Director Ang Lee returns with his first film in four years, following up the critically and commercially successful Life of Pi with another book adaptation boasting some noteworthy use of technology. Lee has carved out a unique place for himself as an auteur, not looking back longingly to the days of film but exploring and pushing modern digital techniques to enhance character-based filmmaking. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk sees him combining 3D, 4K resolution, and a very high 120fps frame rate to make the film look as close to natural human sight as possible.
It’s a combination that no one has done in a studio film before and is actually so cutting edge that the technology to project it is still in its infancy. In April, eleven minutes of footage were shown at the Future of Cinema Conference in the 3D/4K/120fps format that required a custom dual-projector set-up to achieve. The attendees heaped praise on the footage, but the reality is that most of us will not see Billy Lynn as it was shot. Most theaters simply don’t have the required high-end projectors to pull it off, and it’s unclear at this this point how the film will be released theatrically. The frame rate will likely drop, as will the resolution and potentially the 3D, but given the monetary incentives of 3D, I highly doubt the latter will happen (I’m cynical, I know).
No matter how Billy Lynn comes to you, what Lee hopes you get from all the technological advancements is a more affecting story, because the film is about a young man who goes to war and must reconcile reality with the skewed stories of heroism and honor that are told back home. Lee’s push for realism is a reflection of theme, one that may not be truly appreciated until years from now when a dusty copy is shown at Cannes or Toronto, a history lesson for the young who will think that this is how films were always made.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is directed by Ang Lee and stars Joe Alwyn, Kristen Stewart, and Vin Diesel. It will be released in the U.S. and the U.K. on November 11th, 2016. For international release dates, click here.
Do you think the 3D/4K/120fps format will catch on? Let us know in the comments!
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