The
Open Road in September
7
September 2007
In
April 2006, an acclaimed co-production between the
BFI and the BBC hit our screens showcasing the work
of one of the pioneers of colour film. The
Lost World of Friese-Green showed us the
first colour images of Britain in the 1920s, unique
footage taken by Friese-Green on a journey from
Land's End to John O'Groats for his ground-breaking
travelogue The Open Road. Conceived
as a series of 26 shorts to be shown weekly at the
cinema, the film created an impact at trade shows
when first shown in 1925, Friese-Green's experimental
colour process failed to reach a large audience
owing to heavy flicker and colour fringing. The
original negatives were deposited with the BFI for
preservation in the late 1950s.
Now
the BFI National Archive has restored a special
compilation of highlights from the journey, using
digital intermediate technology (the Archive’s
first such project) to remove the technical defects
of the original. The Open Road
is important as a landmark work in the development
of colour on film and fascinating as a social record
of Britain between the wars.
The
Open Road
will be released on UK DVD by the BFI on 24th September
2007 with a new score by world-renowned composer
and silent film accompanist Neil Brand on piano
and equally renowned violinist and silent film accompanist
Günter Buchwald. Also on the disc will be:
- Across
England in an Aeroplane (UK, 1919-20, silent)
– A short aerial tour of the West Country;
- A
fully illustrated 17-page booklet with background
notes, details on the digital reconstruction of
the film and musician biographies.
The
RRP is set at £15.99.
