The insidious parasite that is 3D has not only infiltrated movies currently in production, but has wormed its way into movies already made and released. Way back in November of 2011, it was reported that cinematographer Vittorio Storaro was overseeing a 3D conversion of Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1987 epic “The Last Emperor.” Word has been quiet since then, but it looks like audiences will finally be seeing the results as organizers revealed that the movie will get a world premiere at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, playing in the Cannes’ Classics Series along with restored prints of Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s “Cleopatra” and Hal Ashby’s “The Last Detail.”
“The Last Emperor” tells the story of Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, and the film is well-regarded for its sweeping scale and beautiful visuals. It was the winner of 9 Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Score. “I’ve done a beautiful 4K 3D version of ‘The Last Emperor’ under the tutelage of Bernardo (Bertolucci) and (cinematographer Vittorio) Storaro,” producer Jeremy Thomas told Screen Daily in the spring. “It’s perfect, beautiful, and it makes the film look incredible.” But whether or not it was necessary is up for debate.
But we’ll see the results next month. The Cannes Film Festival runs this year from May 15th to 26th. Full Cannes Classics lineup below.
RESTORED PRINTS
BOROM SARRET (1963, 20’) by Ousmane Sembène
CHARULATA (CHARLUTA: THE LONELY WIFE) (1964, 1:57) by Satyajit Ray
CLEOPATRA (1963, 4:03) by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
FEDORA (1978, 1:50) by Billy Wilder
GOHA (1957, 1:18) by Jacques Baratier
HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR (1959, 1:32) by Alain Resnais
IL DESERTO DEI TARTARI (THE DESERT OF TARTARS) (1976, 2:20) by Valerio Zurlini
LA GRANDE ABBUFFATA (LA GRANDE BOUFFE) (1973, 2h05) by Marco Ferreri
LA REINE MARGOT (1994, 2:39) by Patrice Chéreau
LE JOLI MAI (1963, new 2013 cut: 2:25) by Chris Marker and Pierre Lhomme
LES PARAPLUIES DE CHERBOURG (THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG) (1964, 1:31) by Jacques Demy
LUCKY LUCIANO (1973, 1:55) by Francesco Rosi
MAYNILA: SA MGA KUKO NG LIWANAG (MANILA IN THE CLAWS OF LIGHT) (1975, 2:04) by Lino Brocka
PLEIN SOLEIL (BLAZING SUN) (1960, 1:55) by René Clément
SANMA NO AJI (AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON) (1962, colour, 2:13) by Yasujirō Ozu
THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ (1974, 2:00) by Ted Kotcheff
THE LAST DETAIL (1973, 1:44) by Hal Ashby
THE LAST EMPEROR 3D (1987, 2h43) by Bernardo Bertolucci
VISIONS OF EIGHT (1973, 1:49) by Youri Ozerov, Milos Forman, Mai Zetterling, Claude Lelouch, Arthur Penn, Michael Pfleghar, John Schlesinger, Kon Ichikawa.
In honour of the 50th anniversary of Cocteau’s death, LA BELLE ET LA BETE by Jean Cocteau (1946, 1:34) as well as OPIUM (2013, 1:15), a musical comedy directed by par Arielle Dombasle, will be shown during a very special evening.
Euzhan Palcy’s film, SIMEON (1992, 1:55) will be screened in honour of the 100th birthday of Aimé Césaire.
TWO DOCUMENTARIES ABOUT CINEMA:
CON LA PATA QUEBRADA (2013, 1:23) by Diego Galán (Spain)
A STORY OF CHILDREN & FILM (2013, 1:40) by Mark Cousins (Great Britain)
Finally, in tribute to Joanne Woodward (presence to be confirmed), who can be seen with husband Paul Newman on the poster of the 66th edition, the Festival will screen the final film she produced: SHEPARD & DARK by Treva Wurmfeld (2013, 1:29).
In addition, Cannes Classics will also be part of CINEMA DE LA PLAGE where the following restored films will be shown:
JOUR DE FETE (France, 1949, 1:27) by Jacques Tati
THE GENERAL (1926, 1:18) by Buster Keaton
THE BIRDS (1963, 2:09) by Alfred Hitchcock
LE GRAND BLEU (THE BIG BLUE) (1988, 2:16) by Luc Besson
THE LADIES’ MAN (1961, 1:35) by Jerry Lewis
L’HOMME DE RIO (THE MAN FROM RIO) (France, 1964, 1:52) by Philippe de Broca
SAFETY LAST (1923, 1:13) by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor