Atalanta

Juliette wants to leave the village where she grew up. She marries the captain of the barge and leaves her family sides with him aboard the Atalanta. Life on the river seems exciting to her, however, the repetitive rhythm of the days becomes frustrating. On a ship rocked by the current of the Seine, her only window to the world are the maritime tales of Father Jules. Juliette goes out of her way to turn a small cabin filled with cats into her home. Despite the tenderness, scenes of jealousy are increasingly appearing between the newlyweds. As they go ashore, the woman learns the delights of city life and, to the displeasure of her husband, catches the eye of a street artist. She herself is increasingly attracted to the beauty of Paris.

“Atalanta” is a title that regularly appears in the lists of the best films of all time. This is determined not only by the subtle poeticism in the story of young love and longing, but also by the untimely death of director Jean Vigo. The creator died shortly after the release of his only feature film. “Atalanta”, however, did not appeal to the Gaumont label in its original form. In 1934, a reedited and shortened version was released to cinemas, which was not well received by the public and critics. With the discovery of the tapes in 1990 in the British archives, a reconstruction was made to be as close as possible to the director's original vision. The original music by Maurice Jaubert and an aerial shot by cinematographer Boris Kaufman have been restored. In 2017, Gaumont made a 4K restaurant that we will see in the Iluzjon cinema.

Original title: L'Atalante
Country of production: France
Year of manufacture: 1934
Directed by: Jean Vigo
Cast: Michel Simon, Dita Parlo, Jean Dasté, Gilles Margaritis, Louis Lefebvre, Maurice Gilles
Duration: 89 min.

Room: Mała Czarna
Before the show, a lecture
Projection from DCP media | English subtitles

Modern technologies are constantly changing the way videos are created, shared and protected. Archival works preserved only in destroyed, repeatedly copied materials often became impossible to display in the traditional way. The advent of digital tools has given many films a chance to return to the screens.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, technologies have been developed to remove scratches, dirt, image flicker, stabilize the material or reconstruct color and sound. Along with them, however, questions arose that to this day remain the subject of discussion by archivists, conservators and film historians. Digital tools allow not only to repair the damage resulting from the operation of the tape, but also to significantly change the image and sound. Where, then, is the line between a restaurant and the creation of a contemporary version? How far can we go in the use of digital technologies so as not to lose the authenticity of the work? On what principles is the ethical restoration of film based and how to come to terms with the loss when digital technologies prove inadequate in the face of loss or irreversible destruction?

We will talk about these issues in the second season of the series “Materia Film” dedicated to digital restoration. We invite viewers to both Polish productions, including those restored by FINA, as well as classics of world cinema. Using their example, we will show both the possibilities of modern technologies and the network of (often complicated) decisions leading to the return from the archives to the big screen.