Recent Film Restorations

[jsteffe]

Fear that i'll see some favourite films being restored by Eclair and Ritrovata, the worst studios that films have ever encountered!

Now I'm in the odd position of having to defend L'Immagine Ritrovata after publicly criticizing one of their restorations. They have done many excellent restorations over the years, including their frankly miraculous work on the Apu Trilogy. I have no doubt that the same is true for Eclair.

I think it's more helpful to see it as a larger problem of inconsistent practices in digital film restoration that affect many or most of the restoration labs to varying degrees.

[Stefan Andersson]

TCM Film Festival 2018 lineup:
http://filmfestival.tcm.com/programs/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Ulmer´s Detour, de Toth´s None Shall Escape, I Take This Woman (1931), Finishing School (1934), many others.

Ermler´s Fragments of an Empire (1928) will be shown at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, newly restored to 109 minutes:
https://prod3.agileticketing.net/websal ... 16bcbe6fc6&" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A famous scene with Jesus wearing a gasmask seems to be still missing:
https://www.eyefilm.nl/film/colin-bende ... d=11847262" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Films by Youssef Chahine are now being restored by various hands.
Seven titles will be restored in France (the Napoleon film was shown in Cannes in 2016), and Chahine´s company Misr will restore the others:
http://hebdo.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1 ... out-a.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.misrinternationalfilms.com/y ... hine-films" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ritrovata is restoring Chahine´s Saladin (1963):
https://revusetcorriges.net/2017/12/18/ ... francaise/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Cinematheque Francaise are doing a big Chahine retrospective later in 2018.


Lobster Films in France have restored DeMille´s King of Kings, several films by Nelly Kaplan and many other films. They are now working on:
six Duvivier silents
Le roi du cirque (Max Linder)
La dame de onze heures
Mephisto (1930, Gabin)
and other films, plus a docu on Sydney Chaplin.
https://revusetcorriges.net/2017/11/21/ ... -bromberg/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Screen shots from Le roi des rois (1927):
http://www.dvdclassik.com/forum/viewtop ... &start=405" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Celluloid Angels is a French restoration outfit working on a crowdfunding basis:
https://www.celluloid-angels.com/programmation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Upcoming projects:
Emmer´s Paris sera toujours Paris
Je chante, starring Charles Trenet
Les Tontons flingueurs
Harry Lachman´s Belle marinière, starring Gabin, shot by Maté: https://vimeo.com/222707442/688ade7632" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Their resto of Duvivier´s L´homme du jour seems not to have received crowdfunding, but a Blu, touted as a restoration, seems on its way:
https://www.amazon.fr/LHomme-jour-Blu-r ... B079FLRBQ3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.cultura.com/l-homme-du-jour ... 40465.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Includes English subtitles, a DVD with an alternative version of the film, and a version comparison.

[Costa]

Fear that i'll see some favourite films being restored by Eclair and Ritrovata, the worst studios that films have ever encountered!

Now I'm in the odd position of having to defend L'Immagine Ritrovata after publicly criticizing one of their restorations. They have done many excellent restorations over the years, including their frankly miraculous work on the Apu Trilogy. I have no doubt that the same is true for Eclair.

I think it's more helpful to see it as a larger problem of inconsistent practices in digital film restoration that affect many or most of the restoration labs to varying degrees.

I think I should have clarified and specified it to "colored" films.

[tenia]

But even so, they're not "the worst" laboratories (and not studios). The only issue (though arguably an important one) is their color gradings when left alone to do them. But they're otherwise very competent at restoring sometimes highly damaged movies that only them can repair so thoroughly (see indeed the Apu trilogy).

Some people need to get back to Earth and remember all the elements that make a movie restoration good or not, instead of focusing on one and take it as the whole stuff.

I myself don't think these gradings are faithful, but I've seen stuff way worse than this, and in a way, I'll probably take their yellow restorations over the noisy Italian restorations that were done on tube scanners.

[Stefan Andersson]

Marcel Pagnol´s Angèle and Regain, based on novels by Jean Giono, are being restored. Both have received restoration funds from the CNC.
http://www.dvdclassik.com/forum/viewtop ... &start=435" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Stefan Andersson]

A follow-up to my above post, re: the new Detour restoration.

This effort involves Janus Films (theatrical release planned for Fall 2018), The Film Foundation and several film archives:

"The restoration team began by examining potential sources, including: a 35mm dupe negative from The Museum of Modern Art, which was
incomplete and riddled with jump cuts; a 35mm safety composite print from the Cinémathèque Française; and a 35mm nitrate print from the
Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique. That print, thought to have been made from the original camera negative, was clearly the best element in
terms of image clarity, contrast, and density, but had never been considered as a source for preservation because it contained burned-in French
and Flemish subtitles.
This obstacle was overcome by scanning all of the print elements to 4K, then compositing frames from the MoMA print over the matching subtitled
frames from the Belgian print. Where frames from the MoMA print were missing, and in shots that contained significant movement within the frame,
the subtitles were removed by dedicated and talented digital artists using digital painting techniques."

