By
Mark Cerulli
The 1951 film The
Tales of Hoffmann, the acclaimed British adaptation of the opera by Jaques
Offenbach, was an early influence on major directors like Cecil B. DeMille,
George Romero (who said it was “the movie that made me want to make moviesâ€)
and Martin Scorsese. They were drawn to co-directors,
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger’s inventive camera work, vibrant color
palette (each of the three acts has its own primary color) and smooth blending
of film, dance and music. According to
an interview found on Powell-Pressburger.org, Powell wanted to do a “composed
film†– shot entirely to a pre-recorded music track, in this case, Offenbach’s
opera. Not having to worry about sound meant
he could remove the cumbersome padding that encased every Technicolor camera
and really move it around production designer Hein Heckroth’s soaring sets.
(Heckroth’s work on the film earned him two 1952 Oscar nominations.)
The film’s extensive
restoration was sponsored by Scorsese’s Film Foundation and the BFI Film
Archive, in association with Studiocanal. The entire project was overseen by Powell’s widow, longtime Scorsese editor
Thelma Schoonmaker. In fact it was
Scorsese who had introduced Powell to Schoonmaker, resulting in their 1984
marriage.
Ms. Schoonmaker – on
location in Taiwan to work on Scorsese’s next film, Silence - said the director was obsessed (in a good way!) with her
late husband’s and his partner’s work. She stated that Scorsese says their films are “in his DNA.†He was particularly interested in The Tales of Hoffmann because it taught him about
moving the camera, capturing the body language of actors and “celebrating the
emotion of music.â€
Aside from the film’s
pristine new look (which took over six months of “very intense†work), this
version features 6 minutes missing from the Third Act, apparently cut by
producer Alexander Korda who had wanted the filmmakers to drop Act Three
entirely! Another gem found in BFI’s
vaults was an epilogue the directors shot to introduce the opera singers who
voiced the dancers appearing in the film. As Schoonmaker recalls, “Since no
sound track was found for it, I created a sound track of applause and music
from the film. No one had ever seen this
epilogue, because it was never on the original release prints.†It’s
a delightful piece of filmmaking whimsy that has gone unseen for over six
decades.
The film had been
previously restored in the 1980s using the Technicolor three strip Interpositive,
but during the intervening years, the three-color strips had shrunk, creating
fuzzy images even after restoration. But as Schoonmaker relates, this version remedies
that, and then some… “The new restoration was able to digitally
realign the three strips perfectly. The
rich color of the film was rebuilt layer by layer, an arduous process, until
the restorers were satisfied the film looked as it had when it was first made.
“
Overseeing the entire
process along with Schoonmaker was a true student of the film – Martin Scorsese!
“Scorsese knew the film intimately
having screened it many times on a 16mm print and through watching the Criterion
DVD over and over again.†Schoonmaker
recalled, noting, “I had watched the film with my late husband, Michael Powell and
so Scorsese and I were able to guide the color restoration.â€
The film boasts a joint writer,
producer, director credit, which was quite rare in the 1950s. Schoonmaker explained that, “only Michael
directed on the set, but he admired Emeric’s contribution to their films so
much that he agreed to sharing the remarkable title (for the time) ‘Written,
produced and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’ long before
that kind of title was used as much as it is today.†The prolific duo made 19 films together.
The Tales of Hoffmann’s
influence on Scorsese can be seen in his gritty 1976 masterpiece, Taxi Driver. As his three time Oscar-winning editor points
out, “He (Scorsese) says the dancers in the film taught him so much about body
language. And the eye movements of (actor)
Robert Helpmann were a direct influence on De Niro’s eyes in the mirror of the
car ...â€
Having worked with the
director on revered films like Raging
Bull, Casino, Goodfellas, The Aviator
and Wolf of Wall Street – in fact on every
Scorsese film since 1980 – Thelma Schoonmaker should know!
The Rialto Pictures
release of the restored and expanded The Tales
of Hoffmann opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday March 13th,
with other cities to follow.
