Recent Film Restorations

[Stefan Andersson]

Info about upcoming German film restorations, including Die Andere (Lamprecht, 1924), Herrenpartie (Staudte, 1963/64), Ich und die Kaiserin (Hollaender, 1932/33), Dagfin (May, 1926):

https://www.ffa.de/pressemitteilungen-d ... ilmen.html

Les Miserables (Capellani, 1912) restored, also shown at Cinema Ritrovato 2022:
https://www.filmpodium.ch/film/171025/l ... s-teil-1-2
https://www.filmpodium.ch/film/171026/l ... s-teil-3-4

[FrauBlucher]

Thought this was important enough to post here...
PT Anderson and Steven Spielberg talk film preservation and restoration at the TCM Film Festival

[hearthesilence]

Posted by Frank Yan re: A City of Sadness:

I regret to learn that this is NOT a restoration in any way. It’s a simple digitalization of the film and it’s not even a scan of the original negative. According to the producer, this version won’t be available for home video or streaming release for at least the next 3 years.

[yoloswegmaster]

Cannes Classics 2023

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Posted by Frank Yan re: A City of Sadness:

I regret to learn that this is NOT a restoration in any way. It’s a simple digitalization of the film and it’s not even a scan of the original negative. According to the producer, this version won’t be available for home video or streaming release for at least the next 3 years.

There was some discussion of this over on the HHH thread. The official line is that no restoration was needed due to the excellent condition of the materials, though the word "restoration" is so commonly used these days for any kind of 2K or 4K scan that this point has become muddled. The TFAI website (which has always listed the film under their section for scans, not restorations) states it was sourced from a "35mm反底," which is odd since that term isn't typically associated with motion picture film—technical dictionaries I consulted define 反底片 as a diapositive, which doesn't make much sense here. My best guess is that 反底 is a variant or typo of 翻底 (dupe negative), 反 and 翻 in this context being almost-synonymous near-homophones.

Here, incidentally, is an article from March confirming the "three years" information (Chiu Fu-sheng wants it to be seen in theaters) and that there have been inquiries from distributors in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, the UK, France, and Germany.

[Stefan Andersson]

Restored short films by Jane Campion, Cate Shortland, Gillian Armstrong and others:
https://www.sff.org.au/program/browse/a ... hort-films

Deewar (Yash Chopra, 1975) and other Amitabh Bachchan films:
https://www.sff.org.au/program/strands/ ... rospective

[hearthesilence]

I saw a good but slightly worn 35mm print of Oshima's Boy and it does indeed have a yellowish tinge, even in the white sky and snow scenes. Biggest surprise - it'll change from shot to shot. (Like it'll cut to, say, a whiter looking shot in terms of the snow and back again. Apparently the production had a tight budget and a skeleton crew, FWIW.) So what's streaming could be accurate.

Cissé's Den Muso is a great looking restoration, but I have one complaint - some stretches weren't subtitled, and there were two instances where some of the audience members understood those sections and laughed heartily. Hopefully they fix this if they release a physical copy in the U.S.

Also Cissé's Yeleen is currently being restored by the Film Foundation per Scorsese (see Lincoln Center's social media post).

[Stefan Andersson]

Cannes Classics 2023 list, now with additional titles, among them Ces messieurs de la santé starring Raimu, El Esqueleto de la Senora Morales, and Hombre de la Esquina Rosada (written by José Luis Borges):
https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/pres ... -classics/
https://www.festival-cannes.com/selecti ... s-classics

[Stefan Andersson]

The Oath of the Sword (1914), earliest known Asian American production, restored:
https://www.academymuseum.org/en/progra ... 7813ea2e6a
https://www.umb.edu/news/detail/profess ... ilent_film

[AxeYou]

I hope this is the right thread: Park Circus published a "Home Entertainment: New MGM UHD Master List" on May 16. These are described as "a new selection of popular MGM classics, now available for home entertainment licensing in stunning 4K."

https://www.parkcircus.com/latest/P2711 ... aster-List

(They are a legit site. My local rep theater rents 35mm prints from them.)

These are titles not yet released on 4K anywhere or confirmed to have a 4K resto:

- 1984
- Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey
- Blue Velvet
- The Context (AKA Illustrious Corpses)
- Creature
- A Dry White Season
- Fargo
- Moonstruck
- Moulin Rouge
- Sid and Nancy
- Valley Of Death
- West Side Story (1961)
- When Harry Met Sally

[hearthesilence]

Blue Velvet had a 4K restoration several years ago - it's the source for Criterion's Blu-ray, though it has yet to get a UHD release.