Source:
https://criterioncast.com/news/janus-fi ... ers-detour" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Costa]

But even so, they're not "the worst" laboratories (and not studios). The only issue (though arguably an important one) is their color gradings when left alone to do them. But they're otherwise very competent at restoring sometimes highly damaged movies that only them can repair so thoroughly (see indeed the Apu trilogy).

Some people need to get back to Earth and remember all the elements that make a movie restoration good or not, instead of focusing on one and take it as the whole stuff.

I myself don't think these gradings are faithful, but I've seen stuff way worse than this, and in a way, I'll probably take their yellow restorations over the noisy Italian restorations that were done on tube scanners.

I myself prefer seeing a somewhat damaged print (and I have seen such and enjoy them) with original colors than a perfectly restorated film with teal-yellow colors.
I guess it depends on anyone's priorities.

yes, i'm sorry, I shouldn't have said studios.

[jsteffe]

I myself prefer seeing a somewhat damaged print (and I have seen such and enjoy them) with original colors than a perfectly restorated film with teal-yellow colors.
I guess it depends on anyone's priorities.

I agree with you on this. I don't mind some frame damage or even instability in the image if the color and detail are otherwise reasonably good.

Part of the issue is that determining the "original" color of a film is not always easy or even possible. And the result depends heavily on what you can get from the film elements that you have on hand in the restoration.

In the case of the restoration that I was talking about (The Color of Pomegranates), L'Immagine Ritrovata had completed a high quality scan, about 90% of which came from from the camera negative and has very nice color and detail in it. And they had a good reference print to work with, but the finished product didn't match the look of that reference print as closely as it could have because of the teal and yellow bias that was introduced. I and other people I know sensed from the beginning that something was slightly "off" about it, but I couldn't be sure what had happened until I studied the same reference print. Even so, it is hardly the worst example of color grading/color management problems in a restoration - I've seen work from other labs that looks worse.

[jsteffe]

Where frames from the MoMA print were missing, and in shots that contained significant movement within the frame,
the subtitles were removed by dedicated and talented digital artists using digital painting techniques."

Source:
https://criterioncast.com/news/janus-fi ... ers-detour" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm really curious to see how this turned out!

[Werewolf by Night]

"This obstacle was overcome by scanning all of the print elements to 4K, then compositing frames from the MoMA print over the matching subtitled frames from the Belgian print. Where frames from the MoMA print were missing, and in shots that contained significant movement within the frame,
the subtitles were removed by dedicated and talented digital artists using digital painting techniques."

Source:
https://criterioncast.com/news/janus-fi ... ers-detour" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is the miracle of current digital film restoration techniques. To be able to composite, frame by frame, multiple compromised sources into a single pristine image is something you could only dream of a generation ago. I'm as impressed by this as by the restoration demo on Criterion's recent release of The Philadelphia Story that shows technicians stabilizing the inherent judder of the film based on unmoving reference points in each shot. It's the kind of painstaking work that you wouldn't even realize had been done on the film unless it were pointed out to you.

Criterion (or perhaps rather the restoration houses from which they source their transfers) still seems to have a lot of trouble these days with color films, but the days of problematic black-and-white releases (Madame de..., Children of Paradise) seem to be well behind them (unless I'm forgetting some recent disaster), and news like this on Detour is very encouraging.

[jsteffe]

Criterion (or perhaps rather the restoration houses from which they source their transfers) still seems to have a lot of trouble these days with color films, but the days of problematic black-and-white releases (Madame de..., Children of Paradise) seem to be well behind them (unless I'm forgetting some recent disaster), and news like this on Detour is very encouraging.

It is often the labs/restoration houses. If Criterion or other distributors are licensing a transfer they may be contractually obligated to leave it untouched. That is not always the case, though; it depends on the specific agreement in place.

[Costa]

Criterion (or perhaps rather the restoration houses from which they source their transfers) still seems to have a lot of trouble these days with color films, but the days of problematic black-and-white releases (Madame de..., Children of Paradise) seem to be well behind them (unless I'm forgetting some recent disaster), and news like this on Detour is very encouraging.

It is often the labs/restoration houses. If Criterion or other distributors are licensing a transfer they may be contractually obligated to leave it untouched. That is not always the case, though; it depends on the specific agreement in place.

yes. Arrow corrected the Tree of Wooden Clogs which looks dreadful in the Criterion release.
So, what does that mean?
Criterion was obligated to leave it untouched but Arrow wasn't?
Or maybe that Criterion felt the colors are right and there was no need to "correct" them?

