Recent Film Restorations

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

The 46th HKIFF just announced six restorations

Obviously, we already knew about the Infernal Affairs trilogy and Boat People that were acquired by Janus. Interestingly, Millennium Mambo and Suzhou River are listed alongside them. I wonder if they’re available/have been snapped up by Janus as well?

Strand still has Suzhou River and recently added a page for the restoration to their website. It could end up with Criterion given that Strand licensed out Chan Is Missing, but I suspect that had something to do with Wayne Wang. Millennium Mambo is to the best of my knowledge without a U.S. distributor (Palm's rights expired a couple of years ago) and Janus is as good a bet as any.

[ryannichols7]

The 46th HKIFF just announced six restorations

Obviously, we already knew about the Infernal Affairs trilogy and Boat People that were acquired by Janus. Interestingly, Millennium Mambo and Suzhou River are listed alongside them. I wonder if they’re available/have been snapped up by Janus as well?

Strand still has Suzhou River and recently added a page for the restoration to their website. It could end up with Criterion given that Strand licensed out Chan Is Missing, but I suspect that had something to do with Wayne Wang. Millennium Mambo is to the best of my knowledge without a U.S. distributor (Palm's rights expired a couple of years ago) and Janus is as good a bet as any.

unfortunately it seems by that page they're doing their own disc releases. I say unfortunately because I'm sure they'll do the thing where they slap that transfer on a $35 Bluray with no special features, not market it, and then complain it didn't sell. this unfortunately seems to be a trend with quite a few Asian releases.

Millennium Mambo I'm basically begging Janus to do. it's a top 10 movie for me probably, and I'd hate to see it get mistreated stateside...and the UK labels have dragged their feet more than usual on these titles

that said, my friend raised a great point, this could lead to Strand doing blurays for their Weerathesakul holdings whenever those new restorations are done. but you're also likely to see Second Run do them

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

They're not billed as restorations, but the HKIFF is also hosting DCP screenings of 4 Faces of Eve, Little Cheung, and the original Golden Chicken, none of which have BD releases to the best of my knowledge—in fact 4 Faces of Eve (a relentlessly high-energy comic omnibus starring Sandra Ng, with Chris Doyle amping the Chungking Express/Fallen Angels style to 11) was never even released on DVD.

[Computer Raheem]

They're not billed as restorations, but the HKIFF is also hosting DCP screenings of 4 Faces of Eve, Little Cheung, and the original Golden Chicken, none of which have BD releases to the best of my knowledge—in fact 4 Faces of Eve (a relentlessly high-energy comic omnibus starring Sandra Ng, with Chris Doyle amping the Chungking Express/Fallen Angels style to 11) was never even released on DVD.

Do you know where I can find 4 Faces of Eve online? I'm sold just by the idea of Christopher Doyle somehow going more extreme with his cinematography style than the one-two punch of Chungking Express and Fallen Angels.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

You can find it on YouTube if you search for the Chinese title. Ditto Out of the Blue, a 40-minute short with much of the same behind-the-camera personnel (plus Pang Ho-cheung as co-writer) that was bizarrely enough a commission from Coca-Cola. If you've seen First Love: The Litter on the Breeze, you have some idea of what to expect from these.

[hearthesilence]

Completely missed this, but Victor Nuñez's Ruby in Paradise was fully restored from the original camera rolls and audio tracks. (Elsewhere it's been reported that it now has 7.1 surround sound.) So far it's a digital-only release, but it would be amazing if Criterion put it out - it would be perfect for the moment for a number of reasons. (DVDs currently fetch insane prices.) FWIW, I've only seen reports of an HD master so I have no idea if a 4K master exists.

[beamish14]

Completely missed this, but Victor Nuñez's Ruby in Paradise was fully restored from the original camera rolls and audio tracks. (Elsewhere it's been reported that it now has 7.1 surround sound.) So far it's a digital-only release, but it would be amazing if Criterion put it out - it would be perfect for the moment for a number of reasons. (DVDs currently fetch insane prices.) FWIW, I've only seen reports of an HD master so I have no idea if a 4K master exists.

