Christopher Nolan Calls Stanley Kubrick the Greatest Filmmaker in the History of Film

As you may have noticed over the last few months, Christopher Nolan is pretty into “2001: A Space Odyssey.” He presented an unrestored 70mm print of Stanley Kubrick‘s sci-fi benchmark at Cannes ahead of its recent theatrical release, and more recently appeared on the Treatment podcast to discuss his love of the film itself and film in general, describing celluloid and the photochemical process as “the best analogy for the way the eye sees that’s been invented.”

“There’s a depth to the color, there’s a superiority to the resolution, there’s a depth to the blacks, the contrasts, everything. I mean, there are all kinds of things that digital technology can’t duplicate,” Nolan adds.

“It can do its own version and all that, and there are a lot of filmmakers who respond really well to that and really enjoy that version of imaging, but it’s different. And so when you start looking at film history, and you start looking at ‘2001’ and the experience that I was able to have watching it on an early re-release, to be able to give audiences today that same analog experience, I think it’s very important.”

He also refers to Kubrick as the greatest filmmaker in the history of film. Listen to his full conversation with Elvis Mitchell below.