Leonardo DiCaprio defends one major decision in 'One Battle After Another'

One Battle After Another was shot on VistaVision, a movie format first used in the 1950s. But in Leonardo DiCaprio’s view, who portrays Bob Ferguson in the film, the decision to opt for this is not taken out of nostalgia.

Instead, it was "out of a belief, a belief in scale and texture, and in the idea that movies are still meant to be experienced together in a theater," the actor says in a pre-recorded statement at the Palm Springs International Film Awards.

In line with this, the Titanic star doubles down on his support for films in theatres amid the rise of streaming services.

"Right now, that belief matters more than ever. Original films are harder to make and harder to protect, but movies still matter. Not content, but cinema. Stories made by people meant to be shared in a dark room in a communal experience," he adds.

Elsewhere in his pre-recorded video message, Leonardo recalls the first time he was mesmerized by storytelling in the cinema, when he went to the Vista Theatre with his father.

“My father used to take me to the movies at the Vista Theater in Los Angeles. I lived four blocks away and it’s now home to one of the last VistaVision projectors on earth," he recounts.

At that time, the 51-year-old says he understood the impact of cinemas. "It was my neighborhood theater, it was where I first felt the power of cinema, and sitting in that dark room with my father, watching something bigger than myself, I realized how deeply movies can affect all of us.”

It is pertinent to mention that Leonardo was unable to attend the award show due to flight cancellations from a military operation in Venezuela, as he was in St. Barths on vacation.