[FrauBlucher]

Scorsese and Spielberg team up to restore classics.

The 2018 restoration slate includes "Destry Rides Again" (1939, director George Marshall); "`The Killers" (1946, director Robert Siodmak); "The Killers" (1964, director Don Siegel); "My Little Chickadee" (1940, director Edward Cline); and "Winchester '73" (1950, director Anthony Mann), with additional titles to be announced in the coming months.

[jsteffe]

yes. Arrow corrected the Tree of Wooden Clogs which looks dreadful in the Criterion release.
So, what does that mean?
Criterion was obligated to leave it untouched but Arrow wasn't?
Or maybe that Criterion felt the colors are right and there was no need to "correct" them?

Who knows? I can't speculate on that.

I agree that the master supplied to Criterion has very obvious problems with the color, and I refused to purchase it even though it's one of my favorite films. Now that the Arrow is out, I have that one on order.

This whole color grading/color management issue is such a worrisome trend, and the labs do not seem to be answering for it. Maybe people should write to the foundations sponsoring the restorations. Personally, I wrote to the World Cinema Project/Film Foundation about the problems with The Color of Pomegranates. I hope it results in something eventually.

[palntsc]

Scorsese and Spielberg team up to restore classics.

The 2018 restoration slate includes "Destry Rides Again" (1939, director George Marshall); "`The Killers" (1946, director Robert Siodmak); "The Killers" (1964, director Don Siegel); "My Little Chickadee" (1940, director Edward Cline); and "Winchester '73" (1950, director Anthony Mann), with additional titles to be announced in the coming months.

That's incredibly fantastic news! Can't wait for a restored version of Winchester '73 and other Universal classics from the 1940s and 1950s, too...

[Stefan Andersson]

List, in English, of Polish films restored by Studio Filmowe Kadr:
http://sfkadr.com/en/movies.html?page=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Recently restored: the first two films in Kazimierz Kutz´s Silesian trilogy:
http://sfkadr.com/en/movies/509/sol-ziemi-czarnej.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://sfkadr.com/en/movies/401/perla-w-koronie.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Unfortunately amongst all of these wonderful restorations Pathé's proposed work on Gremillon's La Petite Lise seems MIA.

[Stefan Andersson]

List, in English, of Polish films restored or remastered by Fixafilm:
http://www.restoration.fixafilm.pl/en/portfolio/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Blog about recent restorations and other news:
http://www.restoration.fixafilm.pl/en/news/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[FrauBlucher]

Article from the Current explaining the survival and restoration of the early Fox Films.

[Calvin]

The outcome of the CNC's March meeting have been posted. Worth highlighting/bolding/screaming from the rooftops - Gaumont will be restoring Feuillade's Tih Minh

[Stefan Andersson]

Dave Kehr on the restored Rosita:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ2iZ9Sofl4
Includes wonderful clips from the film.

Mary Pickford Foundation on other film restorations:
https://marypickford.org/preservation-work/

Program notes for the Fox season at MoMA:
https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/4967?locale=en

Apparently there will be a second season - here is a mention of "the first of two parts":
http://press.moma.org/2018/04/william-f ... rporation/

[Drucker]

Andrei Rublev restoration coming to Lincoln Center in August

[dancerslegs]

Apparently, Mosfilm has been (secretly?) working on a new 2K digital restoration of Bondarchuk's monumental War and Peace, which they just dropped in full on YouTube today on their channel in HD (in several parts):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-SAh4jdssA

Did I fail to get the memo on this resto, or is this some (gloriously) unexpected surprise for the online film community?? In any event, the new image looks phenomenal.

Edit: Now I see that at least the first part of W&P (Andrei Bolkonsky) was mentioned as screening as part of the festival's Cannes Classics series in Costa's post at the top of page 7.

[FrauBlucher]

I'm currently watching TCM. A between films segment, Ben Mankiewicz is interviewing John Bailey, President of The Film Academy Arts and Sciences, they are talking about the Academy Archives in which they have taken up film restorations. Bailey said they work closely with other organizations like the Film Foundation and the UCLA Archive. They are currently working on restoring Detour. That would be awesome. Especially if they came across some better elements. Hopefully it's on Criterion's radar.

Detour uploaded to Youtube on May 1st. Is it me or does this look like this is the restoration. The uploader is Charles Ewing Smith, a Hollywood Sound man, who's credits include a bunch of Tarantino films.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

I sure hope it isn't the restoration, because to me it looks like a typical PD transfer. I don't know where this version (uploaded in 2012) came from, but it looks a lot better to my eyes, even though I feel it has the opposite problem of excessive brightness.