1246 The Grifters

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cdnchris
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Re: 1246 The Grifters

#26 Post by cdnchris » Mon Jan 20, 2025 4:44 pm

I didn't get around to updating details about the restoration originally, but I wanted to post this from the notes on the restoration:
When The Grifters was released in 1990, the 35 mm prints that circulated were made using a ‘bleach bypass’ process. Skipping the bleach in color-film development yields reduced saturation, higher contrast, and grain. As a part of the work on this release, Stapleton’s personal 35 mm bleach-bypass print, which he screened for mastering supervisor Lee Kline and colorist Greg Fisher at the BFI in London, served as a guideline for the grading and scans of the negative. The resulting 4K presentation comes closer to the film’s intended look than any other version since the theatrical prints.
In the one documentary from 2018 included in the features, Stapleton explains his reasoning for the look and gets into quite a bit of detail about it. The presentation pretty much replicates what he explains.

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