Guy Maddin

[TechnicolorAcid]

Zeitgeist has officially released a Blu-Ray of Archangel

[willoneill]

Guy Maddin was in Ottawa tonight to introduce a screening of the Archangel restoration, and during the post-screening Q&A he said that Careful is being restored next and should be out later this year.

[therewillbeblus]

Didn't he say that about Brand Upon the Brain! just a few years ago?

[Peacock]

Didn't he say that about Brand Upon the Brain! just a few years ago?

Yeah but you forget who has the rights to that one…

[willoneill]

In the case of Careful, the work is underway. They're using the original negative (which I think TIFF had in storage) and he's working with Zeitgeist to redo the colour timing; I note that because Maddin himself admitted he doesn't trust himself not to over-saturate the colours if left to his own devices. I thought that was an interesting admission considering the many debates over the years between physical media labels honouring a director's wishes vs. releasing an image as close as possible to how the films were originally seen.

[MichaelB]

The late Barney Platts-Mills said something similar about Bronco Bullfrog - he personally vastly preferred the BFI edition to the one that he authored himself because, to quote him directly, “James White knew what he was doing, and I didn’t.”

[Der Ungrund]

In the case of Careful, the work is underway. They're using the original negative (which I think TIFF had in storage) and he's working with Zeitgeist to redo the colour timing; I note that because Maddin himself admitted he doesn't trust himself not to over-saturate the colours if left to his own devices. I thought that was an interesting admission considering the many debates over the years between physical media labels honouring a director's wishes vs. releasing an image as close as possible to how the films were originally seen.

He said on the commentary for the Kino DVD that he experimented with oversaturating the colors and adding an effect where they shimmer like older 2-strip technicolor, but decided against it. I suspect he'll decide against it again.

[brundlefly]

Along with the news that U.S. distribution for Rumours has been picked up by Bleecker Street comes some details about the film: it's about a G7 summit where leaders of the member nations attempt to draft a statement while lost in the woods. Besides the previously-announced Cate Blanchett, it stars Alicia Vikander, Roy Dupuis, Charles Dance, Denis Ménochet, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Rolando Ravello, Hira Takehiro, and Zlatko Burić, and it's expected to release this year.

Trailer.

[hearthesilence]

FYI he’s at Film Forum this weekend promoting the new 4K restoration of Careful and a selection of his part work.

[The Curious Sofa]

Careful was the first Maddin film I saw and may still be my favourite. I hope this means I can upgrade my DVD one of these days.

[willoneill]

Careful was the first Maddin film I saw and may still be my favourite. I hope this means I can upgrade my DVD one of these days.

I saw the restoration in Ottawa back in March (supposedly the world premiere), and it looks great. Maddin actually sat in the back of the theatre the whole time because he said he wanted to make sure it looked right in an actual cinema. He also said there plans are in the works for a blu-ray, most likely from Zeitgeist.

[MichaelB]

Although sadly a DCP's going to stay looking the same, unlike the only 35mm print in UK distribution. I saw that four times over a three-year period, and it looked better every time, as the fake damage was increasingly supplanted by the far more authentic kind.

I was lucky enough to be able to directly inform both Guy Maddin and his producer Greg Klymkiw of this (on separate occasions), and both were predictably delighted.

[hearthesilence]

Careful is one of his greatest films IMHO so I'll definitely pick up any Blu-ray release but I did see a 35mm print of it several years ago at Lincoln Center and it was wonderful - I just can't see that experience being topped.

FWIW there's one film showing in 35mm at Film Forum: Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary (with the print courtesy of the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research).

[dadaistnun]

Typically funny and interesting interview with Maddin about both the making and restoration of Careful.

[MichaelB]

That thing he says at the start about the crackle is the bane of my life - on more than one occasion I've had to ask rightsholders for audio that hasn't been messed around with, because I can usually tell within seconds if it's been overzealously cleaned up by someone who has no idea how vintage film audio is supposed to sound.

Basically, they use digital tools to clean up all the hiss (which is a mistake anyway), and inevitably scrape away actual audio in the process, and the result sounds hideous—and so much so that I'm genuinely amazed that they don't seem to notice what's wrong.

[dadaistnun]

I have the Kino disc of the Archangel restoration but haven't watched it yet. As I started reading the interview, I was disappointed to hear about what happened with the sound but my oh no! turned into an oh! phew! when he said they thankfully corrected the problem.