Reopening day of flowers at sea
Poster for the movie "Flowers on the Sea"
At the premiere ceremony after the restoration of the film, although director Hou Xiaoxian did not personally attend the tour site, he still sent a message to the fans of the Shanghai International Film Festival: "The original work is in Suzhou dialect, and the film speaks the old, new, southern and northern tones, and temporary hard learning of Shanghainese, which is the unique significance of the screening of "Sea Flowers" in Shanghai." ”
Speaking of the "Shanghai Memory" conveyed in "Flowers on the Sea", writer Jin Yucheng sighed: "Whether it is literature or film, it is the artist who records, restores and preserves the life scenes of their respective eras in their own way. "The Legend of flowers on the sea" preserves the memory of Shanghai in that year, which involves human emotions, and Hou Xiaoxian's long lens preserves the dinner party and life scenes of that year with images. Without novels or movies, this part of Life in Shanghai wouldn't have had a chance to be repaired. ”
As a film critic who personally interviewed director Hou Xiaoxian, Wu Libing especially reminded the audience to pay attention to the space scheduling in the film, "Although they are all shots of indoor scenes, Hou Dao used the space scheduling technique of ascending to the pinnacle to depict the personalities of different characters, including the depth of space and the use of tone, which are unprecedented." ”
Stills from the movie "Flowers on the Sea"
As one of the three masterpieces of the famous director Hou Xiaoxian in the 1990s, the film "Flowers on the Sea" is based on Han Bangqing's 1892 novel "The Legend of the Flowers on the Sea", and its Mandarin version is translated by the famous writer Zhang Ailing. The story told by the film takes place in Shanghai in the 1880s, and its rich and delicate emotional atmosphere, full of tension dialogue, heavy ink and color design and amber tones and shadows, are all captured by the lens of the master photographer Li Pingbin, which can be called the classic work of director Hou Xiaoxian's contribution to the film world.
Recreating the aesthetically pleasing visual effects of the original work was a huge challenge, so director Hou Xiaoxian and cinematographer Li Pingbin personally participated in the restoration project, and set up a multilingual and cross-cultural expert team to improve the subtitles in order to better capture the dialogue of the characters in the play and the meaning contained outside the dialogue.
Thirteen movies of the new road
Since the birth of the film for more than a hundred years, countless film masterpieces have transcended time and space, shining in the glorious history of film art, and becoming classics that span the era. For more than a century, film artists carried artistic creations on film. After a hundred years of wind and rain, now film films have gradually faded out of people's sight, a large number of excellent films with the passage of time, facing the risk of fading, mildew, frame loss and even damage, rescue, protection and repair of film films is imminent.
Since 2011, swiss watchmaking brand Jaeger-LeCoultre has joined hands with the Shanghai International Film Festival to start a film restoration project, which is also the first time that the brand has participated in the restoration of film copies in China. Through the latest technical means, the traditional physical media recorded films are converted into digital formats to resist the loss caused by the passage of time. To date, Jaeger-LeCoultre has worked with the Shanghai International Film Festival to restore 13 films. From "A River of Spring Water Flows East", "Stage Sisters", to "Hero's True Colors", "Endless Love", and then to "Outside the Window", "Painting the Soul"... The restoration contains many classics that are rarely shown on the big screen today.
"Stage Sisters" movie copy restoration before and after the picture comparison.
In 2014, Jaeger-LeCoultre restored the 1965 film Stage Sisters. "Stage Sisters" is a color film directed by the famous Chinese director Xie Jin, starring Xie Fang, Cao Yindi, Shangguan Yunzhu and other stars, which caused a great sensation after its release in 1965 and is regarded as a classic of director Xie Jin.
In 2015, Jaeger-LeCoultre restored the movie "New Love".
In 2015, Jaeger-LeCoultre restored the famous Hong Kong director Er Dongsheng's masterpiece "New Love". The film, directed by director Er Dongsheng in 1993, tells the love story between huai cai's unmet musician Ajie and terminally ill Temple Street entertainer Amin, starring Liu Qingyun and Yuan Yongyi. "New Love" has no twists and turns in the storyline and character background, starting from the warmth everywhere, telling a simple love story, depicting it tepidly and just right. The meticulous polishing and the pure performance of the actors in the play make this work a classic and have touched countless fans.
In 2016, the cooperation between Jaeger-LeCoultre and the Shanghai International Film Festival entered its sixth year. During the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival, the restored classic work "The True Colors of Heroes" directed by Wu Yusen was screened. This film is one of Wu Yusen's most important works, establishing its unique aesthetic style of violence and pioneering a new genre of cinema. Because of this restoration, fans can witness the revival of this landmark classic film work and relive the burning years of "Little Margo" on the big screen.
Poster for the movie "The True Colors of Heroes"
In 2017, Jaeger-LeCoultre restored the classic love movie "Outside the Window", which was released in 1973. "Outside the Window" is not only Qiong Yao's novel debut, but also Lin Qingxia's film debut, but also a representative work of director Song Cunshou's light and timeless style, and it is also a model of Taiwanese literary and artistic love films in the 1960s and 1970s. Due to its age, the film copy of this film has been damaged to a certain extent, but with the joint efforts of Jaeger-LeCoultre and the Shanghai Film Festival, this classic love film from more than forty years ago has also taken on a new brilliance.
Poster for the movie "Out of the Window"
In 2018, Jaeger-LeCoultre restored the classic movie "Painted Soul". The film "Painting the Soul" is based on Heather's novel, mainly telling the story of the famous painter Pan Yuliang, with the help of her husband Pan Zanhua, the governor of customs, with his own efforts and talents, to get rid of the fate of sinking and achieve remarkable results. A female figure who has finally become independent and mature after countless transformations has jumped on the screen under Gong Li's skillful and multi-level expression.
Poster for the movie "Painted Soul"
Comparison before and after the restoration of the movie "Painted Soul"
In the process of restoration of "Painting Soul", the deformation and flickering of the film due to aging were removed, and the picture clarity, contrast, color texture and sound effect of the oil painting were greatly improved.
An old movie, after a long period of erosion, it is not difficult to restore its bright light, and restoring the tone and sense of age of the old movie also needs related artistic accomplishment.
It is understood that the film that Jaeger-LeCoultre plans to repair in the coming year is the film "Blessing" directed by Sang Arc and released in 1956. Written by Xia Yan, a screenwriter who was then vice minister of culture, the film was adapted from Lu Xun's famous 1924 short story "Blessings".