Recent Film Restorations

[andyli]

Cannes Classics 2025. Among the restored films are:

The Gold Rush
Amores perros
The Arch (Tang Shu Shuen)
Dogma: Resurrected – A 25th Anniversary Celebration!
Sunshine (Szabó)
Yi Yi
Hard Boiled
Merlusse
Days and Nights in the Forest
La Course en tête
Floating Clouds
Gehenu Lamai
La Paga
Magirama (Four short films in polyvision: Auprès de ma blonde, Fête foraine, Château des nuages, J’accuse)
Más allá del olvido
Saïd Effendi
Sterne
Waqai sinin al-djamr
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Barry Lyndon

Most of these are 4K restoration.

[andyli]

The Arch is part of a 9-film restoration project initiated by M+ and Chanel. Three have already completed; they are The Arch (to be shown in Cannes), The System (just shown in HKIFF) and Love Massacre.

[ryannichols7]

before anyone asks, Days and Nights in the Forest is credited to Criterion/Janus, and Hard Boiled definitively states it'll be released by Shout

[beamish14]

Sunshine is fantastic news

[Hogfather]

Runtime for The Gold Rush is clearly the 1925 version. I don't know how much this has been discussed on here, just thought it worth pointing out.

[ryannichols7]

Sunshine is fantastic news

I've never seen it, but since I like Szabo and Ralph Fiennes recently praised it in an interview (being very proud of the film), I'd like to see it. would love if a boutique put it out and got an interview with him!

[beamish14]

Sunshine is fantastic news

I've never seen it, but since I like Szabo and Ralph Fiennes recently praised it in an interview (being very proud of the film), I'd like to see it. would love if a boutique put it out and got an interview with him!

It’s kind of a Hungarian Jewish The Leopard. Incredibly well-made

[Calvin]

It looks like The Arch was restored as part of the M+ project and they're also restoring Patrick Tam's Love Massacre

[Mr Sausage]

...and they're also restoring Patrick Tam's Love Massacre

Thank fuck! The best available copy is an LD rip that recently resurfaced, and while it's substantially better than the previously available copy, it poorly serves a film with such careful colour and set design. The movie even turns itself into a Rothko painting at times. It's a weird post-modern mixture of art house cinema and crass genre filmmaking, but with a sometimes absurdist self-consciousness. Looking forward to a release!

[Stefan Andersson]

Cannes 2025/Cinéma de la Plage; some titles:
Sunset Blvd. 4K
Les mauvais coups, Leterrier, 1961
Duel in the Sun, Disney/Film Foundation restoration
Palombella rossa
Tenshi no tamago, Oshii
Darling, 4K
Melodie en Sous-sol, 2K

https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/pres ... lage-2025/

[andyli]

What, may I ask, is the difference between this and Cannes Classics? It’s not like the restoration is not new (Darling). But it seems less prestigious than Classics…

[tenia]

Those are specific projections, usually within Cannes Classics or completing Classics, which are shown outdoor on the beach.

[beamish14]

Really anxious to hear how the Angel’s Egg restoration looks

[afilmcionado]

The Arch is part of a 9-film restoration project initiated by M+ and Chanel. Three have already completed; they are The Arch (to be shown in Cannes), The System (just shown in HKIFF) and Love Massacre.

Do you know what the other films will be? These titles are very exciting.

[andyli]

The Arch is part of a 9-film restoration project initiated by M+ and Chanel. Three have already completed; they are The Arch (to be shown in Cannes), The System (just shown in HKIFF) and Love Massacre.

Do you know what the other films will be? These titles are very exciting.

Only the first three have been announced so far. What I know is the project will mainly focus on HK New Wave titles and you can expect major works from filmmakers such as Ann Hui, Yim Ho and Fruit Chan in the future.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

I saw the restoration for The System and it augurs well for the series. I got nervous when Ritrovata was mentioned in the restoration notes at the beginning, but thankfully the color timing was done by One Cool and shows none of Ritrovata's trademarks. Outside of color flicker that might well have been insurmountable with the restoration techniques available (or financially viable), the only issue is the big setpiece in the middle—a lengthy, very elaborate stakeout/pursuit—where the overall quality takes a huge nosedive. I couldn't put my finger on what happened, but it wasn't simply DNR—during the screening I actually thought I was looking at upscaled SD video. On reflection I think it's more likely that the sequence was shot on 16mm and blown up to 35 in a less-than-ideal manner, with the 35mm footage being all the restorers had to work with. I can't find any confirmation of this, but it would make sense given that the live-surveillance aspect of the scene cries out for multiple cameras and that might not have been realistic with 35mm. The movie itself is an interesting exercise in pared-down, documentary-inflected genre filmmaking (Yung made docs about the drug trade before and after The System) that reminds me of a lot of New Wave work in how it confounds expectations, starting off as something not radically different from the ubiquitous ICAC-fluffing fare of the time and turning into something much more skeptical. It also features one of the better roles I've seen for Shek Kin, not that I've personally seen anything close to his full body of work (has anyone?).

