Netflix and regular cinema are continuing their trend of not being the best of friends.
Okja has a hugely impressive case featuring Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito and loads more besides, as well as being directed by the guy who brought us the cult-gems Snowpiercer and The Host, as well as being written by hugely popular novelist Jon Ronson (Frank, The Men Who Stared At Goats, The Psychopath Test).
In case you missed it, the streaming service put up the new trailer for their original movie just ahead of the film’s official premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this week.
Clip via Netflix
If you thought the movie’s subtext about animal cruelty, image obsessed corporations and “Meat Is Murder” would be the primary reasons why it would cause a kerfuffle at it’s debut screening, you’d be wrong.
It’s because the movie was made and screened by Netflix.
Earlier this week, the head of this year’s Cannes jury Pedro Almovodar – the Oscar-winning director of The Skin I Live In and All About My Mother – stated that no movie which isn’t being screened in cinemas, and from next year any movie that does not receive a French cinema release will not be considered for any awards of the festival.
This rubbed Will Smith up the wrong way, who is also a member of the Cannes jury this year, as he has Bright coming out soon enough, a big budget sci-fi actioner brought to you by… yup, Netflix.
Smith commented: “There’s very little cross between going to the cinema and watching what they watch on Netflix. […] In my home, Netflix has been nothing but an absolute benefit. [My children] watch films they otherwise wouldn’t have seen. It has broadened my children’s global cinematic comprehension.”
The irony then landed with a thump when, at the Okja screening, the audience booed when the Netflix logo appeared on the screen, but the movie had to be stopped and restarted when it became apparent that it was being shown in the wrong aspect ratio.
Cannes making an A+ case for the primacy of the cinema experience this AM by projecting the first ten mins of Okja in the wrong aspect ratio
— Robbie Collin (@robbiereviews) May 19, 2017
However, the movie was then greeted with a four-minute standing ovation once the end credits kicked in, so obviously Netflix are on to something of a winner here.
And Netflix aren’t the only service on the receiving end of the boos at the festival, with the audience reacting badly to the Amazon logo appearing before the Julianne Moore/Michelle Williams drama Wonderstruck, despite the fact that they had produced one of last year’s Oscar front-runners Manchester By The Sea.
Unfortunately, Netflix’s first year at having movies in the Cannes Film Festival may also be it’s last, but on the plus side, we can all check out Okja from the comfort of our own homes from 23 June.
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