This is all false. You make it sound like "wide aperture = shallow DOF instantly" which is not true. You can still get deep focus if you step back and focus farther.
Sorry, that doesn't make it "all false". Sure, you can step back and get some more DOF - which is fine if your entire movie consists of medium-long to long shots. Most don't, and if you're relying on being able to shoot wide open all the time to make up for a lack of lights it means you'll have to deal with razor-thin DOF much of the time.
This isn't my opinion, it's the way optics work. Here's the math on DOF for something like the Noktor 25mm F/0.95 on a m4/3 sensor at various distances to a subject:
CU = 2 feet = 3/4" in focus
MCU = 3 feet = 1.5" in focus
MS = 5 feet = 4.3" in focus
MLS = 10 feet = 1.5' in focus
Put that same lens on a APS-C camera and frame up the same shots and you'll get about half the DOF. When you're in the close up range with that lens there's simply no way to get around how shallow the DOF is other than to stop down. Even at f/5.6 you're only getting about four inches, but at least it's enough to keep your actor's entire face in focus as long as they don't move too much.
That's one reason to use it, hyper thin focus. [...] Being able to shoot 0.95 on BV1-MFT exterior night's pretty good. The depth isn't too shallow by any means (smaller sensor) and yet there's a lot of light coming in.
Like I said earlier, the primary use case I see for the f/0.95 is to get shallow DOF on a smaller sensor - I'm thinking they'll be great for the BMPC. Combine it with the speed booster for an f/0.65 equivalent and people will soon forget that Kubrick fellow and his mere f/0.7.
But, again, my point is not that there's anything wrong with the f/0.95 lens, or using faster lenses to get more light on the sensor instead of cranking up the ISO. It's just that there's nothing magical about that lens. Just because someone sees great work shot with it (like the OP did) doesn't mean that lens should necessarily be the starting point in trying to achieve something similar. There's a lot more choices in the f/1.4 range that will basically give you the same or very similar effects with a variety of current cameras.