Pegged as a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films, The Criterion Collection curates, restores, and distributes a variety of movies old and new to avid film lovers like you and me. It’s no secret the task of restoring older films is a difficult and painstaking one, but Criterion seems driven to make each film it puts out look as good as it possibly can, and based on the image above and the video below it seems the company has done just that with Satyajit Ray‘s revered trilogy of films known as The Apu Trilogy — which comprises Pather Panchali (Song Of The Little Road), Aparajito (The Unvanquished) and Apur Sansar (The World Of Apu).
What follows is a restoration trailer for the trilogy, which is set to hit select theaters in May and is presumed to make its official Criterion Collection home video debut later this year. The trailer details the long, winding road Ray’s films took to receive the Criterion treatment, from the director’s death in 1992, to a fire in 1993 that severely damaged the original negatives, to the discovery of long-forgotten negatives in 2013, to the actual restoration process the folks at Criterion have been performing for the last two years — from rehydrating the negatives to cleaning them up frame by individual frame.
It’s a trifle, but it’s a good watch; if nothing else, it’s a nice reminder of the genuine love some have for movies, especially as we enter the summer movie season, which is traditionally more about big bottom lines than important classic and contemporary films.
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