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Rashomon print restored, Kurosawa exhibition in California

RashomonThe US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has completed a digital restoration project to clean up Rashomon, and will be premiering the new print at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater on September 18 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Kurosawa’s passing.

The September 18 screening kicks off a three-month Kurosawa retrospective, which also includes many other of the director’s movies, as well as an exhibition displaying a selection of Kurosawa’s paintings and other artwork.

On the opening night, the Academy will also host a panel discussion, the participants of which are still largely to be announced, but should include people Kurosawa worked with, as well as his family members, including his son and the present head of Kurosawa Productions, Hisao Kurosawa.

The exhibition, titled Akira Kurosawa: Film Artist, will run in the Academy galleries until October 4.

Source: Variety.

Update: Much more information about the restoration and the retrospective can be found at SciFi Japan.


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Discussion

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Jeremy Quintanilla

I wonder who did the actual clean up, and how good it is compared to a new stuff Criterion is doing and the current Criterion Rashomon.. The last movie I saw, that was remaster by the MPAA, they commissioned Warner Brothers and it look like crap. Apparently they where under the impression if you just brighten everything up, to the point that whites become blown out, people will think it looks better.

I would consider going for this thing, but being in California 🙄 Lets just I, uhh…to avoid a string of 4 letter words– dislike the place.

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Vili Maunula

SciFi Japan has an article that answers some of your questions, Jeremy.

Apparently, for example, the picture restoration was carried out by companies called Lowry Digital and YCM laboratory as part of Kadokawa Pictures’ Genban-hozon (Film Preservation) Project.

The article also includes some comments from people involved in the project, as well as detailed information about the exhibition and the screening schedule.

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Jeremy Quintanilla

Thanks, Vili

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Fabien

I was looking for some information in order to update my site and, suddenly, I stumbled upon this product page.
With the help of an automated translation tool, I found that it was about a Blu-Ray release of Rashomon (expected for the 6th of February) and it seems to be based on the restoration work presented here by Vili.

A japanese reader to confirm this?

As far as I know, it would be the first digital release based on this specific restoration, it would also be the first Blu-Ray release of any Kurosawa’s film (a Ran HD-DVD already exists) as Criterion more or less announced to be interested in this but also to have planned nothing yet.

A box is also announced, including The Quiet Duel, Ran and Madadayo.
Are all these films expected to be re-released on Blu-Rays as well or did I misunderstand?

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Vili Maunula

Thanks for the heads-up, Fabien! I wrote a news piece on these releases. As far as I can see, the other films in the box set are also Blu-ray, but not restored like Rashomon.

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Fabien

East Americans may rejoice, as restored Rashomon will be shown in New York at Film Forum until mid-June.

Someone here intending to go to this, or already have the chance to watch the restoration work?

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cocoskyavitch

Yes, it was shown at the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor about a year ago. Really beautiful on the big screen, and such a treat. The audience was comprised of film students (with notebooks in hand) and Ann Arbor types (highly educated conservatives and hippeewannabees-sharing a passion for Whole Foods and recycling.)

August 2008…hmmm. This makes me wonder about the time line.

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cocoskyavitch

So, some information about the restoration is here: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/sep/16/entertainment/et-kurosawa16
I had no idea that they did not have a nitrate original, and had to find bits and pieces from prints. The version I saw was very clean. There was something quite hypnotically beautiful about the lighter areas-it may be that the scale of the big screen works to create a sense of immersion-surrounded by the forest light. Also, it felt quite cold and wet in the gate scenes. The big screen does have its advantages!

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