That’s very interesting, as it literally just screened in 35mm at the Hammer

[hearthesilence]

Completely missed this, but Victor Nuñez's Ruby in Paradise was fully restored from the original camera rolls and audio tracks. (Elsewhere it's been reported that it now has 7.1 surround sound.) So far it's a digital-only release, but it would be amazing if Criterion put it out - it would be perfect for the moment for a number of reasons. (DVDs currently fetch insane prices.) FWIW, I've only seen reports of an HD master so I have no idea if a 4K master exists.

That’s very interesting, as it literally just screened in 35mm at the Hammer

I actually noticed that! There's a DCP screening coming up here in NY, so I did a cursory search just to get some more info - turns out it's been screening elsewhere in 35mm.

[hearthesilence]

Totally missed this, but King Vidor's Hallelujah has been restored by the Library of Congress and The Film Foundation with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.

It screened in 35mm at Film Forum, and now it's going to screen tonight and tomorrow at Lincoln Center's King Vidor retrospective (presumably the same print since it's advertised as 35mm).

Has this been broadcast yet? Otherwise, I wonder if this is really the only way to see the new restoration for now - given the content, it may not get a Criterion or Milestone reissue (or rather if it did, it might get some blowback). The Warner DVD is back in-print via Warner Archive, but IIRC it has the wrong aspect ratio and crops off the top and bottom, which makes this new restoration even more welcome.

[knives]

Why would it get blow back? If anything it seems a film made for the moment. If it’s in the public domain Kino seems like the most likely avenue of release.

[L.A.]

I remember the old Warner DVD of Hallelujah looking terrible(?).

[DeprongMori]

Totally missed this, but King Vidor's Hallelujah has been restored by the Library of Congress and The Film Foundation with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.

It screened in 35mm at Film Forum, and now it's going to screen tonight and tomorrow at Lincoln Center's King Vidor retrospective (presumably the same print since it's advertised as 35mm).

Has this been broadcast yet? Otherwise, I wonder if this is really the only way to see the new restoration for now - given the content, it may not get a Criterion or Milestone reissue (or rather if it did, it might get some blowback). The Warner DVD is back in-print via Warner Archive, but IIRC it has the wrong aspect ratio and crops off the top and bottom, which makes this new restoration even more welcome.

This played on the Criterion Channel within the past year IIRC. Not sure whether it was the new restoration or whether it had the aspect ratio issues you mention as I hadn’t seen the film before. I wouldn’t expect the film to receive any “blowback” if released by Criterion or Milestone, or anyone else for that matter.

[hearthesilence]

If you click on the Film Foundation link, it touches on why I thought it would be controversial. I agree with Kent Jones (and knives for that matter), I think it's more appropriate to give it a wider release now than ever before, but it seems to have gotten quite a bit of criticism for paternalism, depictions that are now considered stereotypical...people are much more prone now for criticizing films for accurately reflecting the culture of their times regardless of what those films are trying to say, even when it's a progressive or self-interrogating work. Blowback is probably too far, but I can see a physical release getting a less receptive audience for those reasons.

[hearthesilence]

Great podcast recorded for the restoration's premiere at Film Forum. (Except for the soundtrack work, this was actually a photochemical restoration with no digital work on the picture.)

[L.A.]

Native Son (Pierre Chenal, 1951) has been restored and is now uncut.

Beaver.

[Stefan Andersson]

Is Paris Burning? (1966) restored in 4K by James Mockoski:
https://www.lepoint.fr/pop-culture/excl ... or=CS2-239
- The OCN has disappeared
- Restoration is based on a shortened copy of the OCN + a third generation negative
-original French and English soundtracks restored

[sabbath]

Director Juzo Itami's all 10 features, digitally remastered in 4K, will be broadcast on a Japanese movie channel in January 2023 (in Japanese).

