Over the past few years film restorations have exploded in popularity, driven by demand from reparatory theaters and UHD Blu-ray collectors. Boutique labels like Criterion, Arrow, and Shout Factory have upgraded once shoddy releases into pristine 4K transfers. The projects span a wide range of decades and genres, from Barry Lyndon to RoboCop, High and Low to Se7en, Hard Boiled to A History of Violence.
But restorations often generate controversy. Critics argue the restorations go too far, distracting from a movie’s original artistry and aesthetics, and in some cases edging into remake territory. For example, the 2021 restoration of Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love shifted the color palette towards greens, muting the the reds and whites of earlier releases. Many complained the colder color palette dulled the movie’s lauded costuming and cinematography. Similarly, David Fincher’s updates to Se7en used digital touchups to replace actors heads, change backgrounds, and reframe shots. Online debates broke out on whether Fincher’s edits ultimately helped or distracted from the final picture.
The restoration debate is ultimately about ownership. Should restorations honor the creator’s intent or the audience’s original memory? And how far can you restore a movie before it becomes a different work altogether?
I’m firmly on the side of the creators. Setting limits about what changes are “acceptable” trap films into niche nostalgia pieces, when movies are strengthened by reaching new audiences. When given the time, budget, and technological advances to revisit their work, original creators almost always improve the final product.
Besides, audiences don’t have a single uniform perspective. Some fall in love with an original theatrical print’s color grade; others may not care for it and enjoy a fresh perspective. Our memories are also unreliable. Theater and home viewing technology has come a long way from decades prior. For those of us who watched older film projections in a theater, or on DVD and VHS at home, there could be significant inconsistencies in what we saw depending on the film’s print quality or our TV setup. Brightness, contrast, color, and sound would vary far more than your average experience on a modern HDTV through streaming or a Blu-ray.
Even if there was a consensus view, I’d still trust the original filmmakers. Fans only see the finished product. That’s a mere fraction of the perspective on a film that a director, cinematographer, historian, or restoration house have on the same film.
That doesn’t mean I agree with every creative change. I prefer the warmer color cast of earlier releases of In the Mood For Love. But the Criterion 4K release is also sourced from a rescan of the original camera negative. Older versions were struck from a lower quality 35mm interpolative. The sound is also built from a fresh remaster in 5.1, adding new foley and sound effects to fill out the surround mix. The result makes for a subtle yet noticeable improvement in overall visual detail and immersion, especially relevant for a movie so dependent on its costuming and cinematography. I found any perceived annoyances with the green color cast faded away after a few minutes of watching.
Even digital ‘restorations’ of new films produced with vintage filmmaking techniques can lead to questionable creative decisions. I was disappointed that my The Brutalist 4K Blu-ray — shot mostly in high contrast 35mm VistaVision film stock — was only mastered in standard dynamic range (SDR), not the HDR that typifies most 4K discs. But then I watched the Blu-ray and was blown away by the visual experience. The disc has astounding detail, due to a painstaking 6K scan of the original film negative. Noise reduction is used sparingly to preserve the film stock’s original grain and texture.
My experiences with In the Mood For Love and The Brutalist are a reminder that the overall benefits of the restoration almost always outweigh any downsides. In the end, I’ve almost never been let down by a film restoration. Trust the creators. Be it a repertory screening, digital download, or 4K Blu-ray, there’s a good chance you won’t be disappointed.