At a certain point you care less about world premieres and fixate mostly on a festival’s repertory slate. And even by the high standards set with Cannes Classics or NYFF Revivals is this year’s Venice Classics in a class of its own. We could start at the new cuts for three of the greatest directors ever: One from the Heart is the latest film to be given a revision by Francis Ford Coppola, following recuts of Apocalypse Now, Twixt, and Dementia 13––to say nothing of restorations like The Rain People, of which we’re hosting the New York premiere next weekend––while Andrei Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev will debut in “the reconstruction of the complete original version, which was censored before its release and has never been seen until now.” Meanwhile one of Yasujiro Ozu’s greatest films, There Was a Father, has been amended by “recent rediscovery of part of the clips that were cut” by Japanese censors, and Arturo Ripstein has overseen a new version of his 1996 feature Deep Crimson.
A rare TV documentary by Orson Welles, Portrait of Gina, paying tribute to his friend Gina Lollobrigida, will play in Venice’s pre-opening night alongside her starring role in The Wayward Wife. Further restorations include Days of Heaven (promisingly listed with a Criterion credit; 4K incoming?), Carlos Saura’s The Hunt, Visconti’s Bellissima, Varda’s Les Créatures, The Exorcist, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, and Shinji Sōmai’s great Moving.
See below for the full selection, and check back for Venice coverage end of next month.
Line-Up
SLIKE IZ ŽIVOTA UDARNIKA (LIFE OF A SHOCK FORCE WORKER)
by BAHRUDIN BATO ČENGIĆ (Yugoslavia, 1972, 78’, Colour / B/W)
restored by: Slovenska kinoteka / Filmski centar Sarajevo / Hrvatski državi arhiv – Hrvatska kinoteka / Ōsterreichisches Filmmuseum with the supporto f the EU Creative Europe Medie Programme / ACE – Association des Cinémathèques Européennes / Ministrstvo za kulturo Republike Slovenije
ULTIMO MONDO CANNIBALE (JUNGLE HOLOCAUST) – Midnight screening
by RUGGERO DEODATO (Italy, 1977, 90’, Colour)
restored by: Minerva Pictures
REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM
by ALLAN DWAN (USA, 1938, 81’, B/W)
restored by: Walt Disney Studios / The Film Foundation
ONE FROM THE HEART: REPRISE
by FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA (USA, 1982, 95’, Colour)
restored by: American Zoetrope
THE EXORCIST
by WILLIAM FRIEDKIN (USA, 1973, 132’, Colour)
restored by: Warner Bros.
KING & COUNTRY
by JOSEPH LOSEY (UK, 1964, 88’, B/W)
restored by: StudioCanal
DAYS OF HEAVEN
by TERRENCE MALICK (USA, 1978, 94’, Colour)
restored by: Criterion / Paramount
SAAZ DAHANI (HARMONICA)
by AMIR NADERI (Iran, 1973, 76’, Colour)
restored by: Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young adults – KANOON / Roashana Laboratory
CHICHI ARIKI (THERE WAS A FATHER)
by YASUJIRO OZU (Japan, 1942, 92’, B/W)
restored by: Shochiku / National Film Archive of Japan
TINI ZABUTYKH PREDKIV (SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS)
by SERGEI PARAJANOV (Ukraine, 1965, 99’, Colour / B/W)
restored by: Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Film Studio
PROFUNDO CARMESÍ (DEEP CRIMSON) – DIRECTOR’S CUT
by ARTURO RIPSTEIN (Mexico, Spain, France, 2023, 136’, Colour)
restored by: Alebrije Producciones / Wanda Films
THE WORKING GIRLS
by STEPHANIE ROTHMAN (USA, 1974, 80’, Colour)
restored by: The Museum of Modern Art, New York
LA CAZA (THE HUNT)
by CARLOS SAURA (Spain, 1966, 87’, B/W)
restored by: Video Mercury Films
LA PROVINCIALE (THE WAYWARD WIFE)
by MARIO SOLDATI (Italy, 1953, 113’, B/W)
restored by: CSC – Cineteca Nazionale in collaboration with Compass Film
OHIKKOSHI (MOVING)
by SHINJI SÔMAI (Japan, 1993, 124’, Colour)
restored by: Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation
ANDREI RUBLEV – DIRECTOR’S CUT
by ANDREI TARKOVSKY (USSR, 1966, 191’, Colour / B/W)
restored by: Istituto Internazionale Andrei Tarkovsky in collaboration with Coevolutions and Cloudpost
LES CRÉATURES (THE CREATURES)
by AGNÈS VARDA (France, 1965, 94’, Colour / B/W)
restored by: Ciné Tamaris / CNC with the support of SHE ECHOES and Chanel
BELLISSIMA
by LUCHINO VISCONTI (Italy, 1951, 114’, B/W)
restored by: CSC – Cineteca Nazionale in collaboration with Compass Film
BUGIS STREET
by YONFAN (Hong Kong, 1995, 98’, Colour)
restored by: L’immagine ritrovata / Far Sun Film
Out of Competition
PORTRAIT OF GINA
by ORSON WELLES (USA, 1958, 27’, B/W)
restored by: Munich Filmmuseum