Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz heads to Cannes alongside other classics

The Last Waltz (1978) has been officially selected for the Cannes Classics programme at the Festival De Cannes 2022. MGM Studios’ THE LAST WALTZ (1978) is presented by Park Circus thanks to a new 4K digital restoration from the Criterion Collection, approved by director Martin Scorsese.

This joins Warner Bros.’ 70th-anniversary presentation of a new 4K restoration of Singin’ In The Rain (1952). Park Circus represents Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s joyous and life affirming musical for international screenings.

Several other classics represented by Park Circus will feature as part of the Cinéma de la plage programme, a series of free screenings taking place each evening in an open-air theatre on the Macé beach (opposite the Majestic).

These include a 50th-anniversary screening of Paramount’s The Godfather (1972) in celebration of 100 years of the MPA (Motion Pictures Association), Sony’s The Last Picture Show (1971) in homage to director Peter Bogdanovich and Paramount’s The Truman Show (1998) screening ahead of a reissue across France on 15 June by distributor Ciné Sorbonne.

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THE LAST WALTZ

It started as a concert. It became a celebration. Join an unparalleled lineup of rock superstars as they celebrate The Band’s historic 1976 Thanksgiving Day farewell performance. Directed by Martin Scorsese, “The Last Waltz” is not only “the most beautiful rock film ever made” (The New Yorker)…it’s “one of the most important cultural events of the last two decades” (Rolling Stone)! Featuring Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Ringo Starr, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters and more.

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, this new 4K digital restoration of THE LAST WALTZ was created from a scan of the 35mm original camera negative made in 16-bit 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner at Roundabout Entertainment in Burbank, California. A 35mm print courtesy of Sikelia Productions was used as a colour reference. The 5.1 surround soundtrack was remixed from the original two-inch 24-track magnetic masters in 2001 by Ted Hall at POP Sound in Santa Monica, California, under the supervision of Robbie Robertson. Stereo mixes and stems made by Robertson’s mixer Dan Gellert and approved by Robertson were used in the creation of the 5.1 surround mix.

SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN

A Warner Bros. presentation. The new 4K master has been created by meticulously aligning the 3 separate masters obtained from the original Technicolor negatives. Warner Bros. Imaging carefully scanned each of the black and white “recordings” representing the primary colours Red, Green and Blue. The results present the phenomenal Technicolor photography as it has never been seen before.

This is a great leap forward from previous remasters: For the movie’s 50th anniversary, in 2002, Warner Bros. exclusive Ultra-Resolution technology had been used to realign the separation masters, which was at the time a great stride forward. In 2012, for the 60th anniversary, the process was improved greatly with the Blu-Ray release.

Now, for the 70th anniversary, the use of cutting-edge image-realignment and image-separation technology is a remarkable step forward, with results that look even-more brand new than the initial release. Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging used the transfer of the original archived Technicolor dyes as reference for the new master’s colour grading, creating an even better image resolution with the use of HDR, making the colour palette more vibrant than it’s ever been. For the audio, the new 4K copy offers the audience a new 5.1 mix derived from the original MGM tapes produced during the making of the movie and the best audio technology to offer an even clearer soundtrack than that of the original.