By RAY KELLY
Orson Welles fans can expect an exciting start to 2016 with daily screenings of a newly restored Chimes at Midnight at the Film Forum in New York City on January 1 through 12.
The Film Forum showcased the restoration undertaken by Filmoteca Española at the start of 2015 as part of its Orson Welles 100 series, but Repertory Director Bruce Goldstein said the upcoming showings would feature a new restoration from Janus Films and the Criterion Collection. He was kind enough to connect Wellesnet with Criterion President Peter Becker.
The upcoming release, Becker said, is the culmination of more than 20 years and two generations of effort on the part of Janus Films.
“There is no film we have waited longer for or worked harder to free up, and none we are prouder to present,” said Becker of Chimes at Midnight.
“The goal of this restoration was to create the best possible theatrical experience audiences could enjoy today. Using the scan from the Filmoteca, made from the original negative, we were able to make marked improvements in both picture and sound over anything that has been shown before. Careful color correction improved contrast, grey scale, and black levels. Weeks of digital restoration at Criterion addressed dirt, tears, splices, stains, scratches, and flicker. Restoring and evening out the many opticals throughout the film was one of the greatest challenges. The soundtrack has been gently cleaned to remove surface dirt and distracting thumps that appeared at many of the scene changes, but the character of the original, largely post-synced audio has been maintained,” Becker said. “We have been thrilled by the responses to this new version, and we are confident that once audiences are reintroduced to the film, it will be able to retake its rightful place as one of Welles’ masterpieces.”
He added, “While this restored release fulfills what we feel is a longstanding debt to U.S. audiences – making one of the treasures of cinema history broadly available in a high-quality presentation for the first time in many decades – our work on Chimes at Midnight is not done. We will continue to collaborate with Filmoteca, the Piedra family and archivists and restorers around the world to bring about the full preservation and 4K restoration the film deserves, but that process may take years to complete. At this moment, at the culmination of Welles’ centenary, we feel that what the film needs most is an audience, and thanks to this restoration we feel confident that the film will reach that audience looking the best it ever has.”
He noted the discovery earlier this year of what was described as an original, pristine 35mm print of Chimes at Midnight.
“We opted not to use it,” Becker said. “It is indeed a very good print, but a print. There is no comparison in detail between even the best-made and preserved print and an original negative or fine-grained master, which are pre-print elements with much finer resolution.”
It has been expected that Chimes at Midnight will make its U.S. Blu-ray debut in late 2016. However, Becker said that a release date has not been announced by Criterion.
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