Is Cinema Really Dying? An Interview With Jacky Goldberg

I spoke with Jacky Goldberg, well-known French film critic. He’s based in Los Angeles, and has been writing for 14 years about his passion for cinema with the readers of Les Inrockuptibles, Vanity Fair, GQ and Elle. Goldberg’s also directed a few documentaries, including an excellent one about Judd Apatow, and a handful of short films.

Given his position between two countries, with such different yet complementary film traditions, I spoke to him about the current state of cinema, festivals and streaming,

There are two ways to ponder the future of cinema. Contrary to what Martin Scorsese might believes, no, cinema never dies, it’s just evolving. But, a certain idea of cinema is dying, but how fast is it dying? And, is it reversible?

I don’t know, to be honest. In the early 90’s, Serge Daney, the most important French film critic (and still, to this day), thought, and wrote, that cinema was dying. But he was also dying himself (from AIDS), and it certainly tainted his views. Nonetheless, he made good points, by noticing that “a certain idea of cinema”, was dying, replaced by the “audiovisual”— TV, ads, video games…

He ended up being correct.

Daney was right, but this competition for the hegemony didn’t result in the death of cinema, but rather its mutation into many impure forms. The golden age of (HBO) TV shows started back then. Is it cinema? No. But it’s definitely an art form, as interesting as cinema (although I will always prefer cinema over TV, but that’s just me, I’m not claiming it’s superior.

Yes, you’re right, but since 9/11 there’s been the infantilization of cinema on the big screen as well. A sort of escapism from our own dressed realities. Those are the movies that have been making the most money

It’s gonna be harder and harder to create adult oriented films for the big screen. And that’s a pity. I enjoy the MCU, like most people, and I watch Netflix. But are these movies the ones that nourish me the most? The ones that create unforgettable memories? The ones that end up in my top tens? No.

That’s where an event like Cannes comes into the picture

Cannes tries to define an antiquated version of the “cinema” we’ve always known. Of course, I find the “cinema” that Cannes promotes is exactly the kind that Scorsese says is dying, but it’s also what you and I love the most. It’s le septieme art in its purest form.That being said, the fact is Cannes has been, this last decade, a very strong force - stronger than I would have expected - in the preservation of filmmaking as an art. Despite the competition of Venice and Toronto (mostly), despite the snubbing of many important American filmmakers / studios (why don't we ever see David Fincher films at Cannes anymore?) despite the fuss with Netflix, the festival has been able to stand its ground and keep its attractiveness for independant directors.

I find it’s the most important event for cinema on the planet. Without Cannes we’d be looking at a drearier future for le septieme art. Thank the cinematic Gods it exists at this precise moment in history.

Who discovered Bong Joon-Ho, and gave him the Palme d’Or before he won the Oscars? Every year, most foreign movies that make it in America (by existing in the very competitive American market and getting Oscar nominations) were first showcased in Cannes. In 2021-2022, it was “Drive My Car” and “The Worst Person in the World”. Cannes is the best place to premiere a film, and I don't see why it would change in the years to come. Venice, which was in crisis-mode a decade ago, seems to be doing fine now (thanks to big American premieres). Toronto remains central. Berlin is in a weaker position, but it's still essential in the festival ecosystem. Same for Locarno.

So, you’re not worried …

I'm not worried about festivals. I think they will remain a haven. My worry is: who is gonna watch these movies? And where? Do they still have a future on the big screen, where adults go less and less, especially after the pandemic we just had. Or are they just gonna end up on platforms, to feed off the artsy niche? I hope there will theaters to show these movies, but the theatrical exhibition situation looks pretty grim, especially in the US.

Streaming is the danger now for cinema. There’s no doubt about it. It has an endless amount of content to choose from, but it waters the quality down. It also makes people too lazy to actually go to a movie theatre and watch something that might very well be of higher quality.

Streaming, in a way, is a danger, as I can only appreciate most movies in a theater. Not just for the size of the screen, but for the whole experience, the darkness, the focus, the presence of other people, that invisible, but sensible energy ... I love watching TV at home, no problem, but movies are tough. I do it of course, like everybody, especially when I'm sent screeners for work. But it's become increasingly hard for me to stay focused for two hours at home. There’s much distraction, I can't enjoy the film. If streaming became the only way to watch movies, like it was during covid, I'd be very sad, and I don't know if I'd be into it anymore. During the lockdown, I enjoyed watching two movies every day, but it was temporary, it was a bubble, after 6 months of this home-video regiment, I was bored to death. Everything felt flat. Indistinctive. Watching a blockbuster or the new Hong Sang-soo was pretty much the same.

Man, the pandemic really only made things worse. We haven’t even touched upon that topic, even though it probably is the shape-shifting event that will define cinema’s future.

What kept my cinephile desires afloat was access to a cinema, where I would go see everything, even low-brow exploitation movies I wouldn't normally watch. Just for the sake of going out and having a collective experience.

And so, the question remains, are we able enough to think this way to sustain the expensive exhibition business mode?

It's unpredictable. There have been less moviegoers since the reopening of theatres but it seems to slowly catch up -- and we can all thank Tom Cruise! We’ll never go back to normal, but there seems to still be an appetite for a certain type of event moviegoing. What worries me the most is the fate of auteur cinema. In France, where the box office for these types of films has always been strong, people are not showing up anymore. Especially the older demographic, probably still worried about catching the virus.

The economy of auteur films, already fragile, is on the brink of collapsing. And streaming is not helping: platforms are not interested in art films as much as we think, they want easily digestible stuff, and once in a while, a prestige movie to win some Oscar nominations. And even these prestige movies, like “The Irishman,” have become persona non grata on Netflix, Will they be produced by someone else? Will there be a platform for auteur cinema lovers? Mubi is positioning itself as this platform, I hope it will succeed, but I doubt it can support and finance as much as the current system.

If streaming takes over cinema, I quit.