Li Xu, commentator of the Yangtze River Daily
About a century ago, in 1925 to be precise, when screens around the world were black and white, a bright red flag was raised at the end of the Soviet film Battleship Potemkin. The dazzling red color was painted by hand on the film by hand. At that moment, the moviegoer saw "red" on the screen for the first time.
It was the perfect combination of genius imagination, revolutionary aesthetics, and craftsmanship that shocked the world; for a century, almost all the best films on the list were none other than Battleship Potemkin.
In 2021, New China's first classic film about the heroes of the party's hidden front, "The Eternal Radio Wave", became the first black-and-white feature film in China to enter the theater after 4K color restoration, and the majority of audiences experienced the unique charm of "red classic + digital technology" on the big screen.
I've seen the movie many times, but this time, I also walked into the cinema. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the colors were real and natural, just right, neither the bright sense of fashion blockbusters, but also avoided the old feeling of old photos; 4K restoration restored the image details of that year, the actors' expressions and art backgrounds were clearly visible, and in addition to appreciating the acting skills, I could also appreciate how the film crew in 1958 worked hard.
This is the result of the combination of human-computer interactive AI coloring technology and traditional restoration techniques with independent intellectual property rights in China, and the repair of more than 160,000 black and white images of the original film frame by frame for more than 7 months. This red classic has thus been rejuvenated and has become a vivid teaching material for carrying out party history study education and patriotism education. On October 6, since the release of the restored version of "Eternal Radio Waves", the praise has continued, and "digital technology awakens the red classic" has made a good start.
The head is open, the road is right, and we must continue to walk. Since the founding of New China 72 years ago, literary and art workers have created a number of red masterpieces that are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and it is one of the things that must be done to carefully select some masterpieces and use digital technology and new means of communication to make them shine again.
Works such as "The Eternal Wave", which has been adapted many times in the past half century, can explore IP, can also consider the development of peripherals, as well as short videos and other forms, can be tried. The successful use of scientific and technological means in the restoration process is also a kind of science popularization, which can also stimulate young people to participate, interact and communicate. In short, there is still a lot of work to be done to activate the red classic, let it enter the moment, talk to the youth.
【Editor: Ding Fei】