Titas ekti nadir naam (2010 restoration)

16.00 Cinema Arlecchino, Bologna, 2 July 2010 (World Cinema Foundation Restorations 2010)

A River Called Titas / Un fiume chiamato Titas, IN 1973. D: Ritwik Ghatak. 158 min
Proiezione in HD
Lingua originale, version bengalesi, English subtitles in the digital file, e-subtitles in Italian by Sub-Ti
Presenta Cecilia Cenciarelli

Restored in 2010 by World Cinema Foundation and Cineteca di Bologna at L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, using the camera and sound negatives and a positive print provided by the Ritwik Ghatak Memorial Trust and held at the National Film Archive of India. As the original negative is incomplete and some reels were severely damaged, a combined lavender and a positive print provided by the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv were also used. The digital restoration produced a new 35 mm internegative.

Ritwik Ghatak is a master of the cinema, and A River Called Titas opens with powerful images of the open sky and the wide waters of the great river. The images of the oppressed woman and the fishermen of the river are full of force.

The digital restoration looks absolutely clear and clean, but there is something a little odd. We are in India, and theoretically we can presume that it is hot and humid since the men wear no shirts. But there is no feeling of warmth and moisture. The definition of light is not completely successful. One can see that the film might have fine cinematography, but this presentation looks a little flat and lifeless, as there is no life in the black and gray areas.

I watched the first half an hour.