18 kilometres of film: Inside Prague’s 70mm IMAX experience
Although it has been almost two weeks since the Prague premiere of what is likely to be this year's biggest blockbuster, Prague's IMAX cinema is still packed. The screening schedule for the 180-minute epic The Odyssey by director Christopher Nolan has even been expanded to include midnight showings. As a result, the last moviegoers leave the IMAX at Prague's Flora shopping centre after three o'clock in the morning.
If you attend an IMAX screening of The Odyssey in Prague, chances are you will hear not only Czech but many other languages around you. Although IMAX cinemas exist in other countries, Prague's is unique because it is one of the few in the world capable of projecting physical 70mm film from reels. And because many viewers want to experience the three-hour epic exactly as the director intended – in its full, uncropped format – they are willing to travel hundreds of kilometres to do so, coming from countries such as Norway, Israel and Spain.
"A conventional film projector runs standard film horizontally, whether it's classic 70mm or 35mm. The film frame is always positioned perpendicular to the direction of the film's movement. IMAX is unique because the frame is rotated by 90 degrees. That means it isn't limited by its width but by its height, allowing each frame to be dramatically larger," explains projectionist Tomáš Vyšinský.
The size of each film frame is not the only remarkable feature. The entire print of The Odyssey is approximately 18 kilometres long. It arrived at the cinema in three large crates, from which the projectionists had to carefully unpack it. At the same time, anyone looking for the title The Odyssey on the boxes would search in vain. The shipping crates were labelled with a codename instead, primarily for security reasons.
"The main security measure is that the title of the film is never written on the crates. Instead, they're always marked with a codename. It's a basic precaution to prevent the film from being stolen, because it remains a print with considerable licensing value."
Thanks to modern projection technology, the lifespan of the film print is almost unlimited.
"During projection, each frame is held against a small curved lens by suction, which stabilises its movement so the image doesn't shift during projection. At the same time, it also helps maintain sharp focus. Thanks to the curvature, the image appears perfectly sharp on the screen."
Demand for 70mm IMAX screenings of The Odyssey at Prague's Flora cinema has been enormous. Tickets sell out within minutes, and screenings run from morning until late at night.
"We've organised the operation into two shifts. With four or five screenings a day, we work two ten-hour shifts. There are always two of us here: the lead projectionist and another person providing support. That's mainly because someone must be physically present throughout every screening, just in case anything happens. The first shift starts at eight in the morning, and the final one finishes around four o'clock the next morning."
How long the 70mm film print will continue spinning through the projector depends on audience demand. Christopher Nolan's previous film, Oppenheimer, continued to be shown from its 70mm print at Prague's IMAX for several weeks after its premiere.
