The latest cinematic venture
to join their ever growing library of newly minted 70mm blow up prints is the
critically revered Patty Jenkins directed comic book film, Wonder Woman. Despite
rolling out a massive nationwide DCP digital release in standard theaters, a
total of ten select theaters throughout the country received exclusive 70mm
celluloid prints of the superheroine epic.
The nearest theater to yours truly carrying the coveted and rare film
print just so happened to be the non-profit independent film venue in Columbus,
Ohio: the Gateway Film Center.
Located on the campus
grounds of the Ohio State University adjacent to the student Barnes and Noble
bookstore, the Gateway Film Center was
founded in November 2005 before President/Chief Programmer Chris Hamel took
over the facility and has since transformed the venue into bona fide cinephile’s
dream place. Offering a myriad of unique programming ranging from the classical
to the modern with an emphasis on exhibiting digital cinema, 35mm film and 70mm
film, the Gateway Film Center is at
the epicenter of the student and neighborhood campus community! Honored with the prestigious
Sundance Award as one of the top North American art house theaters for their
ongoing programming and reaching out to the community, the venue is connected
to the restaurant lounge/bar The Torpedo
Room offering a variety of mixed drinks and elegant luncheon/dinner meals.
Inside the theater itself were a variety of
local custom paintings paying homage to some of cinema’s greatest films and
most beloved actors. In the era of
midnight movie revivals, upon picking up my ticket for Wonder Woman I couldn’t help but notice they also happened to be
playing Creepshow in 35mm later that
day as well as the new 4K restoration of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. Much like
the Indiana State Theater IMAX, the
sleek interior design and multiple floors housing auditoriums sported a far
more modern and classier theater going experience than your typical multiplex.
Still, the real highlight of
the venue was the rare opportunity to see one of the year’s biggest superhero
films in the largest film format possible.
Photographed on 35mm film with select sequences photographed using the
ARRI Rental Prime 65 lenses with the Alexa 65 camera, Wonder Woman like the other recent DC Comics film offerings came
together through a variety of film formats before ultimately being transferred
and exhibited in DCP and in rare cases, celluloid. For this particular 70mm print of Wonder Woman, as with the Rogue One screening in Indianapolis, the
film was precluded by a sneak peek at Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Dunkirk though framed at a fixed aspect
ratio of 2.20:1 without the IMAX aspect ratio shifting present in the IMAX
version.
The film itself looked great
with moments of depth, texture and noticeable film grain which made the
experience that much more enveloping.
The sound appeared to be in DTS Digital, as analog magnetic audio has
all but been phased out of the cinema scene save for archival prints from the
1980s. Technically speaking however,
lovely and clean as the format is with still stunning depth of field and fluid
movement, Wonder Woman when compared
to the technically proficient work on Zack Snyder’s Batman vs. Superman, didn’t quite jump off the screen in the ways
other 70mm features have in the past. In
all likelihood, Wonder Woman represents
a blow up print which means the 35mm footage is presented at a higher
resolution than native 35mm projection would have exhibited but not by much. As with most 35mm films blown up to 70mm, there's a slight loss in picture information with the 2.35:1 native ratio slightly cropped down to 2.20:1.
In the end, however, film is
still this filmgoer’s personal preference and having the rare opportunity to
see Wonder Woman for the very first
time in the splendor of 70mm still proved to be a treat even if to my eyes the
differences between it and the DCP release weren’t all that far apart. Film exhibition of modern cinema,
particularly tentpole cinema, is such a rare thing these days that to see one
at all is kind of miraculous. If nothing
else, the trip to the theater introduced me to one of Ohio’s greatest film
venues with many future attractions sure to draw this filmgoer back for
more!
- Andrew
Kotwicki