Recent Film Restorations

[tenia]

Since Cannes 2020 will never happen, this will actually mostly take place through Lyon's Lumière Film Festival 2020 in October and Cannes' Rencontres Cinématographiques in November. I'm very likely to attend Lyon's festival this year, like I did last year, and will in this case report about whatever restorations I'll then see.


Looking at this line-up, I guess that's where Friendship's Death's BFI release's report stems from.
Also :
- In the Mood for Love : same restoration shown 2 years ago at Lyon
- Préparez vos mouchoirs : restoration released by Cohen on BD in the USA
- Bayan Ko : as stated in this PR, it will get a UHD/BD release in France in 2021
- The Hourglass Sanatory : I suppose this is the restoration that has been released on BD already here and there
- America as Seen by a Frenchman : restoration used by Arrow for their recent BD release
- Accattone : I'm not sure about this one but it might be the same restoration used by MoC for their 2012 BD release
- La strada : confirms Criterion have performed their own restoration, in 4K, unlike Canal's 2K restoration that wasn't very good looking
- L'Avventura : restoration Criterion used for their 2014 BD release

[ellipsis7]

That's great news about Criterion's new 4K resto of LA STRADA, because, as you say, Studio Canal's 2K was not up to scratch, unlike the recent restorations of LO SCEICCO BIANCO & NOTTI DI CABIRIA they just put out, which were top notch...

[Fred Holywell]

Une balle au cœur (1966), the Franco-Greek romantic thriller by Jean-Daniel Pollet, has recently been restored by Cosmodigital for La Traverse with support from CNC.

It was released on DVD in March by Les Éditions de l'Oeil (along with much of Pollet's other work), no Blu-Ray. And no English subtitles. I've posted some screencaps here.

The Cinémathèque Française has an impressive looking Pollet retrospective, including Une balle au cœur, scheduled for August 12-30, 2020. More info at https://www.cinematheque.fr/cycle/jean- ... t-561.html.

[yoloswegmaster]

- Bayan Ko : as stated in this PR, it will get a UHD/BD release in France in 2021

I'm honestly a bit confused as to why this would be getting a UHD release (unless this is a really well known title in France). Also, is Arrow really using the same master for their blu release? They make no mention of the 2K restoration on their website.

[tenia]

Bayan Ko isn't a well known movie in France, but rather a very rare one. It is however Le chat qui fume's current policy to try and do UHD for anything they can.
You mention Arrow, I suppose you talk about America as Seen by a Frenchman. The blu-ray.com's review states the booklet details : "The master was prepared in High Definition by Les Films du Jeudi and delivered to Arrow Films." Since the Cannes Classics line-up states "Presented by Les Films du jeudi. Restoration carried out at Hiventy: 4K scan – 2K restoration from the original negatives.", I suppose this is the same restoration used by Arrow.

[perkypat]

Tenia,
I was wondering how English-friendly is the Lumiere festival? Ive fancied going for a while, but I dont think my French is up to 3 or 4 subtitled films a day.

[L.A.]

Restoration trailer for The Upthrown Stone.

[Stefan Andersson]

Venice Classics 2020 lineup, showing at Il Cinema Ritrovato:

CRONACA DI UN AMORE (CHRONICLE OF A LOVE)
by Michelangelo ANTONIONI (Italy, 1950, B/W)
restored by: Cineteca di Bologna

CLAUDINE
by John BERRY (USA, 1974, colour)
restored by: Twentieth Century Studios / Disney

DEN MUSO (THE YOUNG GIRL)
by Souleymane CISSÉ (Mali, 1975, colour)
restored by: Cinémathèque française

UTÓSZEZON (LATE SEASON)
by Zoltán FÁBRI (Hungary, 1966, B/W)
restored by: Hungarian National Film Archive

SEDOTTA E ABBANDONATA (SEDUCED AND ABANDONED)
by Pietro GERMI (Italy, 1964, B/W)
restored by: Cineteca di Bologna

LA ÚLTIMA CENA (THE LAST SUPPER)
by Tomás GUTIÉRREZ ALEA (Cuba, 1976, colour)
restored by: Cineteca di Cuba

FUKUSHÛ SURU WA WARE NI ARI (VENGEANCE IS MINE)
by Shôhei IMAMURA (Japan, 1979, colour)
restored by: Shochiku

MUHOMATSU NO ISSHO (THE RICKSHAW MAN)
by Hiroshi INAGAKI (Japan, 1943, B/W)
restored by: Film Foundation/Kadokawa

YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE
by Fritz LANG (USA, 1937, B/W)
restored by: StudioCanal

SERPICO
by Sidney LUMET (USA, 1973, colour)
restored by: StudioCanal

LE CERCLE ROUGE
by Jean-Pierre MELVILLE (France, 1970, colour)
restored by: StudioCanal

NEOKONCHENNAYA PYESA DLYA MEKHANICHESKOGO PIANINO (UNFINISHED PIECE FOR THE PLAYER PIANO)
by Nikita MIKHALKOV (Soviet Union, 1976, colour)
restored by: Mosfilm

GOODFELLAS
by Martin SCORSESE (USA, 1990, colour)
restored by: Warner Bros.