[Stefan Andersson]

Garden of Eden (1928) 4K restoration
The Racket (1928) | DCP
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) 4K restoration
Arch of Triumph (1948) [long version restored by UCLA] 35mm
The Red Pony (1949) 4K restoration

All showing at Cinema Ritrovato 2025.

https://notesoncinematograph.blogspot.c ... .html#more

[Stefan Andersson]

Government grants decided for restorations of German films such as:

40 sqm Germany (feature film, 1985/1986, director: Tevfik Başer)

The Experiment (feature film, 2000, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel)

The Diamond Hell on the Mekong [feature film, 1964, directed by Gianfranco Parolini (under the pseudonym Frank Kramer)]

The Cat (feature film, 1987, director: Dominik Graf)

The Trail Leads to the Silver Lake (animated film, 1985-1989, Director: Günter Rätz)

Blutmai 1929 (1929) (documentary, 1929, directed by Phil Jutzi)

The Girl Irene (feature film, 1936, directed by Reinhold Schünzel)

Mathias Kneißl (feature film, 1971, directed by Reinhard Hauff)

Primanerinnen (feature film, 1951, director: Rolf Thiele)

Wozzeck (feature film, 1947, directed by Georg C. Klaren)

Brethren. Between Heaven and Earth (feature film, 1922/23, directed by Rochus Gliese)

The Schellenberg Brothers (feature film, 1926, directed by Karl Grune)

Die Fächermalerin (feature film, 1913, director: Rudolf Meinert)

Masks (feature film, 1929, directed by Rudolf Meinert)

William Voß. The Millionaire Thief (feature film, 1915, directed by Rudolf Meinert)

https://www.stummfilm-magazin.de/aktuel ... gefoerdert
https://www.ffa.de/pressemitteilungen-d ... gefoerdert

[Stefan Andersson]

René Clair 4K restorations at Film Forum:
https://filmforum.org/do-not-enter-or-m ... yer_V7.pdf

[Stefan Andersson]

Cannes Classics 2025. Among the restored films are:

The Gold Rush
Amores perros
The Arch (Tang Shu Shuen)
Dogma: Resurrected – A 25th Anniversary Celebration!
Sunshine (Szabó)
Yi Yi
Hard Boiled
Merlusse
Days and Nights in the Forest
La Course en tête
Floating Clouds
Gehenu Lamai
La Paga
Magirama (Four short films in polyvision: Auprès de ma blonde, Fête foraine, Château des nuages, J’accuse)
Más allá del olvido
Saïd Effendi
Sterne
Waqai sinin al-djamr
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Barry Lyndon

Most of these are 4K restoration.

Articles about Cannes Classics and Films de la Plage published daily here:
https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/news/

PDF press kits are usually added to some (if not all) film pages, see for instance Wolf´s Sterne:
https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/the- ... s-classics

Older film pages (select year and section):
https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/retrospective/

[dadaistnun]

Samba Traoré, Ouedraogo:
https://lallianceny.org/event/samba-tra ... ts-cinema/

Locarno has this streaming for free through June 6.

[Stefan Andersson]

Just Around the Corner (1921, Frances Marion) restored, showing at the Jacob Burns Film Center (part of Rediscovered and Restored):
https://burnsfilmcenter.org/booking/the ... he-corner/

Full program:
https://burnsfilmcenter.org/series/rest ... ival-2025/

[Stefan Andersson]

Asthenic Syndrome, 4K:
https://www.filmlinc.org/films/the-asthenic-syndrome/

Monica Vitti series with some new 4K restorations:
https://www.filmlinc.org/daily/flc-and- ... june-6-19/

Hearts of Darkness restored from original elements, on UHD:
https://www.hometheaterforum.com/commun ... hd.386078/

[rrenault]

Asthenic Syndrome, 4K:
https://www.filmlinc.org/films/the-asthenic-syndrome/

Monica Vitti series with some new 4K restorations:
https://www.filmlinc.org/daily/flc-and- ... june-6-19/

Hearts of Darkness restored from original elements, on UHD:
https://www.hometheaterforum.com/commun ... hd.386078/

I'm guessing the 4K Restoration of Red Desert in the Monica Vitti series is the same one released on blu-ray by Carlotta...

Also, is the restoration of Floating Clouds showing in Cannes Classics this year a newer master than the one released on blu-ray by BFI less than a year ago?

It's also a bit odd a 60th anniversary 4K restoration of Pierrot Le Fou is nowhere to be found. I'd expect that to be in the UHD pipeline given the sort of Studio Canal titles that have already been released on the format, although I vaguely remember hearing there are issues with its available elements.

[Stefan Andersson]

Also, is the restoration of Floating Clouds showing in Cannes Classics this year a newer master than the one released on blu-ray by BFI less than a year ago?

The BFI Blu is based on the Toho 4K restoration according to this review:
http://www.cineoutsider.com/reviews/blu ... ds_br.html

Cannes restoration info:
"Floating Clouds by Mikio Naruse (1955, 2h04, Japan)
(Nuages flottants)

A presentation of TOHO Global Inc. Digital restoration by TOHO Co.,Ltd. For the 4K restoration, the 35mm master positive print was supplied by TOHO and produced by TOHO Archive Co, Ltd. Images and sound respectively digitized by ARRISCAN and SONDOR RESONANCES. Restoration was carried out to celebrate the director’s 120th anniversary since his birth. French distributor: Carlotta Films"
https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/pres ... sics-2025/