We’ve always had our doubts about the process of colorizing films that were made in black and while.  While it is true that the process has improved greatly over time, we’re not sure if it modifies the original authors’ vision to such a degree that what we’re looking at is indeed a new work of art.

We say this because watching any films by John Ford, Sergei Eisenstein, Fritz Lang, or F. W. Murnau in their colorized versions is like watching a different movie, and honestly, we’d much rather stick with the original.

Having said that, we must admit that this attempt at “updating” can be really well done.  Case in point: this project by Denis Shiryaev as he colorizes, at a 4K resolution, adjusts to 60 FPS, and adds sound to movies filmed between 1895 and 1902 that can be found in the Lumière Brothers Catalog, available online.

To watch these more than 22 minutes of films from every continent is to take a look back in time, to another world, even if it’s the one we’re living in.  It really is worth watching.

And we bring it to the blog today because between 17:17 and 18:06, we can find the main beach at Biarritz at the turn of the last century.

Like we said, it’s like journeying back in time.

And this isn’t the first time we’ve brought you a historical film of the Northern Basque Country: there was also a 3-D recording from April 1937 at the famous Olympia Theater in Paris, which film celebrities, including Lumière himself, attended.  The film’s title is Euskadi and it is a jewel.

We’ll leave you with the work of Denis Shiryaev and the original film, which can be found on the Lumière Catalog website.

Catálogo Lumiere –  – France

Last Updated on Jan 27, 2021 by About Basque Country