The Ethics of Film Restoration - Text 4
A Trip to the Moon 2011 “restoration”
However, when applied without the necessary restraint, the same integrative approach turns the cult of “completeness” into ideology: a false consciousness and a false representation of history. The 2011 version of A Trip to the Moon presented at Cannes was put together with material from a pirated copy made in Spain well after the film’s release, as shown by the poor printing job, the density of the nitrate base, the shape of the Edison perforations, and the hand-colouring style (the French flag in the last scene has the colours of the Spanish standard). The print from the Filmoteca de Catalunya is also incomplete; the black and white footage from two other sources was digitally ‘colourized’ to blend it with the rest; the colour itself was enhanced to make it look brighter. Its contours were sharpened, too, as digital-born audiences are accustomed to see moving images that way.
