Guillermo del Toro defends cinema amid Netflix deal

In the backdrop of Netflix's move to acquire Warner Bros, some have sounded an alarm over the future of cinema. Guillermo del Toro, however, suggests cinemas are irreplaceable.

“Make no mistake: fairy tales [and] horror stories are parables,” he shares in a conversation during a British Film Institute event. 

The director, who recently worked with Netflix for his latest movie, Frankenstein, says, "They speak of things we cannot name. That’s their power. They speak of things the way a song speaks when the music and the lyrics make no sense."

He continues, "That’s the power of cinema. And I think the beauty of seeing it here is you have a big screen showing big ideas."

To drive his point home, Guillermo says, "For people that see them on their phone… it takes 38,000 of those little things to form a screen."

He also adds, “There’s no substitute. I’m very happy that you’re here. Of course, you can see it at home, and the food will be perhaps better, [but] you will have this experience collectively, all of you."

Amid AI inroads in filmmaking, Guillermo doubles down on the human-made nature of the film.

“We wove the fabric. The fabric on the main character's is not bought in a store. We made it, we wove it, we printed it, we aged it, we tinted it. The embroidery in the veils is done by hand. Every veil is embroidered by hand." 

"Everything is done to sustain this feeling that you’re seeing something thematically and artistically done by a group [of people]," he concludes.

Frankenstein is streaming on Netflix.