These days all Cannes Classics selections are recently restored in 4K — that’s pretty much a given. So which 2019 selections seem especially enticing?
A 4K restored version of Dennis Hopper‘s Easy Rider will be shown on the 50th anniversary of the film’s Cannes debut. HE factor: Great news about the 4K upgrade but I for one never had the slightest problem with the previous Bluray versions so I’m having trouble feeling worked up. Peter Fonda, 79, will attend the screening.
A 4K remaster of Stanley Kubrick‘s The Shining will be shown (a midnight screening) with a special introduction from Alfonso Cuaron. The 4K remastering used a new 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative. The mastering was done at Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging. The color grading was done by Janet Wilson with supervision from Kubrick’s former personal assistant Leon Vitali. HE factor: Can’t get worked up over this either. The Bluray has always looked fine.
You know what would turn me on? A boxy (1.37:1) Bluray version. Remember how Kubrick was into boxy aspect ratios, and that a boxy Shining was in fact released on DVD 15 or 16 years ago (or something in that realm)?
Three restored Luis Bunuel films will be shown this year: Los Olvidados (restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project at L’Immagine Ritrovata in collaboration with Fundación Televisa, Cineteca Nacional Mexico, and Filmoteca de la UNAM), Nazarín (3K Scan and 3K Digital Restoration from the original 35mm image negative, mastered in 2K for Digital Projection) and L’Âge d’or (4K restoration by la Cinemathèque française and le Centre Pompidou, using the original nitrate negative, original sound and safety elements). HE factor: I would love to watch a mint-condition L’Age d’Or.
A restored version of Lina Wertmüller‘s Seven Beauties (’75). Wertmuller, 90, will introduce with star Giancarlo Giannini in attendance. HE factor: If it all possible, I’ll be attending.
Vittorio De Sica‘s Miracle in Milan (’51) will be screened. 4K Scan and Digital Restoration from the original 35mm camera negative and a vintage dupe positive. Color grading supervised by dp Luca Bigazzi. HE factor: Later.
A 4K digital restoration of Milos Forman‘s Loves of a Blonde (’65) will be shown. Restored in partnership with the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the Czech Film Fund. A doc about Forman’s career, Forman vs. Forman, will also be shown. HE factor: I’ve always worshipped Loves of a Blonde. Very interested.
A 4K restoration of John Huston and Oswald Morris‘s Moulin Rouge (’52) will be screened. Restored from the 35mm Original Nitrate 3-Strip Technicolor Negative. 4K scanning, color grading, digital image restoration and film recording by Cineric, Inc., New York. Colorist: Daniel DeVincent. Audio restoration by Chace Audio. Restoration Consultant: Grover Crisp. HE factor: I love the rosey-red tones in Moulin Rouge, which were intended to approximate the colors in the paintings of Henri de Toulouse Lautrec.
A 4K restoration of Oliver Stone‘s The Doors will be shown. 4K upgrade initiated and supervised by Stone, working from the original negative, scanned in 4k 16 bits on ARRISCAN at Fotokem US. Restoration managed by Imagine Ritrovatta in Italy. Calibrated work supervised by Stone. Immersive soundtrack thanks to the Atmos mix created by Formosa Group, Hollywood, under the supervision of Dolby and original mixers of the film Wylie Stateman and Lon Bender. The movie can be seen in 7.1 and 5.1. Remastered 4K now available in 4K Cinema, UHD Dolby Vision and Atmos. HE factor: I haven’t seen The Doors since my one and only viewing 28 years ago. Undecided as it’s a good but somewhat second-tier effort by Stone, one that over-emphasizes the wild-ass behavior and doesn’t seem to get the cosmic-spiritual-journey side of Morrison’s life.
