Last night, I was in an audience that also included film restorationist (and preservationist) extraordinaire Robert Harris, cinematographer Allen "EMPIRE OF THE SUN" Daviau, and "the Prince of Darkness" himself Gordon Willis at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, NY, and the occasion was a surprise screening of a 35mm answer print of the newly-restored Gordon Willis-photographed THE GODFATHER followed by a Q&A with the three gentlemen mentioned above, moderated by Janet Maslin. I became aware of the possibility of said screening while surfing around on-line and coming across the listing of "An evening with Gordon Willis part 1 and 2" at the Jacob Burns film center to be accompanied by a "surprise screening" of a different film each night. I couldn't help but guess that the screenings had to be the newly restored versions of the first two GODFATHER films, hence it being a surprise, and seeing as how Pleasantville is only about an hour and a half drive from me, I figured it was worth it to trek up there and check it out even if it turned out to be some other Gordon Willis film being screened with him in attendance and giving a Q&A.

When I saw a man who I recognized as being Robert Harris in the lobby, I knew my instincts were correct. As the screening was introduced, the audience was informed that we were about to see a very special print of a classic film that had undergone a full 4K digital restoration. The print in question was an answer print struck from the newly outputted restored negative, and some additional tweaks would still be done before arriving at the absolute final product. By this point I had no question what we were about to see, but the majority of the audience was still in the dark, as evidenced by the audible gasp and applause from the crowd as those familiar musical notes started playing over black.

So what did the restored print look like? Well, it looked like THE GODFATHER- that is, it looked as if back in 1972, the pristine and untouched original negative had been locked in a perfectly climate-controlled, hermetically sealed vault, and that vault was just opened and the still-pristine negative was used to strike a brand-spanking new print at the best film lab in the world. You'd never know there was ever anything wrong with the elements watching this print, but hearing of the condition of the negative during the Q&A all I can say is that the final result is a miracle. The texture and detail in the image is incredible- I literally felt like I was watching this great film for the first time ever.

That said, if some folks' issues with the current DVDs have to do with the aesthetic look of the film (i.e., "It's too dark! It's too grainy! The blacks are crushed!") as opposed to any condition issues regarding the elements, I don't know what they'll think of the restored print. It's the same stylized film, with Gordon Willis's super-deep, inky blacks and a palpable, textured grain structure alive and visible throughout. I can see the Blu-ray reviews already from certain circles- "Grain is apparent... shadow detail is wanting." This is not a film that looks like Discovery HD, it looks like THE GODFATHER and thankfully always will from here on out thanks to this heroic restoration.

On to the Q&A. We were told that much of the negative had damaged or even completely missing sprocket holes, rendering it unprintable by any traditional means, and in some cases the sprocket damage extended into the frame area itself. Robert said that some shots were literally torn in half, with one half of the frame gone, and in some cases they actually had to go to the trims and replace shots (under strict guidelines from Francis Ford Coppola- that any replaced shots be indistinguishable from the original takes in the film under normal viewing conditions). That said, according to Daviau that actual images themselves between those torn sprocket holes were in good shape (I assume he was talking in regards to fading and such, not physical damage), it was just an issue of "harvesting" those images from such damaged original elements. We were told that one of Francis' main directives to Robert Harris and Allen Daviau was to "make Gordon Willis happy". Daviau's role on the project was as a translator of sorts for Gordon Willis's intentions, as Mr. Willis was unable to go to California to directly involve himself in the day-to-day operations of the restoration. Daviau was actually quite a trip to watch- he honestly seemed in awe of Mr. Willis. You could really see the love from one artist to another up on that stage.

As for Mr. Willis, this was actually his first viewing of the restoration, and he seemed extremely happy with the results, commenting that the color was "dead on". Even though I knew the answer due to things Francis Ford Coppola has said in interviews, I figured the audience might want to know so I asked Robert what changed things to make this restoration happen when he'd been talking about it needing to be done for so many years. "Steven Spielberg" was his answer, going to to explain that Steven insisted and Brad Grey at Paramount agreed that the film needed to be saved and thus the project was finally green-lit. Robert also said that it couldn't have been done a few years ago, "because we needed to do it 4K, 2K wasn't good enough to get all the information out of the negatives", and that he knew back in 1997 that the negative was for all intents and purposes at that point, "dead" due to the extensive damage after being shipped a print by Zoetrope to inspect. Robert also had very high praise for Steven Spielberg's long-time post-production supervisor, whose name escapes me but apparently was an integral part of the restoration and in Robert's words (paraphrasing a bit) "understands film preservation".

