The Cinematheque of Bologna and the National Cinema Museum of Torino present the restored edition of Elio Petri’s The Assassin

Elio Petri’s first feature film, The assassin (1961), restored by the Cinematheque of Bologna and by the National Cinema Museum of Torino and thanks to the kind concession of Titanus, has been officially invited to the 64th Cannes Film Festival.

The film, digitally restored at the Immagine Ritrovata laboratori in Bologna, is scheduled to screen on 20th May, at 8:00 PM, as a part of the Cannes Classics section.

Petri’s first work highlights certain aspects which shall become a hallmark of the manifold and intense work of social denunciation for which the Roman director is known. One example for all, the disillusioned analysis of the characters which are placed in the alienating context of the modern world and the relationship between the individual and the structures of power, in this case identified with the police. The events revolve around an unscrupulous youth who finds himself involved in a murder case, an ordinary man who finds himself tangled in the fabric of a police and inquisitional power whose mechanisms he does not comprehend since this power – by its very own nature – is taken to hiding and disguising them, when not actively distorting them. Because of its strong political and social analysis, The Assassin endured several censorship issues, especially because it showed the Italian police force using unorthodox methods.

THE RESTORATION

The digital restoration of The Assassin began with the original camera negative and, for the first and last roll, with a period lavander since the preserved negative was incomplete. All elements were scanned at 2K resolution. Following the scan the images were digitally stabilized and cleaned, removing noise, scratches and visible editing marks.

In order to recover its original luminosity, digital grading was performed by using as a reference a period positive copy preserved by the Titanus Production company at the Cinematheque of Bologna.

The original soundtrack was digitally restored beginning with the 35mm optical negative from which a positive column was printed. Once this element was acquired it became possible to proceed with the digital cleaning process and with the reduction of background noise caused by the passing of time. The restoration allowed to obtain a duplicate for preservation and a new negative column. Furthermore, a complete backup of all files produced during the digital restoration was saved on several digital supports.

The restoration of The Assassin, which is an integrating part of the preservation project of the Elio Petri Heritage, which Paola Pegoraro Petri has donated to the National Cinema Museum of Torino in 2007, including the director’s entire personal archive containing documents, screenplays, photos, notes and letters.