As a landmark in American film history celebrates 35 years, Sony Pictures Entertainment leads a cutting-edge 4K restoration for Blu-ray and limited theatrical re-release. Debra Kaufman joins the COW team with an exclusive in-depth article describing the restoration of Taxi Driver in Sony 4K Digital Cinema for its 35th anniversary.
Re: Debra Kaufman: Restoring Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver in Sony 4K Digital Cinema by Debra Kaufman on Mar 12, 2011 at 7:03:51 pm
Thanks, Ron - I am eager to contribute to COW and develop a body of work on the site!
Rafael - Yes, most people won't be able to see the 4K version but soon most movie theaters will be digital and eventually 4K. So put it on your wish list for the near future!
best, Debra K
Re: Debra Kaufman: Restoring Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver in Sony 4K Digital Cinema by Dave Pickett on Mar 14, 2011 at 3:36:34 pm
Nice one Debra. I look forward to reading more of your work on the Cow. Regarding minute dust removal it's always an interesting proposition to work on elements of a picture that the human eye cant see. But I am glad that Larry's company is continuing to trail blaze. Also surprised that the lion's share of this restoration took place in LA with Scorsese's affinity for NY. Any reason for that in particular?
Take care,
Re: Debra Kaufman: Restoring Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver in Sony 4K Digital Cinema by Debra Kaufman on Mar 14, 2011 at 4:15:31 pm
Hi Dave - Nice to see you here! The reason the restoration took place in LA is because it is a Columbia Picture, i.e., Sony Pictures film - Sony has its own 4K DI facility, Colorworks and Grover Crisp who produced the restoration is also in the LA office. Debra
Re: Debra Kaufman: Restoring Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver in Sony 4K Digital Cinema by Deyson Ortiz on Mar 15, 2011 at 2:46:17 pm
Hello Debra.
I would like to send my gratitude for taking the time to write such a beautiful story. I have not seen the trailer to Taxi Driver before and it is simply beautiful. I love it!
Re: Debra Kaufman: Restoring Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver in Sony 4K Digital Cinema by Jonathan Goeldner on Mar 16, 2011 at 2:05:06 am
@ Gunnar Refardt:
the presentation at Berlinale was supposed to be 4K DLP, but according to what I read online, there were technical problems and the ultimate image was downrezzed to 2K. Next week's presentation though is a Sony LCoS (liquid crystal on silicone) exclusive 4K presentation, no DLP screenings as there are no 4K DLP projectors readily available - so far the only screen outfitted as such is the Seattle Cinerama which has a Christie Solaria 4K DLP unit. [The first 4K DLP commercial release incidently is 'Battle: Los Angeles' playing in one theater in Ontario Canada] I really hope with the release of 'Taxi Driver' more studios will see this as an opportunity to present their restorations on the big screen in the best possible presentation... say like Sony's next 4K restoration 'The Guns of Navarone'
Re: Debra Kaufman: Restoring Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver in Sony 4K Digital Cinema by Tim Wilson on Mar 16, 2011 at 2:55:26 am
It was only a brief mention in the article, but I jumped at the news that Bernard Herrmann's amazing score has been remastered from the original 4-channel stereo tapes. He passed away just weeks before Taxi Driver opened, and the film is dedicated to his memory.
I don't think it's possible to overstate how important Herrmann's score is to making this picture such an overwhelming experience, every bit the equal of Michael Chapman's cinematography and even Paul Schrader's script. (Which I say respectfully to both of these gentlemen, whose work is truly for the ages.)
One of my favorite features of the Criterion laserdisc release of Taxi Driver is that you could listen to just the audio track in the analog mix (in the right channel, with dialog/fx panned left). A heartstopping, heartbreaking experience that I would love to be available in Blu-ray.
For now, two YouTube clips, in reverse order from how they play in the movie. This first one is coming straight out of the credits, and a perfect example of how Scorsese holds every element - the cinematography, the script, the performance, and the music - in perfect balance.
(And yeah, having said what I did about the score, you can see even from this crappy YouTube clip why remastering Chapman's gorgeous imagery is such a big big deal.)
This second clip, which as I mention, actually precedes the previous one in the movie, is the opening title sequence, which lays out the musical themes used throughout the movie:
A bit off-topic, but any film fan should dig into Herrmann's work. His most famous score was Psycho (which used only strings!!). Indeed, he did many of Hitchcock's signature pieces from the mid-50s to the mid-60s, including Vertigo, another pinnacle in my book. Also: Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, the 1962 version of Cape Fear, and many, many more, including the TV show, The Twilight Zone.
Back to the Taxi Driver restoration, I can see why David Lean epics like Lawrence of Arabia and Bridge on the River Kwai (can you believe he did those pictures back to back?) were first in line to set the benchmarks for the science of restoration that they did.
