A six -year restoration trip headed by the filmmaker Wes Anderson has completed in the masterpiece of Satyajit Ray of 1970 «Aranyer Din Ratri» («Days and nights in the forest») that ensures a slot in the Cannes classics.
The restoration project began in 2019 when Anderson, through its position at the Board of The Foundation of Martin Scorsese, began discussions about the preservation of the film. The passion of the director of «The Grand Budapest Hotel» for Ray’s work promoted the collaboration effort between the World Cinema project of the Film Foundation, Film Heritage Foundation, Janus Films and The Criterion Collection, with funds provided by the Golden Globe Foundation.
«Anything signed by Satyajit Ray must be appreciated and preserved; but the ‘days and nights in the forest are almost forgotten are a special/particular jewel,» said Anderson. «Made in 1970. Modern and novelist. Ray worked in perhaps more familiar terrain for Cassavetes. A shock/negotiation between castes and sexes. Urban and rural. Selfish men and their hopes and cruelty and the lack of spectacular wisdom. Master, another masterpiece.»
The restoration effort faced extraordinary challenges due to global pandemic. Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, director of Film Heritage Foundation, made a high -risk trip of Mumbai to Kolkata during the strict blocking conditions in 2020 to evaluate the condition of the original camera and the sound negatives preserved by Purnima Dutta producer at home.
«The restoration of ‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ has been an incredible trip from Kolkata to Cannes that has been taking almost six years,» Dungarpur told Variety. «I managed to travel to Kolkata in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic to verify the condition of the original camera and the negative aspects of the film that were in the house of Purnima Dutta. Once the producers gave their consent, we did it, we managed that the elements to the ritvata of Inmagina in Bologna to scan and restoration. When I looked back. Time.»
The technical restoration process used the original chamber and the negatives of sound as elements of primary origin, with the work completed in the specialized installation L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy. Dungarpur worked closely with the laboratory throughout the process, focusing on preserving the authentic visual characteristics of the film.
Throughout the restoration process, Dungarpur maintained a close coordination with the Dutta family and Ray’s son, Sandip Ray, who actively participated in work projections in progress and final reviews to ensure that the restored version maintained fidelity to the original artistic vision. All restoration works were formally approved by the Dutta family and Sandip Ray.
«I worked closely in the restoration with Sandip Ray and the laboratory in Bologna throughout the process that began since sending the original negatives to the final restoration and dominance of Satyajit Ray surprised me once again as the beauty of the film arose,» said Dungarpur. «We work hard to keep the grain and blacks so that they coincide with the original work of Soumpu Roy as close as possible.»
The laboratory’s digital restoration team addressed an integral range of problems present in the original materials, including dust, scratches, spots, images instability, green mold and flickering. The sound restoration presented particular challenges, since the original negative sound exhibited various degrees of quality in the reels inside and within the reels. The 9 to 12 reels presented the most significant audio challenges, which were successfully minimized through careful intervention. For a limited portion of the audio in Reel 2, a magnetic track preserved by the BFI National Archive was used to replace the compromised sections.
A crucial element of the restoration was creating new and precise English subtitles. For this essential task, the team hired Indrani Mazumdar, a Ray collaborator for a long time and the only person who trusted English subtitles during his life. Mazumdar, who is also recognized for translating many of the literary works in Ray Bengali, brought his intimate knowledge of Ray’s intentions to the project.
«‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ is still today, one of my favorite films and the restoration work that has been done is absolutely impressive,» said Sandip Ray. «I worked in close collaboration with Shivendra Singh Dungarpur through the entire restoration process and I was quite surprised by the meticulous approach that was taken to the restoration. I am tremendously grateful to the ‘Foundation of the movie’ by Martin Scorsese, Film Heritage Foundation and the collection of criteria to join this possible restoration. My heart thanks to Wes Anderson. It is a great collection of my father.
The Purnima Dutta producer, who retained the original negatives of the film in her house in Kolkata for decades, added: «I am overwhelmed that ‘Aranyer Din Ratri’, a masterpiece of Satyajit Ray, has been restored. As the producer of the film, it is a great honor and pleasure for me. I would like to thank the cinema of the cinema for the cinema and Shivendra Singh. Time that happened to supervise and coordinate the restoration to ensure that ‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ receives a second life «.
Parallel to the meticulous restoration work, Janus Films assured the license rights for the film in the United States and the United Kingdom through negotiations with Purnima Dutta. This collaboration effort between the Foundation Film (TFF) and the Life Partner Fumiko Takagi of Janus Films/Criterion Collection, who had previously explored the license of the title with Dutta in Kolkata in 2013, ensures the availability of the film restored for the public in its best possible quality.
The classic in Bengalí offers a nuanced representation of post -colonial urban India through the lens of four young people looking for temporary escape in the Jharkhand forests. The film presents an overall cast that includes Sharmila Tagore, Kaberi Bose, Simi Garewal, Soumitra Chatterjee, Shubhendu Chatterjee, Rabi Ghosh, Samit Bhanja, Pahari Sanyal and Aparna Sen, among others.
The actor Simi Garewal, who played a memorable role in the film, reflected on the importance of the restoration: «The restoration of ‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ is an extraordinary gift, not only for those of us who were part of the film, but for world cinema. I still remember the silence of forests, the rhythm of forests, the ray of all the rays, everything that works … to make you discover depths in yourself that you didn’t know that they existed.
The main actor Sharmila Tagore also shared his memories of production: «I remember that I was filming for ‘Aradhana’ when Manik Da (Satyajit Ray’s nickname) approached me to film for this film for a month in an exaggeration. It was incredibly hot during filming and we could only shoot in the mornings and the afternoons. The sequence was incredible.
(Tagstotranslate) Aranyer Din Ratri (T) Cannes Classics (T) Cannes Film Festival (T) Satyajit Ray (T) Wes Anderson
