JOUR DE FETE - new restoration

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Uli Ruedel
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JOUR DE FETE - new restoration

Postby Uli Ruedel » Fri May 24, 2013 2:28 pm

Apparently Tati's JOUR DE FETE, as just screened in Cannes, and scheduled for Bologna, is a new 2K restoration, by Les Films de Mon Oncle and L'Immagine Ritrovata, of the long-unseen, original BW release version: http://www.artistikrezo.com/2013051012504/actualites/Cinema/jour-de-fete-comedie-de-jacques-tati-cannes-classics-2013.html -- most welcome news indeed...!

Uli

Matt Barry
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Re: JOUR DE FETE - new restoration

Postby Matt Barry » Fri May 24, 2013 6:38 pm

Uli Ruedel wrote:Apparently Tati's JOUR DE FETE, as just screened in Cannes, and scheduled for Bologna, is a new 2K restoration, by Les Films de Mon Oncle and L'Immagine Ritrovata, of the long-unseen, original BW release version: http://www.artistikrezo.com/2013051012504/actualites/Cinema/jour-de-fete-comedie-de-jacques-tati-cannes-classics-2013.html -- most welcome news indeed...!

Uli


Very good news! Always glad to see one of the Tati films get a restoration. I believe JOUR DE FETE had been restored to color in the mid-90s, but I've only seen the 70 minute/black & white version on VHS, and enjoyed it immensely.
Matt Barry

Uli Ruedel
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Re: JOUR DE FETE - new restoration

Postby Uli Ruedel » Sat May 25, 2013 4:51 am

Sure? Usually it is the 1964 re-release version, with added framing story and selected color effects, that is seen (most recently, and finally, on a BFI BluRay in the English version), but more and more this has been replaced by the 1995 Thomsoncolor restoration. The only opportunity where I saw the original all-BW version was a reconstruction on WDR, in 1987 I believe, where the version's unique scenes seemed to be lifted from a poor 16mm print and integrated into a BW transfer of the '64. But there must have been other screenings or releases ... and I think my favorite will remain the '64.

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Re: JOUR DE FETE - new restoration

Postby Matt Barry » Sat May 25, 2013 5:11 pm

Uli Ruedel wrote:Sure? Usually it is the 1964 re-release version, with added framing story and selected color effects, that is seen (most recently, and finally, on a BFI BluRay in the English version), but more and more this has been replaced by the 1995 Thomsoncolor restoration. The only opportunity where I saw the original all-BW version was a reconstruction on WDR, in 1987 I believe, where the version's unique scenes seemed to be lifted from a poor 16mm print and integrated into a BW transfer of the '64. But there must have been other screenings or releases ... and I think my favorite will remain the '64.

Uli


I'd have to look at the tape again, but the version I have is almost certainly the 1964 re-release that you're describing, since it had the selected color effects. This was the VHS issued by Voyager. I haven't seen the Thomsoncolor restoration yet, though. In any case, I'll look forward to this new restoration.
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Uli Ruedel
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Re: JOUR DE FETE - new restoration

Postby Uli Ruedel » Sun May 26, 2013 6:01 am

Yes, that was the default version until the originally intendeed and photographed color could finally be restored, requiring re-editing though. The Thomsoncolor restoration is fascinating in its own right, a major, marvelous restoration success, and now finally on Blu-Ray (where you can even see the tiny vertical lines of the lenticular film stock). By the way, Older DVDs that combine the two versions might be worth hanging on to, though, having the French version of the '64 and the color restoration documentary. I haven't done an A/B comparison myself, however Stefan Droessler writes (in Multiversions by FilmoTeca de Catalunya) that the all-color version "differs significantly from the black and white version edited by Tati and is far less funny than the original," while Jonathan Rosenbaum just re-posted his 1998 essay praising the faithfulness of the restoration (http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.com/?p=6589). Well, I don't mind at all having three versions to choose from, after Les Films de Mon Oncle already brought back the first and final versions of Vacances, and both Mon Oncle and My Uncle!

