Winter Shooting: L’Atalante—Rushes and Outtakes

Film critic and historian Bernard Eisenschitz, supervisor of the definitive new L’Atalante restoration, provides enlightening narration for outtakes and rushes from Vigo’s masterpiece. He writes, “Many viewers had been struck by the beauty of the materials integrated in some of the previous restorations. . . . Now that a reference print has been identified, [these outtakes] no longer belong within the film. Along with the film being restored to its ‘original purity’ (Henri Langlois), [the outtakes and rushes] tell the story of a high-risk shooting and give an insight into the methods of an inspired and self-assured filmmaker.”