More titles will be added later, according to Alberto Barbera.
https://www.labiennale.org/en/news/rest ... al-bologna
https://www.criterion.com/current/posts ... hem-before

[Stefan Andersson]

Lattuada´s Guendalina and Dolci inganni have been restored (the Cinematheque Francaise showed both films in 2019), and are now up for a French theatrical re-release through Les Acacias:
https://www.acaciasfilms.com/wp-content ... ttuada.pdf
https://www.acaciasfilms.com/film/guendalina/
https://www.cinematheque.fr/article/1373.html

Dolci inganni had censor trouble in Italy. More info here:
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolci_inganni

[Stefan Andersson]

Recovered and restored at Il Cinema Ritrovato 2020:
https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/e ... rati-2020/
Includes a re-edit of Gomorra, La traversée de Paris, Gaumont chronochromes, Tap Roots (1948), I Cento Cavalieri (Cottafavi, 1964), Tih Minh, The Misfits, Spider´s Stratagem,
4 Mosche di Velluto Grigio, La femme et le pantin (Baroncelli, 1928) and more.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Recovered and restored at Il Cinema Ritrovato 2020:
https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/e ... rati-2020/
Includes a re-edit of Gomorra, La traversée de Paris, Gaumont chronochromes, Tap Roots (1948), I Cento Cavalieri (Cottafavi, 1964), Tih Minh, The Misfits, Spider´s Stratagem,
4 Mosche di Velluto Grigio, La femme et le pantin (Baroncelli, 1928) and more.

You didn't mention Grémillon's L'étrange Monsieur Victor

Comment peux-tu vivre avec toi-même ?

[Stefan Andersson]

Recovered and restored at Il Cinema Ritrovato 2020:
https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/e ... rati-2020/
Includes a re-edit of Gomorra, La traversée de Paris, Gaumont chronochromes, Tap Roots (1948), I Cento Cavalieri (Cottafavi, 1964), Tih Minh, The Misfits, Spider´s Stratagem,
4 Mosche di Velluto Grigio, La femme et le pantin (Baroncelli, 1928) and more.

You didn't mention Grémillon's L'étrange Monsieur Victor

Comment peux-tu vivre avec toi-même ?

Oops... an oversight on my part, no slight on M. Grémillon intended. Mes excuses profondes!


I have now scanned the full catalogue. Page 355 carries an announcement of a 2-dvd edition from Cinemateca Bologna of four Augusto Genina films: Addio giovinezza! (two versions, 1918, 1927),
La maschera e il volto (1919) and Prix de beauté (1930).

[soundchaser]

Also on that list: California Split. Might we finally see Indicator's release announced later this year?

[tenia]

Tenia,
I was wondering how English-friendly is the Lumiere festival? Ive fancied going for a while, but I dont think my French is up to 3 or 4 subtitled films a day.

Whoops, missed that.

It isnt very English friendly. However, the program, once published, states quite accurately the few movies subtitled in English, and there can be several English speaking movies, though you'll have to deal with French subs.

[ellipsis7]

Kiarostami On the Road Again @ Cinema Ritrovato comprises three short films from his Kanoon days, newly 'Restored in 2020 by MK2 at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory'... Likely would form a standalone Blu Ray release for Criterion and/or MK2, I would guess - what a wonderful package that would be...

The three short films presented in this edition of Il Cinema Ritrovato all feature cars and traffic, although they were shot while Kiarostami worked for the Kanoon, the Institute for the intellectual developement of children and young adults, where he was supposed to make educational films. They were made during the years of the Iranian Revolution, when almost no film could be shot. In 1978, the young director escaped from the tensions of the city with only one cameraman, one soundman, a non-actor and a tyre (long before Quentin Dupieux). Together, they shoot Rah-e hall-e yek, an extraordinary silent odyssey, only through the grace of the frames, the light, the editing and the score. In 1981, Be tartib ya bedun-e tartib, based on the either/or principle, a trope frequently explored in his cinema, first appears to be a simple demonstration of the virtue of order, in a school as in the city traffic. But soon, the viewer realises there is a film in the film and taking control over the traffic is just as difficult as trying to master reality in order to make a film. Two years later, in 1983, after witnessing the scene in the streets of Tehran, Kiarostami decides to use some outdated 16 mm negatives to film the procession of countless motorists passing in front of one single man: an officer assigned to block the road, sacrificed to their constant pressure. Hamshahri, among his least well-known films, is a fascinating document of power struggle in post-revolutionary Iran. In these early unique road movies, Abbas Kiarostami proved his ability to make cinema with almost no means, to transform the apparent purpose of the project by adjusting to reality and constantly celebrating movement as the quintessence of life and cinema.