Uli

David B Pearson
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Re: JOUR DE FETE - new restoration

Postby David B Pearson » Mon May 27, 2013 1:36 am

Uli Ruedel wrote:Yes, that was the default version until the originally intendeed and photographed color could finally be restored, requiring re-editing though. The Thomsoncolor restoration is fascinating in its own right, a major, marvelous restoration success, and now finally on Blu-Ray (where you can even see the tiny vertical lines of the lenticular film stock). By the way, Older DVDs that combine the two versions might be worth hanging on to, though, having the French version of the '64 and the color restoration documentary. I haven't done an A/B comparison myself, however Stefan Droessler writes (in Multiversions by FilmoTeca de Catalunya) that the all-color version "differs significantly from the black and white version edited by Tati and is far less funny than the original," while Jonathan Rosenbaum just re-posted his 1998 essay praising the faithfulness of the restoration (http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.com/?p=6589). Well, I don't mind at all having three versions to choose from, after Les Films de Mon Oncle already brought back the first and final versions of Vacances, and both Mon Oncle and My Uncle!

Uli


I have done an A-B comparison of the mostly B&W with the older all-color version. They ARE very differently edited, and the black and white is far superior -- both in the camera angles, and in the editing.

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Re: JOUR DE FETE - new restoration

Postby Uli Ruedel » Mon May 27, 2013 6:27 am

Thanks, David! It will be interesting to see whether those editing difference were made when Tati revisited the film in '64 -- since the color version explicitly aimed to follow the editing of the '49. When WDR television showed the '49 in the 80s, most of the material was lifted from a print of the later version, supplemented from a rather poor print of the BW original for its unique scenes. That would indeed suggest that the non-framing story sequences should be largely identical.

The different camera angle due to the use of a BW and a color camera seems to be small, looking at the DVD Beaver comparison (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare2/jourdefete.htm) -- which I think includes one frame grab from the computer-colorized sequences...

Uli

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Re: JOUR DE FETE - new restoration

Postby David B Pearson » Mon May 27, 2013 11:53 am

Uli Ruedel wrote:Thanks, David! It will be interesting to see whether those editing difference were made when Tati revisited the film in '64 -- since the color version explicitly aimed to follow the editing of the '49. When WDR television showed the '49 in the 80s, most of the material was lifted from a print of the later version, supplemented from a rather poor print of the BW original for its unique scenes. That would indeed suggest that the non-framing story sequences should be largely identical.

The different camera angle due to the use of a BW and a color camera seems to be small, looking at the DVD Beaver comparison (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare2/jourdefete.htm) -- which I think includes one frame grab from the computer-colorized sequences...

Uli


Sorry, I should have been clearer on that.

The angle differences are significant, not in the direction of the camera, but mainly in that the color camera tended to be further away from the action, making the B&W more personal. Tati is, after all, not Keaton. I also noticed that they are also sometimes alternate takes, much like a foreign and domestic print of a silent. But the main flaw is still in the editing. The color version is "lazy" by comparison, which hurts mostly in the bicycle race in the final reel (when Tati IS most like Keaton).

DBP
Last edited by David B Pearson on Sun Jun 16, 2013 11:48 am, edited 1 time in total.

Uli Ruedel
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Re: JOUR DE FETE - new restoration

Postby Uli Ruedel » Mon Jun 10, 2013 3:10 am

No worries, thanks for the intriguing details. The point I was trying to make, then, is whether this 'laziness' is one unique to the color restoration, or accurately replicates the editing of the 1949 BW original. After all, Tati might well have fine-tuned the editing when revisiting and part-coloring the film in '64.

Uli

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Re: JOUR DE FETE - new restoration

Postby David B Pearson » Sun Jun 16, 2013 11:55 am

Uli Ruedel wrote:No worries, thanks for the intriguing details. The point I was trying to make, then, is whether this 'laziness' is one unique to the color restoration, or accurately replicates the editing of the 1949 BW original. After all, Tati might well have fine-tuned the editing when revisiting and part-coloring the film in '64.

Uli


If so, the "ultimate" JOUR DE FETE might be a colorized version of the '64!

DBP


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