[AxeYou]

Yes. I included a title in the list, either if it hasn't reached 4K BD, or if we haven't yet seen confirmation of a 4K restoration.

EDIT: Oops I realized the latter is a subset of the former

[Stefan Andersson]

Library of Congress festival of film & sound program --- includes restorations such as All That Money Can Buy, The Lady (Borzage, 1925), Johanna Enlists (William Desmond Taylor, 1918), Memory Lane (1926, John M Stahl), and the first Gerald Mc Boing Boing short:
https://www.loc.gov/events/film-and-sou ... ial-guests

[L.A.]

A restoration of Per Aspera Ad Astra was famously botched by the director's son. That "restored" version should be avoided like a plague. There were rumors of the original version been also restored and shown in UK in 2019.

Saw this Blu-ray from Ostalgica that came out in May 2022. Even though not mentioned on the back cover and in the menu, did some research and according to this site it has Russian language soundtrack and English subtitles and seems to be the original version.

[Yakushima]

A restoration of Per Aspera Ad Astra was famously botched by the director's son. That "restored" version should be avoided like a plague. There were rumors of the original version been also restored and shown in UK in 2019.

Saw this Blu-ray from Ostalgica that came out in May 2022. Even though not mentioned on the back cover and in the menu, did some research and according to this site it has Russian language soundtrack and English subtitles and seems to be the original version.

L.A., thank you for the heads-up, this is a very exciting find! Based on Amazon info, it does have a running time of the original version - 2 hours and 25 minutes. I will order the Blu-ray at once and will share the details when it arrives.

[andyli]

Full program for Ritrovato 2023 has been released. The Recovered and Restored section is, as usual, full of recently completed projects. Notable new 4k restorations yet to appear on disc:

The Pianist (Polanski), Fear and Desire (Kubrick), The Straight Story (Lynch), The Dreamers (Bertolucci), La captive (Akerman), Classe tous risques (Sautet), The Woman Next Door (Truffaut), Man's Castle (Borzage), The Burmese Harp (Ichikawa), Lightning over Water (Wenders), The Suspect (Siodmak), Cross of Iron (Peckinpah), Dragnet Girl (Ozu), Cry, the Beloved Country (Korda), Tire au flanc (Renoir), Time Masters (Laloux), Spellbound (Hitchcock), A Very Private Affair (Malle), etc.

[hearthesilence]

Full program for Ritrovato 2023 has been released. The Recovered and Restored section is, as usual, full of recently completed projects. Notable new 4k restorations yet to appear on disc:

La captive (Akerman)
Man's Castle (Borzage)

I just saw a DCP of La captive - looks okay but it could definitely use a better scan. I imagine the elements should be in great condition - the film's not that old and she has a great relationship with the Royal Film Archive of Belgium.

I've been waiting forever for a high-quality digital release of Man's Castle. I caught one (maybe two?) of MoMA's 35mm screenings, and it's a beautiful-looking print, possibly their own. It may very well be my favorite film from either Borzage or Spencer Tracy.

[therewillbeblus]

Wonder if Criterion will license The Straight Story from Disney on their road to Lynch-completism

[yoloswegmaster]

If Lost Highway is any indication, we could see the rights for The Straight Story revert back to Lynch/StudioCanal next year as it's the 25th anniversary.

[Stefan Andersson]

The print of Kubrick´s Fear and Desire at Ritrovato runs 70 minutes; it´s the original release version according to the catalogue (downloadable under Programme/Screenings: https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/news/),
shown at the 1952 Venice Film Festival under the title Shape of Fear, recently rediscovered and restored in 4K in 2023 by Kino Lorber the Library of Congress from 35mm OCN and fine grain master:
https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/e ... nd-desire/

[beamish14]

I was just reading Paul Seydor’s book on Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, and it made me think about when we’d see Cross of Iron in 4K. Magnificent film that isn’t talked about enough

[mas114]

Peckinpah’s Cross of Iron 4K UHD coming out via Studio Canal 32 August.
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Cross-of ... ay/338551/

Available pre-order at Fnac, with English audio track.
https://www.fnac.com/a18086935/Croix-de ... Blu-ray-4K

[mas114]

Meant of course coming out 31 August

[beamish14]

Meant of course coming out 31 August

Much obliged. I hope it retains the excellent special features from the Blu-Ray

[beamish14]

UCLA is premiering its restorations of Billy Wilder’s The Major and the Minor and A Foreign Affair this weekend