Thursday 8 December 2016

Not Yet On Blu-ray - David Hare gets upset about what the French did to IVAN THE TERRIBLE PT 1

Finally, after years of anticipation the Ruscico restoration of Ivan the Terrible Part 1. These screens are from a very recent Arte France HD broadcast which the producers incomprehensibly wrecked by presenting it in a "live" concert format with endless cutaways to chorus and orchestra with the screen in the background, and - even worse - split screens to keep the ADHD audience at bay (see example below). A total insult surely to the father of dynamic montage. And further insult to one of the great underrated films of all time.
French TV presentation of Ivan the Terrible Part 1
(Click to enlarge) 
For the interim anyway at least until an official Blu-ray and 4K theatrical release, a great looking restoration, the chaotic timing notches on edits, and the frame jumping and instability that plagued older prints have been completely tamed and it appears all surface and emulsion damage has been wiped clean. Image quality on the Arte broadcast is only so so, thanks largely to the idiotic production decision to relegate the actual film to a secondary "event status" in the fucking presentation. Somebody should be shot for this. Where's Stalin when you need him!


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