Daniel Issac Humphrey writes: > realize that you yourself have lead us astray in your > posting. You suggest that DEATH BY HANGING was directed by > Yasujiro Ozu. It was, in fact, a film made by Ozu's former > apprentice, Nagisa Oshima. I can't remember what process it > was shot in, but I do recall it as one of the most moving > films I've ever seen. It must have been in SuperVistaVision, surely! I guess this makes it one-all... Your comment about 'Vertigo' is important - why do you feel that the colour rendition in the film's photography and printing is not relevant to the way it depicts misogyny, voyeurism and the cultural construction of feminimity? The reason why most people concerned with the film would not link the two is that the cinematographers and lab technicians who produced it, and the archivists who restored it 40 years later, probably didn't know and almost certainly didn't care about the latter, but were acutely aware of how the former had changed as a result of chemical decomposition and unsatisfactory storage. As a general rule, humanities scholars who have written about the latter have either not been aware of the former or have not regarded it as important. I wonder how many of the Andre Bazins and Robin Woods of this world have based their pontifications on viewings of bleached and faded prints without realising that the experience could be affecting their reaction to the film? Dismiss VistaVision if you like, but it is the main reason why we are now able to see 'Vertigo' in prints which are as dense, sharp and saturated as those of any film produced today. The fact that Hitchcock was one of very few prominent directors of his generation never to make a film in CinemaScope (most 35mm anamorphic negatives from the 50s and 60s are very grainy and have a restricted depth of field) but who chose VistaVision (a better quality image but with a narrower aspect ratio) for several films is surely relevant to our understanding of the man and his work. L ------------------------------------ Leo Enticknap Technical Manager City Screen Cinemas (York) Ltd.. 13-17 Coney St., York YO1 9QL. United Kingdom Telephone: 01904 612940 (work); 01904 625823 (home); 07710 417383 (mobile) e-mail: [log in to unmask] (work); [log in to unmask] (home) ---- For past messages, visit the Screen-L Archives: http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html