Odyssey - The first Nolan film shot entirely in IMAX
The 70mm viewing left doubts about the depth of blacks
The arrival of Odyssey not only represents the arrival of Christopher Nolan's new film, but also a technical challenge for cinemas. Being the first feature film made entirely with IMAX film (65mm horizontal scrolling), it required updates to projection systems and a very different logistics compared to that of a normal digital distribution.
In the United States, several chains, including Cinemark and AMC, have installed new IMAX Laser systems, updating already operational theaters with 70mm film projectors, in order to offer the format desired by the director. The 70mm print projected in IMAX theaters is the 15-perforation one and measures approximately 17.4 Km and weighs over 270 kilograms, values that give the measure of the logistical complexity required by the format desired by Christopher Nolan. There are also theaters that project a 5-perforation 70mm version, as in the case of Arcadia in Melzo. In this regard, Universal and IMAX have not released official data on length and weight. Considering the duration of the film (172') and the standard consumption of 5-perf film, a copy is approximately 4.8-5 Km long and weighs between 70-90 Kg, depending on the number of reels and flanges used.
Theaters have adapted to an out-of-scale production
A visionary filmmaker among the few true heirs of Master Kubrick, Nolan continues to defend the value of film in an industry now dominated by digital, continuing a path begun with The Dark Knight and now brought to its absolute peak.
Personally, I had the opportunity to attend the 70mm 5-perf screening and one aspect struck me: the black level appeared (not only to me) unusually high, a visual choice that I personally did not like, limiting the three-dimensionality in many scenes without light (especially in the Cyclops' cave). Considering the creative control exercised by Nolan and cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, it remains equally difficult for me to imagine that it could be a technical anomaly: it is more plausible that it reflects the aesthetic desired by the authors.