[Stefan Andersson]

Lobster Film, with an assist from Argentinian historian Richard Peña, has identified the original version of Keaton´s The Blacksmith. The version that has until now been regarded as an original version, was in fact a preview version, rejected after a disastrous screening, then partially re-shot and shortened. Details: https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/e ... lacksmith/

[Roger Ryan]

Lobster Film, with an assist from Argentinian historian Richard Peña, has identified the original version of Keaton´s The Blacksmith. The version that has until now been regarded as an original version, was in fact a preview version, rejected after a disastrous screening, then partially re-shot and shortened. Details: https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/e ... lacksmith/

Not that it isn't valuable to have this information available again in this new context, but the situation regarding the two extant versions was resolved five years ago. The key was John Bengtson, master location scout, determining that the unique footage found in the recently discovered version was shot several months after the initial footage was shot due to changes in the background landscape. This strongly suggested the recently discovered version was meant to supplant the version Keaton fans were familiar with.

[Stefan Andersson]

Lobster Film, with an assist from Argentinian historian Richard Peña, has identified the original version of Keaton´s The Blacksmith. The version that has until now been regarded as an original version, was in fact a preview version, rejected after a disastrous screening, then partially re-shot and shortened. Details: https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/e ... lacksmith/

Not that it isn't valuable to have this information available again in this new context, but the situation regarding the two extant versions was resolved five years ago. The key was John Bengtson, master location scout, determining that the unique footage found in the recently discovered version was shot several months after the initial footage was shot due to changes in the background landscape. This strongly suggested the recently discovered version was meant to supplant the version Keaton fans were familiar with.

Many thanks for your additional info, Roger! Good to know more about John Bengtson´s research contribution.

[perkypat]

Tenia,
I was wondering how English-friendly is the Lumiere festival? Ive fancied going for a while, but I dont think my French is up to 3 or 4 subtitled films a day.

Whoops, missed that.

It isnt very English friendly. However, the program, once published, states quite accurately the few movies subtitled in English, and there can be several English speaking movies, though you'll have to deal with French subs.

Thanks for the information, not surprising.

[Calvin]

The Phillipines' top broadcaster ABS-CBN has been forced to shut down in a move certainly related to its clashes with President Duterte and, as a result, the film restoration unit is no more which "means that the almost decade-long effort to salvage Filipino films will end and no one yet knows what will happen to the archive of some 3,000 films housed in the network’s buildings."

[tenia]

Tenia,
I was wondering how English-friendly is the Lumiere festival? Ive fancied going for a while, but I dont think my French is up to 3 or 4 subtitled films a day.

Whoops, missed that.

It isnt very English friendly. However, the program, once published, states quite accurately the few movies subtitled in English, and there can be several English speaking movies, though you'll have to deal with French subs.

Thanks for the information, not surprising.

I still recommend to have a look at the final program once published. If you can deal with French subs, there might be several English-speaking movies. I remember, for instance, seeing Moonrise there. There can also be several silent movies, which might have English intertitles (or French intertitles with English subs). It's quite variable, and obviously is rather French oriented, but because of how many movies can be shown there, there might be enough to fill a few days worth of watching.

This being written, it often sells out quickly tons of showing, and this year's pandemic might result in an extra limitation in ticket sales to ensure physical distancing between viewers, so who knows how this will sell this year.

[Stefan Andersson]

The 2020 Locarno Film Festival launches a Heritage Online project, a VOD platform for restored classics. This year´s lineup includes Traveller (1982, written by Neil Jordan), The Place Without Limits(1977) and five other Ripstein titles, Miss Hanafi (Egypt, 1954), In the White City (Tanner), Bostonians (Ivory), College and Go West (Cineteca restos) and Nanni Moretti´s Bianca (1984):
https://variety.com/2020/film/global/lo ... 234729578/
https://www.locarnofestival.ch/HeritageOnline

[L.A.]

The Playlist has an article about Paulo Rocha’s restored debut The Green Years (1963).

[Stefan Andersson]

Paulo Rocha´s restored Change of Life (1966) and The Green Years (1963) at the Lincoln Center Virtual Cinema:
https://www.filmlinc.org/films/change-of-life/
https://www.filmlinc.org/films/the-green-years/
Grasshopper Film logo on both trailers.

[Stefan Andersson]

Restorations at this year´s NYFF:
https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2020/daily ... -festival/
Includes Tarr´s Damnation, Flowers of Shanghai, William Klein´s Muhammad Ali docu (1974), a docu on James Baldwin (1971), Simone Barbes ou la Vertu (1980), Smooth Talk and Xiao Wu.