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 Tarantino is not competing in this year's event, but he spoke
to journalists and film critics before a 35mm screening of his
hit "Pulp Fiction" on the beach on Friday night.
"The fact that most films now are not presented in 35mm means
that the war is lost," said the director of the cult hit
"Reservoir Dogs".
Digital formats and distribution have swept the world of cinema,
largely because of cost - most of the films in Cannes are now
projected that way.
But aficionados still sing the praises of the old-school film
reels - in the same way that music buffs hold on to their vinyl
LPs over compact discs. Fans obsess about the warmth and
fineness of the 35mm grain and its ability to record the darkest
of shadows and the brightest of lights.
"Digital projections, that's just television in public. And
apparently the whole world is okay with television in public,
but what I knew as cinema is dead," said Tarantino.
"I'm hopeful that we're going through a woozy romantic period
with the ease of digital and I'm hoping that while this
generation is completely hopeless, that the next generation that
will come out will demand the real thing," he added.
The director known for the energy and violence of his films said
digital did have some advantages.
"The good side of digital is the fact that a young filmmaker can
actually now just buy a cellphone and if they have the tenacity
to actually put something together ... they can actually make a
movie," he said.
Before the advent of digital, the barriers to getting a film
made were so great, it was like a "Mount Everest that most of us
couldn't climb".
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"But why an established filmmaker would shoot on digital, I have no
fucking idea at all," added Tarantino.
The director said he has a "pretty terrific" collection of 35mm
prints at home, and an even bigger 16mm one, "and I screen them all
the time, I'm always watching movies".
"One of the nice things about my life, because I've done fairly well
in cinema, it's kind of afforded me a chance to almost live an
academic's life, and so my feeling is I'm studying for my
professorship in the history of world cinema and the day I die is
the day I graduate."
Tarantino was asked about his win of Cannes' top Palme d'Or prize in
1994 for "Pulp Fiction."
"Winning the Palme d'Or, to this day, as far as laurels are
concerned, is my single absolutely, positively, greatest
achievement," said Tarantino.
"Of all the trophies that I have won, it is the one that has the
biggest place of honor in my house, it's the one I want another one
of, maybe, someday, before they turn out the lights."
One idea currently intriguing Tarantino is turning his 2012 Western
"Django Unchained", starring Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio, into
a four-part mini-series for cable, using extra unseen footage, he
said.
Eighteen films are competing for the Palme d'Or in the festival's
main competition this year. The prize will be awarded on Saturday.
(Editing by Michael Roddy and Andrew Heavens)
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