This is heresy, and it's inconceivable to me that Mr. Scorsese would agree with me, but this is film is every bit their equal, and, among these three, the restoration that excites me most. And maybe not fair since I've already seen the other two remarkable, remarkable restorations, but I can't wait to see this "new" Taxi Driver.
In any case, a fantastic article, Debra. Thanks so much!
Re: Debra Kaufman: Restoring Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver in Sony 4K Digital Cinema by Robert Houllahan on Mar 16, 2011 at 3:46:39 am
I just don't know I would have left the dirt in the picture, the 1970's from all accounts were a pretty dirty time and the trailer seems too clean to me. I think that the current trend towards the hyper clean (i.e. MTI's cleaning dirt "invisible" to the human eye) will be seen in the future as a mistake. I agree with fixing some of the problems and restoring the color but the lack of dirt kind of changes it for me.
Just my opinion... but you know what they say about people who are over obsessed with dirt....
Re: Debra Kaufman: Restoring Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver in Sony 4K Digital Cinema by Tim Wilson on Mar 16, 2011 at 3:11:54 pm
[Robert Houllahan]", the 1970's from all accounts were a pretty dirty time and the trailer seems too clean to me"
An interesting point, Robert, and I think that people are going to be debating this for a long time as we see more and more restorations.
Here's my thinking: I don't know that there's a more meticulous filmmaker than Scorsese, and I'm positive that when he sat in the screening room that that original print had not a speck on it. The problem was just that by the time these prints made their way through a million nasty sprockets on their way to the fastest possible transfer to TV and the first rounds of home media - they looked pretty bad.
But not always. Even though it was through component video, my Criterion edition of Taxi Driver looked amazing, in some ways superior to the first DVD pressing I saw.
And as I mentioned, looking at those opening frames of Michael Chapman, before DeNiro even started speaking, I want to see those pictures as big and as pure as he and Martin did in 1976. In my mind, there's no excuse NOT to, even if it differs from the way I saw it in the theater.
Now if it was a different cut of the movie, we'd be having a whole 'nother conversation. :-)
Having said that, I appreciate that they made every effort not to over-fix it. I have read Chapman saying elsewhere that desaturating the blood to get an R instead of an X was one of his great regrets -- but I think that leaving the picture desaturated in the remaster was the right thing to do. Otherwise, they really do start to get into re-DOING the movie. I'm glad that Scorsese and Chapman's commitment to authenticity outweighed their desire to do better now than they could possibly have done then. The goal was to make it the best-looking 1976 feature that they possibly could. I can't wait.
Hey, and how much differently did they make trailers back then? Pretty remarkable, and a great conversation on its own for another time and place.
Re: Debra Kaufman: Restoring Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver in Sony 4K Digital Cinema by Robert Houllahan on Mar 16, 2011 at 5:36:22 pm
I actually think that the original prints in the 70's had quite a bit of dirt in them. The article even says that there was quite a bit of dirt stuck in the emulsion of the camera negative. When there is dirt and dust stuck in the emulsion this has usually happened in the dry box in the film processor and gets 'baked' in as the emulsion goes from being wet and expanded as it enters the dry box to being dry and tightened up as it leaves the film processor and is wound on the take-up flange.
As someone who regularly physically works with original film I can tell you that older films were not processed in clean rooms with the attention to detail we have today. Film processors in the 1970's did not have the HEPA filters we have on our machines now, nor were there the kind of forced clean air systems made for 'clean' room enviornments.
Furthermore the optical sequences had to be made with many passes on an optical printer and this was before 'star wars' and the advances in optical printing that happened in California at ILM and other downshooting shops. I think the optical house in NYC probably was not at the forefront of using newer optics and other techniques which help to keep the originals clean and scratch free after multiple passes through a optical printer.
I just think over cleaning the dirt takes away from the look of work from that era. Also I kind of like a little dirt in my films I find it humanizing.
Re: Debra Kaufman: Restoring Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver in Sony 4K Digital Cinema by Glen Stork on Apr 7, 2011 at 2:51:26 pm
Debra,
Terrific work. Got to the end and noticed your photo needed a bit of contrast. I adjusted it and want to send it to you. Take care.
Duane
Duane Stork Photography http://www.DStork.com
404.314.2808
Re: Restoring Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver in Sony 4K Digital Cinema by Danny Hays on May 12, 2011 at 6:54:54 am
Very nice. A few posts here have asked what you playback 4K with. I'm curios too. I work at Universal Orlando resort in the Show Systems department, taking care of all the audio, video, laser and film in the theme park attractions. We have a venue that has 4K 60p video, and we use a DVS 4K server, I can't get into details on it, but what else can playback 4K?
Re: Restoring Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver in Sony 4K Digital Cinema by Mike Most on May 13, 2011 at 3:09:20 pm
If it were available. At this point in time, it's not. There has also been no confirmation that it will handle 4K from anything other than Red's own codec. DCP compatibility has been hinted at, but to my knowledge not officially confirmed.
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