Just as Sumitra Peries' 1978 Landmark debuted "Gehenu Lamai" (Girls) for the world premiere of restoration at Classics in Cannes, the Indian film Heritage Foundation reveals extraordinary technical challenges overcome in the film's arduous restoration process. After a sophisticated reconstruction effort, Black and White Classic returns to screen 47 years after its original release.
Located in rural Sri Lankan, the film was hailed as the film of the year at the 1978 London Film Festival, following Kusum is a dedicated girl who falls in love with the upper class boy Nimal who works in her house. When Nimal's mother discovers the relationship, her mother is angry because Kusum belongs to the lower class and fires her, causing Kusum to break away from all contact with Nimal. When she gets pregnant and has an illegitimate child, her happy sister Soma’s dream of becoming a beauty queen is broken.
Shivendra Singh Dunhpur, director of the film "Heritage Foundation", told Shivendra Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, "Recovery is very difficult, we have to work with three different elements of the film to bring 'Gehenu Lamai' back to its original glory." typedetails the complex process behind the resurrection of this Sri Lankan masterpiece.
The Film Heritage Foundation has undergone a delicate restoration under Fisch (France-Indian-Lanka Cine Heritage (scattered throughout the border), an international collaboration between the Film Heritage Foundation, the French Embassy and the French Embassy in India, and the French Embassy in France in Sri Lanka and Maldives.
Dungarpur details the technological miracle behind the restoration, revealing the unstable state of the original material. "The surviving elements of 'gehenu Lamai' preserved at Sri Lanka National Film Company - the 35mm camouflage composition and two first-generation 35mm releases were shipped to L'Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna," he explained. "The condition of these three elements was worsened by tears, sprocket breaks, heavy warping, lotion damage and contractions, which also affected the quality of the sound, and in addition, the negative subtitles of the merged dupe negatives were embedded in the film. The film had to be rebuilt from practically and rebuilt and recovered from the best part of each element."
After detailed inspections by the Film Heritage Foundation Archives and the Bologna Laboratory, the Conservator discovered the different conditions of the reel, from the average to the critical. A lot of time is spent meticulously repairing body damage before the high-resolution 4K scan begins – fixing damaged perforations, repairing tears and replacing aging tape joints.
The film’s comparison phase reveals a fascinating discovery: One positive print is a retro version of the Sri Lankan version that contains other photos not found in other elements, making it a valuable reference for the restoration version. While DUPE's negative photography quality is better, its embedded subtitles present unique challenges.
“Ultimately, Dupe’s negative photography has lower contrast, allowing it to restore greater detail, making it a major element of restoration,” the Restoration Team report. “This requires a lot of digital recovery efforts to correct the distortion and faithfully restore the original aesthetic of the image.”
Sound recovery proved particularly complex, and the technical team was fighting problems, including clicks, crack bones, hissing, physical gaps, and damaged optical tracks that made parts unaudible. These challenges are further exacerbated by high levels of electrical noise and distortion.
"I've seen the state of the film elements at the National Film Company, and I know that if we don't fix it as soon as possible, we can lose the film forever," Dungeble said. That vision came true until six years later when the French government provided the grant through Fisch.
"But despite the challenges, the recovery is still beautiful," Dungabull added. "I just hope Sumitra Peries watch movies at us at the Cannes Film Festival."
After restoration, the film's premiere at Classics in Cannes has special significance for its original star. Wasanthi Chathurani, who was just 16 when cast as Kusum, says: “I am overwhelmed that 'Gehenu Lamai' has been restored by Film Heritage Foundation and will be premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, 47 years after it was released. I was just 16 and studying in a convent school when Sumitra Peries selected me for the role of Kusum. Initially, I was very nervous and almost gave up, but she was so patient and she taught me the nuances of performance and how to face the camera.
Ajith Jinadasa, who portrays Nimal, reflects the film's lasting influence: "The relationship between the character I play, the character I play, and Kusum is portrayed so beautifully by Wasanthi Chathurani, who is innocent, pure, pure, and without the conflict of others, but, without the other time of intense socialization, it's my intense fanaticism. Why I gave up on Kusum.
The premiere of the Cannes Film Festival will be paid by the film’s protagonists Chathurani, Jinadasa and Shyama Ananda, as well as the delegations including Dungarpur, Gayathri Mustachi, Lester James Perice and Sumtra Cerication’s chairman, actor, actor and Damith Fonseka, Gamini Fonseka Fonseka Foundation.
Jinadasa believes that the restoration will allow new audiences to experience a "film that resonates between generations and boundaries, perhaps because other love stories of that era do not portray so realistically the silent battles within and within society." He added: "This movie is worth living - not only for nostalgia, but for future generations to understand the souls of our storytelling."