right, and by the second week you can watch it on television,” Tarantino ranted. “I didn’t get into all this for diminishing returns. I mean, it was bad enough in ’97. It was bad enough in 2019, and that was the last fucking year of movies.”
Those familiar with Tarantino’s filmography might be quick to notice that the specific choice of year he referenced – 2019 – is perhaps not entirely coincidental. That was the year that saw the release of his latest cinematic endeavor, the Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt-starring “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood”, although as the filmmaker continued to speak, additional reasons for citing 2019 as the end of cinema came to light. In fact, that was the year that Tarantino had previously spoken out about concerns that cinema appeared to be a dying art form, explaining in a Deadline article his worries about making films in an increasingly unstable business climate. “I think a lot of us making movies are facing a dark night of the soul,” Tarantino claims. “I know I am, and so are a lot of us who make movies, where movies were one thing to us, and they were this one thing for a long time. We are wondering if we’ll still be doing it this way fifteen years from now. And my guess is not. I don’t know what it’s going to be like fifteen years from now, but I don’t think this way will be the way.”
As pessimistic as the “Inglourious Basterds” director’s comments may have been at the time, they were still made without any awareness of what was to come in the years to follow. Since 2019, Hollywood has had to contend with both a global pandemic brought upon by the emergence of the COVID-19 virus in 2020 and a pair of major guild strikes in 2023, both of which forced most productions to a standstill and cost each of the major studios billions of dollars in revenue. Such occurrences have only made the studios less willing to take risks and made it difficult for filmmakers to get their work financed, a matter that Tarantino is not alone in publicly addressing. Nicole Kidman, easily one of the most renowned actors currently working (her erotic thriller “Babygirl” being the most recent of her big screen appearances), was one such Hollywood figure who lamented the insane difficulty to get anything that isn’t a major IP green-lighted in today’s day and age. “I just think that’s the nature of what we’re dealing with now. Things are shrinking in terms of shows being done and films being made,” Kidman states. “I definitely feel it. I’m sure most people in the industry feel it. I know the crews feel it. I know writers feel it.”
Are Tarantino’s claims of cinema dying in 2019 hyperbolic? To a certain extent, yes. There are of course plenty of them being produced and released on a daily basis, and at least a handful of them are being widely praised as textbook examples of the art of cinema at its best. After all, few would consider the likes of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” (the two most recent Academy Award winners for Best Picture) to be less than finely crafted. Still, given all that has happened over the past few years, one can’t entirely fault Tarantino for having such a negative outlook on an industry that helped turn his debut feature “Reservoir Dogs” into a breakout hit with which he could create a decade-spanning career. At the moment, Tarantino is in no rush to create his next feature, telling his audience at Sundance that he wishes to wait until his son is old enough to understand and appreciate the experience of being on a film set. He’s also currently writing a play that he may or may not adapt to film depending on how well it’s received; in his words, If it’s a fiasco I probably won’t turn it into a movie. But if it’s a smash hit? It might be my last movie.”
