In this culture edition we take a look back at some of 2020's most remarkable films. Some went straight to Video on Demand, some got postponed and others lost to the pandemic.
ADVERTISEMENT2020 is a year that started off on the right foot for cinema with the release of '1917', a shock war film directed by Sam Mendes. It won seven Bafta awards, including Best Film and Best Director. Mendes is also renowned and critically acclaimed for having directed several James Bond films.
At the Oscars, the previously unknown Bong Joon-ho, a South Korean director, won four of the prestigious awards including the Oscar for Best Film for his movie 'Parasite'.
But then suspense shocked Hollywood and the rest of the cinema world when Universal Pictures announced that the release of the 25th James Bond film, originally scheduled for April 2020, had been postponed. The latest news is that No Time to Die will be out in Spring 2021, but that may be subject to change!
The only big blockbuster to take the risk of coming out during the pandemic was Tenet, produced by Warner. They now regret the lack of revenue it achieved...
At the end of the summer, between two lockdowns, the film, Another Round, also known as Drunk, by Danish director Thomas Vinterberg brought some smiles.
The film was released in most European countries and met with good critiques and public success.
Vinterberg told Euronews his feelings about cinema during the pandemic:
"There is a great want to go to the cinema, people are flocking into the theatre, and it works.
"Our corona numbers are going down, but people are running into the cinemas, so that's nice, it's actually possible."
2020 has been a pivotal year for films, and above all cinema, which is facing huge competition from various streaming platforms.
Some films didn’t make it to the big screen, like Matteo Garrone's Pinocchio, which was only released in Italy, then made directly available on Video On Demand and streaming platforms.
Disney didn’t hesitate to release its latest Mulan movie directly on to Disney+. It did, however, show in theatre across China, cinema’s new Eldorado.
Its subsidiary, Pixar, did the same with Soul, which will not be released in cinemas but will be available on platforms this Christmas.