Cannes Classics for 2010: The Leopard, The Tin Drum and Psycho Restored

Boudu Saved from Drowning by Jean Renoir in a restored version with unseen footage. René Clément, Luchino Visconti, Hector Babenco, Volker Schlöndorff, Mrinal Sen, and Luis Buñuel once again in the official selection. Rare footage from Marcel Lherbier. A restoration of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, for which work done on the sound means the film can be heard in a new way. Jack Cardiff, Ingmar Bergman and ‘cinema surfing’. 

Cannes Classics, created in 2004, accompanies contemporary films from the Official Selection with a programme of restored films and lost films that have been found again, as part of their re-release in cinemas or on DVD. The screenings will be held at the Palais des Festival and will be shown again at La Licorne.

The programme

 – LA BATAILLE DU RAIL (The Battle of the Rails) (France, 1946, 82’) by René Clément, awarded the Jury Prize in 1946, restored by INA and Full Images, will be screened in the presence of Mrs. Johanna Clément.

– BOUDU SAUVE DES EAUX (Boudu Saved from Drowning) by Jean Renoir (France, 85’, 1932), a restoration presented by Pathé in a never-before-seen version that includes scenes that were cut in the original. Copy restored by the Cinematheque of Bologna.

-TRISTANA (Spain/France/Italy, 99’ 1970) by Luis Buñuel, selected in Cannes in 1970, will be shown as part of a celebration of Spanish cinema at the initiative of French Minister of Culture Frédéric Mitterrand, who has invited his Spanish counterpart and several contemporary Spanish artists. Copy preserved by the Filmoteca Espagnole. The film will be presented by Pedro Almodovar.

– IL GATTOPARDO (The Leopard) (Italy, 185’, 1963) by Luchino Visconti, winner of the Palme d’Or in 1963. Restored in association with Cineteca di Bologna, L’Immagine Ritrovata, The Film Foundation, Pathé, Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé, Twentieth Century Fox and Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia-Cineteca Nazionale. Restoration funding provided by Gucci and The Film Foundation. Digital Picture Restoration, Colorworks. Sound laboratory services, L’Immagine Ritrovata. Special Thanks to Martin Scorsese, Titanus and Giuseppe Rotunno.

-DIE BLECHTROMEL (The Tin Drum) (Germany, 140’) by Volker Schlöndorff, winner of the Palme d’Or in 1979, restored and re-edited by Kinowelt in a ‘director’s cut’ presented by the author.

-KHANDAHAR (The Ruins) (India, 102’) directed in 1983 by Mrinal Sen, one of Indian cinema’s greats, who will be attending the screening. Restoration by Reliance MediaWorks with the support of the Indian State and the National Film Archive of India.

-LA CAMPAGNE DE CICERON (France, 111’, 1989) by Jacques Davila who passed away in 1991, in the presence of the film crew, who have come back for the occasion. Restoration presented by the Cinematheque of Toulouse with the support of the Groupama Gan Foundation for Cinema. The film will be re-released on DVD by Carlotta.

-LA 317e SECTION (France, 94’), which won Best Screenplay in 1965; copy restored by the Cinematheque Française and StudioCanal with the support of the Franco-American Cultural Fund, in the presence of its director Pierre Schoendoerffer and the President of the Cinémathèque Costa-Gavras. 

-LE GRAND AMOUR (The Great Love) (France, 87’), in competition in Cannes in 1969, directed and presented by Pierre Etaix. Film Restored by Studio 37, the Technicolor Foundation for Cinema and the Fondation Groupama Gan for Cinema.

-AFRICAN QUEEN (United States / United Kingdom, 105’, 1951) by John Huston. Copy restored by Paramount Pictures and ITV, and sponsored by Angelica Huston.

-AU PETIT BONHEUR (Happy Go Lucky) by Marcel L’Herbier (France, 102’, 1946). Copy restored by the Archives Française du film (CNC) and StudioCanal.

-PSYCHO (United States, 109’, 1960) by Alfred Hitchcock. Copy restored by Universal Pictures and Audionamix. Please note that the film’s soundtrack has been restored/reconstructed.

-KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN (United States / Brazil, 120’) by Hector Babenco, (Best actor – Cannes – 1985). Copy restored by Ascent Media and Prime Focus, in the presence of the film crew for its 25th anniversary. The film will soon be re-released in France (Carlotta Films).

Finally, the World Cinema Foundation, established in Cannes by Martin Scorsese in 2007, presents: MEST (The Red Flute) by Ermek Shinarbaev, (Kazakhstan, 96’, 1989), KÉT LÁNY AZ UTCÁN (Two Girls in the Street) by André de Toth (Hungary, 85’, 1939,) and TITASH EKTI NADIR NAAM (A River Called Titas) by Ritwik Ghatak (India, 158’, 1973,). The copies come from the national film archives of Kazakhstan, Hungary and India. They were restored by the Cinematheque of Bologne / L’Immagine Ritrovata.

The Cinematheque of Bologna will also be presenting two short films: IL RUSCELLO DI RIPASOTTILE (Italy, 1941, 6’) by Roberto Rossellini, and THE ELOQUENT PEASANT by Chadi Abdel Salam (Egypt, 1970, 8’).

Documentaries

-HOLLYWOOD DON’T SURF (United States, 2010, 85’) by Greg MacGillivray, explores the theme of surfing in American films, with contributions from, among others, John Milius and Steven Spielberg.

-CAMERAMAN: THE LIFE AND WORK OF JACK CARDIFF (United Kingdom, 2010, 90’) by Craig McCall, a documentary on the life and work of one of the greatest British cinematographers who has worked for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, Alfred Hitchcock, Richard Fleischer, John Huston.

-MEN FILMEN ÄR MIN ÄLSKARINNA (…but Film is My Mistress) (Sweden, 2010, 66’) by Stig Bjorkman, is the second in a series of unseen footage of – and by – Bergman, a document produced by the Ingmar Bergman Foundation.

-TOSCAN by Isabelle Partiot-Pieri (France, 2010, 90’) is a sort of ‘posthumous self-portrait’ of Daniel Toscan du Plantier, a French producer who passed away in 2003.