Dick De Jong
May 14, 2009
HDTV Solutions

You may wonder why I'm penning an article about the Cannes Film Festival for HDTV Solutions. Partially because I had a life before HDTVs - actually more than a few - and one of them was writing about movies. In fact, my love for movies spurred my budding interest in high definition displays with their ability to recreate the big screen experience.

I still average seeing almost three movies a week at the local cineplexes. Though with the advent of Blu-ray players, and their pristine high quality imagery, I am appreciating the pleasures of hunkering down in front of the plasma and enjoying a favorite film without the annoying twittering teen sitting next to me in the theater.

But, you may inquire, "Why travel over 5000 miles to the south of France for a film festival when there are plenty of good events in the U.S?" Beyond the fact that Cannes is on the fabled Cote d'Azur, for these twelve days, the Palais at the Cannes Film Festival is the epicenter of the film world, literally. In the film market pavilions of the Marche du Film, companies and countries from all over the globe are selling and promoting their products.

Nowhere else can you find such a diverse international cinematic representation of cultures and nationalities. Also, the programmers of Cannes reflect a true passion for film both present and past. Take for example a selection of movies showing on this second day of this movie marathon.

In Competition are Fish Tank from England and Spring Fever from China. Today, in the Un Certain Regard section are No One Knows about Persian Cats, a docu-drama about the Iranian contemporary music scene and Air Doll, a Japanese film about a blow-up doll that develops a heart.

And tonight for the film historian, Lawrence of Arabia is being projected at the Cinema de la Plage, which is a big, big screen located on the beach. Making it a perfect visual and tactile combination, you can watch Lawrence trek the desert while you wriggle your toes in the sand on the Mediterranean. The seating are those fold-up canvas beach chairs with blankets provided to ward off the late evening chill.

But Cannes also looks ahead as made clear by the movie chosen for the prestigious opening night, red carpet gala slot. Up, the 3D animated film from Disney and Pixar, floated its way up and down the Croisette with multicolored balloons popping up.

Not only was Up the first animated film ever selected for the Opening night, it was also the first time the black tie and evening dress audience ever had to don those outre 3D spectacles. But that didn't stop the celebrants from packing the over 2000 seat Grand Lumiere Theater for two shows last night.

Which brings me full circle as to one of the reasons that I fight jet lag to come to this event - right now, wide awake at 5 a.m., my body thinks I'm in the Albanian time zone. My point is this, movies have a direct effect on the HDTV industry. They are one of the main influences on the design of displays. That is why HDTVs opted for the 16:9 aspect ratio and why in Europe, Philips has introduced an even more film-like 21:9 (2.35:1) TV.

Now with the push by major studios to create more and more 3D films, the impetus to adopt a standard for 3D playback for TVs is gaining a full head of steam. Companies like Mitsubishi and Samsung have been producing 3D capable TVs for over a year, the problem has been on the delivery end.

Simply, no Blu-ray machine can playback 3D movies. But with big screen 3D releases like Up and Monster vs Aliens, studios are salivating at cashing in on the nascent 3D DVD market. I'll keep you posted on the developments.

By the way, Air Doll is one of those sweet, psycho-sexual films that explores the meaning of life and love - a sub-genre that the Japanese seem to have mastered.

Stay tuned.