4K-Restored Stage Sisters impresses actors, inspires film experts

4K-Restored Stage Sisters impresses

 actors, inspires film experts  

A select-audience limited screening of the newly-restored 1965 Chinese film blockbuster Stage Sisters was held recently to great acclaim in Shanghai.

Shanghai International Film Festival announced in Berlin earlier this year its plan to restore the late director Xie Jin\'s masterpiece with 4K full-color technology.

The fully-restored version, the first in 4K in China, will be screened in June during the 17th SIFF thanks to the support of luxury brand sponsor Jaeger-LeCoultre.

The limited screening was attended by Cao Yindi, the leading star of Stage Sisters, actor Xu Caigen, Shanghai Film Group technical expert Zhu Jue, film preservation research scholar Wu Jueren, film critic Xu Yuan, vice president of Shanghai Film Group Corporation Wang Xiaojun, and representatives of Shanghai Film Technology who helped in the restoration.

All made constructive comments about the restoration to ensure the best possible version of the film can be presented to film festival audiences in June.

Deeply touched actors

Stage Sisters starred leading actresses, including Xie Fang, Cao Yindi and Shangguan Yunzhu, and was a smash hit on its debut in 1965. Since then it has been regarded as director Xie Jin’s classic masterpiece.

The reappearance of their restored youthful images on the big screen to be as clear as the day they were filmed was a thrill for stars Cao Yindi and Xu Caigen.

"I was so moved that a movie shot 50 years ago would be screened again," said Cao. "And its images have been greatly improved, the colors closer to reality instead of a fading yellow. All my costumes in the restored film look really stunning."

Xu said the restored movie reminded her more of a recently-shot film rather than one dated many decades ago. "With such restoration techniques, a great deal of old movies could be saved," she said.

Wan Xiaojun, Vice President of Shanghai Film Production Group, is very upbeat about how the film will be received at the festival.

"Stage Sisters is bound to receive great applause during this year’s SIFF international film showcase. It will be a nationwide sensation.”

Many veteran actors, including Xie Fang, will be invited to this year\'s festival  to interact with fans. They will be included in the Organizing Committee\'s several events, including seminars, premieres and special screenings. Also, experts from the film restoration laboratory in Italy, L\'Immagine Ritrovata, will discuss the techniques used in restoring Stage Sisters.

Color reduction degree comes into focus

After the special screening, the attending experts held a lively discussion about the technical aspects of the restored version\'s color, grain and sound.

Shanghai Film Group\'s Zhu Jue said there were two possible approaches to restoration.

"Should we reproduce exactly the same film or, as technology advances, improve the technical standard to what was not possible at the time? From my point of view, we should keep the original taste and flavor of the film as it was. We need to respect the personal style of Xie Jin.”

 “He is a rather subjective director," said Shanghai Film Association\'s Shi Chuan. "The color in his films changes with the destiny of the characters. The Italian lab has done a very good job in restoring the color so far, but they are not as familiar with the content of the film as we are. I believe together we can make the details better after this viewing.” 

Shi Chuan, Wu Jueren, Xu Yuan and other experts from Shanghai Film Technology Plant, responsible for the 4K scanning, watched the restored version again the next day. They looked through each frame and took notes on the time codes of the scenes that need to be further discussed with the Italian restorers, They assessed the characters, the colors of the clothes, even the details of the background settings and the paper colors.

The Organizing Committee also invited Chen Chan, assistant director of Stage Sisters, to re-watch the restored film on May 11. This resulted in more detailed and authoritative suggestions on its restoration. These were relayed to L\'Immagine Ritrovata for further adjustments to maximize the images to complete the first 4K full color restored film in China.

L\'Immagine Ritrovata manager David Pozzi said the company would strive in collaboration with the Shanghai experts group and Shanghai Film Technology Plant to improve the restoration in the month before the opening of SIFF.

“We are deeply moved by the great efforts that SIFF, one of the most prominent Class-A film festivals, has devoted to the restoration of old films and made it a significant project."