11:30 am update: I’ve just been informed from a knowledgeable source that the 4K Godfather has been tastefully de-grained and DNR’ed! Which nobody has reported so far. And that the slightly blown-out (i.e., white-ish, sun-bleached) look of the outdoor wedding celebration has been modified so it looks less blown-out. And that the rich 1940s-era celluloid colors (those wonderful reds, ambers and taxicab yellows) have been turned down a little bit. So — no one has said this anywhere — the new 4K Godfather doesn’t really look like Gordon Willis’s original version. Not really. The 2008 restoration is a faithful capturing and enhancing of the original, but the newbie is doing its own thing. That’s not a put-down — it’s just a different bird. Or, as Larry Karaszewski said last night, “stunning.”
This 2008 vs, 2022 comparison video, posted on 3.20.22 by Forgotten Tomatoes, conforms to descriptions of the 4K version. I can’t tell about the DNR-ing, but the newbie is seemingly sharper and slightly brighter but less warm. The bleachy wedding party palette has been toned down. It’s certainly different.
Earlier this morning:
The 4K digital restoration of The Godfather screened Monday night (3.21) at the Academy Museum. Larry Karaszewski attended and called the allegedly rejuvenated appearance of Francis Coppola’s 1972 classic “stunning.” Here’s my reply to Larry, posted this morning on Facebook:
“Larry — You’re a good, careful writer so I’d like to ask if you really and truly found the 4K digital Godfather restoration to be ‘stunning.’
“I often give in to hyperbole myself so I’m not finding fault or trying to give you a hard time. I haven’t yet seen the 4K Godfather but given that it’s built upon the magnificent 2008 restoration by Robert Harris, and given the general reverence for the look of the original Gordon Willis photography and the original 1972 grain structure and no one recently claiming that they’ve tastefully DNR’ed or de-grained the look of it [update — I’m hearing that tasteful DNR has been applied], I don’t see how it could possibly be honestly described as ‘stunning.’
“In this context that word would have to mean ‘whoa!’, agreeably startling, slap-in-the-face unexpected, so good it shakes you deep down. In HE parlance, you seem to be saying that this new rendering delivers an unmistakable ‘bump.’ To which I’m obliged to say ‘okay but really?’
Extra: A frame capture of the 2018 Godfather remake in which Tatiana has a small role.