As for any "issues" with the print, the only thing I noted was some slight color shifting at a couple of reel changes that occurred within scenes. I'm guessing the "final tweaks" for this "work in progress" as Allen Daviau called it probably have to do with smoothing over these slight bumps. All in all, last night was simply a magical evening, and I hope Paramount does the right thing and gives this some theatrical playdates. My only regret is that I was unable to attend "An evening with Gordon Willis part 2" which is happening tonight featuring a completely different "surprise screening". I think we can all guess what that film is, and I only wish I could be there basking in its restored glory right now.

Vincent

Wow - I had no idea it was in *that* kind of shape. Great report on some very exciting news.

Martin Cohen, maybe?

Yeah, that's him. Allen Daviau mentioned that he first worked with Spielberg as an assistant editor on EMPIRE OF THE SUN, and Robert Harris was gushing with praise for him. He sounds like a true friend of film.

Vincent

Vincent, thanks so much for that detailed and well-written report. Most people wouldn't take such pains to write at length like that, unless they were being paid for it. Much appreciated over here. I've been waiting to hear this great news for years now.

By the way, how's the sound quality?

It sounded great to me. It's definitely 5.1, although I can't be sure it's the same 5.1 remix as the DVDs. What I can say is that the sound on the print was appropriate to the film- surround was used to compliment the on-screen action, and nothing jumped out at me as being "wrong" as often does when I hear a remixed track. Hopefully, the inevitable DVD and Blu-ray versions of this restoration will include the original mono soundtrack as a viewing option, as well, something I always am in favor of.

Vincent

God, I hope not! As I'm sure I've bitched and moaned here before, the DVD audio was really terrible. It sounded like someone got the dialog by puttting a microphone in a movie theater made out of a gigantic tin can that was showing The Godfather, and then they re-recorded all the gunshots and explosions to sound like something out of a James Cameron film. As far as I'm concerned, the classic film that I heard while growing up is gone. I hope this new version is rectifying the audio screw-up.

While the print was definitely surround, it didn't sound a thing like you've described the DVD as sounding (I've never actually watched the DVD version myself over my surround system at home). And I agree- even if this is a new remix that corrects the DVD mixes' possible flaws, and original mono mix should definitely be included as a viewing option on any DVD or Blu-ray releases of this restoration.

Vincent

POST SCRIPT: I e-mailed Robert Harris and asked about the sound. His response:

"The mix that you heard is entirely new... All 35mm prints will also carry, as the analogue track, a cleaned up version of the original mono taken from the DMEs."

I was able to get a look at this last year, though if tweaking is still being done I can’t say for sure how it differed from what Vincent got to see. The film did indeed look as immaculate as he says it did. In addition, any technical issues I ever had with the film, things which stuck out to me as possibly being indicative of its chaotic production or maybe issues with 70s film stock, seemed less present than ever before. There’s a close-up of Diane Keaton late in the film when Al Pacino shows up at the New Hampshire school she teaches at looking for her, that has always looked misframed, as if it was the result of a lab error. For a long time I had wondered, is it just me or does that shot look wrong? In this version, for the first time, the shot looks correct.

As for sound issues, and this is taken from what I wrote in my blog at the time: I’m not the right person to discuss intricacies of 5.1 remixes and all, but to me, somebody who knows this movie shot-by-shot, some of it sounded truly startling to me with a force it had never had before, from various gunshots throughout to Sterling Hayden’s first line of dialogue (“I thought I had all you guinea hoods locked up!”) It also seemed absolutely faithful to what THE GODFATHER is supposed to sound like. My one single issue with the restoration—the only one and who knows, maybe it’s been dealt with—came during the opening scene of the film, just after the first shot of Brando. I found myself noticing the sound of birds chirping on the soundtrack and began wondering, how can we hear birds? Isn’t the wedding taking place outside? When the door to the study opened and we heard the sound of the wedding taking place outside, I realized how calculated the audio in the first scene had always been. Later scenes in the study during this sequence let the sounds of the wedding bleed into the room but not letting us hear any of this during the opening moments, while not logical, is actually rather brilliant. Which made the sound of chirping birds in the first scene all the more annoying. After that, it was hard not to hear them throughout during sections set at the Corleone compound. I checked my DVD and the birds are heard during some points…but not at the very beginning.

So the worst thing I can say about the restoration of THE GODFATHER is some chirping birds. That aside, it’s absolutely astounding.

Gratuitous chirping bird sound effects?

Maybe the 5.1 remix was done by the Shaw Bros. :P

I don't recall any "gratuitous chipring birds" in the print I saw. Like I said, it sounded great. The mix fit the film perfectly.

Vincent

An interesting article with before-and-after examples from the restoration, from the May issue of American Cinematographer:

Post Focus: Paramount Restores THE GODFATHER