"The joy of restoring Mr Hulot's Holiday"
Restoring a film is a singular act, consisting of giving back life to a work that is major or minor, well-known or forgotten, without betraying the intentions of its author, very often deceased. The exercise is difficult and fascinating, and it is above all a lesson in humility. To restore has to delve with delicacy into the life and work of the author to try to pinpoint his/her intentions and doubts, his/her difficulties and satisfactions, pore over his/her shooting notebooks, notes, letters, photos, etc.
There is a lot of work involved in understanding the film, before and during the restoration, identifying the original cut made, familiarising oneself with the light or the grain of the period’s pictures, rediscovering the sound, or pinpointing certain imperfections. All this becomes possible with the combination of photochemical and digital tools, on condition that one knows when to stop, so as not to distort the original work. And always keeping two goals in mind: restoring to be able to show the film to the greatest number of spectators now, and preserving the original elements in optimal conditions in an appropriate place. Because these originals are the only guarantee that the work will endure beyond any future progress in digital technology.
For these reasons, a restoration is necessarily the fruit of team work that makes it possible to tackle such a colossal project while handling all the doubts and questions that crop up, which also make up all the enjoyment of this experience.
The restored version of Mr Hulot’s Holiday is the result of a highly fruitful encounter between two foundations acting for film heritage, the Jacques Tati copyright holders and the Cinémathèque. This adventure opened a doorway into the world of Jacques Tati with the aim of restoring life to images damaged by the passing of time. The work involved did not prevent us from enjoying many moments of immense and irrepressible joy. Quite the contrary.
Séverine Wemaere, Managing Director of Thomson Foundation.
There is a lot of work involved in understanding the film, before and during the restoration, identifying the original cut made, familiarising oneself with the light or the grain of the period’s pictures, rediscovering the sound, or pinpointing certain imperfections. All this becomes possible with the combination of photochemical and digital tools, on condition that one knows when to stop, so as not to distort the original work. And always keeping two goals in mind: restoring to be able to show the film to the greatest number of spectators now, and preserving the original elements in optimal conditions in an appropriate place. Because these originals are the only guarantee that the work will endure beyond any future progress in digital technology.
For these reasons, a restoration is necessarily the fruit of team work that makes it possible to tackle such a colossal project while handling all the doubts and questions that crop up, which also make up all the enjoyment of this experience.
The restored version of Mr Hulot’s Holiday is the result of a highly fruitful encounter between two foundations acting for film heritage, the Jacques Tati copyright holders and the Cinémathèque. This adventure opened a doorway into the world of Jacques Tati with the aim of restoring life to images damaged by the passing of time. The work involved did not prevent us from enjoying many moments of immense and irrepressible joy. Quite the contrary.
Séverine Wemaere, Managing Director of Thomson Foundation.