[beamish14]

Is Paris Burning? (1966) restored in 4K by James Mockoski:
https://www.lepoint.fr/pop-culture/excl ... or=CS2-239
- The OCN has disappeared
- Restoration is based on a shortened copy of the OCN + a third generation negative
-original French and English soundtracks restored

Paramount just can’t help but destroy/lose their original camera negatives, it seems

[dwk]

Director Juzo Itami's all 10 features, digitally remastered in 4K, will be broadcast on a Japanese movie channel in January 2023 (in Japanese).

Guess Criterion should have waited a bit longer before releasing The Funeral (assuming they can get access to these, which isn't a given.)

[hearthesilence]

Completely missed this, but Victor Nuñez's Ruby in Paradise was fully restored from the original camera rolls and audio tracks. (Elsewhere it's been reported that it now has 7.1 surround sound.) So far it's a digital-only release, but it would be amazing if Criterion put it out - it would be perfect for the moment for a number of reasons. (DVDs currently fetch insane prices.) FWIW, I've only seen reports of an HD master so I have no idea if a 4K master exists.

That’s very interesting, as it literally just screened in 35mm at the Hammer

I actually noticed that! There's a DCP screening coming up here in NY, so I did a cursory search just to get some more info - turns out it's been screening elsewhere in 35mm.

I managed to catch the DCP screening, and it is indeed a restoration. Prior to the screening, it was pointed out to me that the movie typically looks really grainy. (We weren't talking about film grain either, it's just something that stood out so the person brought it up when we were talking about the cinematography.) Apparently Nuñez often shot on Super 16, which would make sense, and I think that was the case here.

However, as soon as the DCP started, I could see grain management at play, and with all that other information in mind, it didn't feel like a surprise. For anyone who wants an untouched film in all of its granular glory, you're not going to get that with the DCP. But even with grain management, you can tell they didn't try to eliminate it altogether - I'm guessing they did a lot of different things to try and mitigate the flying insect haze of Super 16 grain.

The opening credits were a bit soft, possibly because the opticals used to generate titles created yet another layer of grain - i.e. they probably did more filtering there than anywhere else. Past that point, things improved. I got the impression that whatever tools they used still softened the grain a touch, but the main thing they did was stop or slow its movement. The shots usually weren't busy end-to-end, especially in the store, so wherever you had no movement and nothing passing through, it was as if we were looking at information from one particular frame rather than many frames. The most jarring artifact (and it's only a handful of spots) was a "web of grain" effect. Imagine if the grain wasn't flying around but actually appeared like beads in spider silk. Now imagine someone walking through that web - that webbing doesn't break but it clings to the person and stretches with them. That's what you'll see.

[hearthesilence]

I should also add that the film is wonderful and Ashley Judd is great. It's incredibly sweet that Nuñez conceived of this film while going to souvenir shops and simply wondering what life might be like for the people on the other side of the counter. It's the sort of natural curiosity and empathy that seems to be too short in supply. Also it's incredibly sad...

SpoilerShow

to see Ruby lose her job and thrown deeper into poverty when she spurns her employer's son. The film's hopeful - he does apologize later on as part of a new attempt to work on himself through professional help - but it's terrible that a darker version of this would soon play out for Judd in real life.

[beamish14]

New restorations of Patricia Rozema’s White Room (1990) and When Night is Falling (1995)

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Just stumbled upon this interesting website from the National Film Archive of Japan collecting films of the 1923 Kantō earthquake. The footage can be viewed by location and you can also stream some longer films produced at the time, including one with English intertitles apparently meant for foreign distribution and a feature-length film produced by the Ministry of Education, accompanied by the original benshi script (in Japanese only, alas). Some of the footage is available on the Archive's YouTube channel as well.

[Stefan Andersson]

For the record -- lists of many digitized films, some by G. Aravindan and Adoor Gopalakrishnan:
http://www.forumkeralam.in/forum/showth ... ner/page16

[Calvin]

The Hungarian Film Institute's list of film restorations has been updated. Recent restorations include Miklos Jancso's Hungarian Rhapsody and Allegro Barbaro