I first met Michelangelo Antonioni in in Cannes, where he was showing his film Identification of a Woman. As part of a documentary I was making on the development of film language, I had invited all the directors at Cannes to speak on camera on the future of the cinema as they saw it. Many of them had taken up my invitation, among them Herzog, Fassbinder, Spielberg, Godard and Antonioni.
Each was left by himself in a room with a Nagra tape-recorder, a 16mm camera and brief instructions. Each was free to "direct" his reply to the question I put to them all. The finished film was called Chambre , after the room in the Hotel Martinez where it had all taken place.
It was the last available hotel room in the whole of Cannes. For me, the most impressive statement on the future of the cinema was that of Antonioni.
What he said was this: "It's true, film is in grave danger. The effect of TV on people's viewing habits and expectations - especially children's - is clear. On the other hand, part of the reason that the situation seems so grave to us is because we belong to an older generation. It's not an easy thing, to talk about the future of the cinema. High-definition video cassettes will soon bring it into our houses; cinemas probably won't be needed any more.
All our contemporary structures will disappear. It won't be quick or straightforward, but it will happen, and we can't do anything to prevent it. All we can do is try to adjust to it. It wasn't just the statement that impressed me, it was Antonioni himself - his confident yet unassuming way of talking, his movements, the way he walked up and down in front of the camera and stood by the window.
