Christopher Nolan on the power of the people and why '2001' should be required preschool viewing
Lots of good stuff in here, including talking about Dunkikr and the problems the LA Times had with Disney.
The subject piece is quotable though for me, since I do film-education runs with my own kids since they were young:
I understand you showed 2001 to your children when they were very young, like 3 or 4?
I did. I think theyre able to absorb it on the most important level at a young age. Thats what happened to me. I saw it when I was 7 years old, and thats the level I think it works the best pure cinematic spectacle. I was extremely baffled by it, but excited by it.
When people talk about the age of people watching a film, part of what theyre asking is, How does a 7-year-old parse the content? And if you look at 2001 and you think about it, you cant parse it anyway as an adult. The experience is the thing.
You dont know what the hell is going on. You just let the experience wash over you and maybe talk about it later.
I saw Star Wars when I was 7, and the movie changed everything for people my age. They re-released 2001 on the basis of that success and I went to see it with a bunch of my friends. We all had the same response, like you just said. We dont know what the hell that means, but its exciting. We just wanted spaceships, we wanted space, we wanted that experience of leaving the Earth.
Thats why fairy tales and movies like The Lion King, Mary Poppins, The Wizard of Oz and 2001 are not a million miles removed in terms of peoples elemental experiences of watching them when theyre young.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-mn-christopher-nolan-20180104-htmlstory.html