S ERGEI E ISENSTEIN ’ S
¡ Q U É V I VA M É X I C O !
The Reconstruction Of A Lost Masterpiece Of Cinema
Mexican Picture Partnership
80 A Saint Elmo Road
London, W12 9DDX
United Kingdom
Phone/Fax +44-20-8735-0694
Email enquiries@quevivamexico.com
Web www.quevivamexico.com
Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Table Of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................. 3
PRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 4
A Missing Link In Cinema History ............................................................ 6
Research & Production ........................................................................... 7
Archive Materials..................................................................................... 8
Chronology of Events and Chain of Title ................................................. 9
THE STRUCTURE OF THE FILM ..................................................................... 13
Prologue................................................................................................ 14
Conquest............................................................................................... 14
Sandunga.............................................................................................. 14
Fiesta .................................................................................................... 15
Maguey ................................................................................................. 15
Soldadera.............................................................................................. 16
Epilogue ................................................................................................ 16
CONSTRUCTION - RECONSTRUCTION ........................................................... 17
Reconstruction of a Lost Masterpiece ................................................... 17
Stage One.............................................................................................................18
Stage Two.............................................................................................................18
Stage Three ..........................................................................................................18
Stage Four ............................................................................................................19
BIOGRAPHIES ............................................................................................ 20
Sergei M. Eisenstein, Director ............................................................... 20
Lutz Becker, Producer and Director....................................................... 22
Felix von Moreau, Producer .................................................................. 23
Jurgen Proschinger, Co-Executive Producer ......................................... 23
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Executive Summary
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Producer/director Lutz Becker and producer Felix von Moreau are
collaborating on the reconstruction and restoration of Sergei M. Eisenstein’s
unfinished masterpiece ¡Qué Viva México!. A single purpose company,
Mexican Picture Partnership – located and registered in London, United
Kingdom – has been founded for the undertaking of this ambitious endeavor.
The rights to the title of the film and all the original footage shot by Sergei
M. Eisenstein are owned by the Estate of Upton Sinclair, who, together with
his wife Mary Craig, financed the project in 1930/32. It is the Estate,
represented by the New York law firm McIntosh and Otis Inc., which has
granted an exclusive option covering worldwide cinema, TV, and DVD rights
to Lutz Becker for creating a faithful reconstruction of the lost masterpiece. 1
Using state-of-the-art
digital technology
Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva
México! will finally emerge
as a pioneering work of
world cinema and a major
cultural event as significant
as the restoration of Abel
Gance’s monumental epic
Napoléon (1927). Ser gei E isenst ein f ilming Day of the Dead
Due to the importance and prestige of the project, the artistic and technical
quality of reconstruction, and the complexity of digital restoration processes
applied, the production is poised to set new standards and influence future
archival film preservation programs. The reconstruction of Eisenstein’s ¡Qué
Viva México! is an onerous undertaking, and will take considerable time to
achieve. However, the result will be worth it: the definitive production of a
masterpiece that was presumed to be lost forever.
1
¡Qué Viva México! was produced under contract with Mary Craig Sinclair (24 November 1930)
according to US law and therefore did not fall under Soviet Copyright.
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Production
PRODUCTION
“My film shall be poem of love, death, and immortality, for which I
have chosen Mexico as the subject matter."
Sergei M. Eisenstein
The Russian director Sergei M. Eisenstein is without doubt one of the most
influential creators of modern cinema. His films Battleship Potemkin,
Aleksandr Nevsky, and Ivan the Terrible, are respected throughout the world
and feature at the top of cinema history’s all-time greats. One of his films,
however, is still missing: the epic ¡Qué Viva México!, the only film he ever
was to shoot outside Russia.
¡Qué Viva México! was
shot in Mexico in 1931 at the
height of the Great
Depression. The famous
novelist Upton Sinclair2, his
wife Mary Craig, and a small
group of likeminded friends
were the courageous
financiers of this ambitious
project. Eisenst ein and Tiss é at C hic hen I tza, Y uc at an
Shortly after start of principal photography, the production encountered
difficulties in keeping on schedule and within budget, and in early 1932,
Sinclair was forced to call a halt to filming. Shooting was stopped with most
of the work completed. Only one episode could not be filmed. At the same
time, Joseph Stalin insisted on Eisenstein's immediate return to the Soviet
Union, threatening the filmmaker’s life if he was to disobey orders.
In early 1834, Eisenstein left for Moscow with Sinclair's promise in mind that
the negatives would be forwarded so he could finalize the editing of the film
in the USSR. Several times Sinclair tried in vain to live up to his word,
unaware that the Soviet film industry had instructions not to import the
negatives. Eisenstein had left Russia as a celebrity, upon his return three
2
Upton Beall Sinclair (1878-1968) was a novelist, playwright, and social crusader from California.
Many of Sinclair's more than eighty books have been widely translated. In 1942, he won the Pulitzer
Prize.
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Production
years later he was denounced as a political unreliable. In the eyes of Stalin,
Eisenstein had become renegade, and the Russian leader punished the
filmmaker by preventing him from finishing his most daring project. For five
years, Eisenstein was not allowed to make films and had to revert to teaching
at the State Film School. The Stalinist propaganda that heaped all the blame
on Upton Sinclair for the tragic end of ¡Qué Viva México! prevailed for
decades to come.
However, all is not lost
thanks to the foresight of
Upton Sinclair, who
deposited the unedited
negative of ¡Qué Viva
México! with the Museum of
Modern Art (MoMA), New
York, in the 1950s 3, and film
historian Jay Leyda4, a
former student of Eisenstein, Shot fr om t he Pr ologue
who made the footage subsequently accessible. Lutz Becker believes that
those seventy years of archival care and investment in preserving the
essence of ¡Qué Viva México! will eventually result in an authentic
reconstruction. It is a lost treasure that is waiting to be discovered and
appreciated by a new generation!
3
Under the curatorship of Richard Griffith, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, made it one
of its aims in the 1950’s to collect and preserve every shred of film by the Russian filmmaker who was
considered the “Leonardo Da Vinci of Cinema.”
4
Jay Leyda (1910-1988) was a leading film historian, filmmaker, photographer, archivist, and teacher.
In 1973, he became professor of Cinema Studies at New York University.
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Production
A Missing Link In Cinema History
¡Qué Viva México! evolved during Eisenstein’s travels throughout the
regions of Mexico. His inspired vision, photographed by Eduard Tissé, one of
the greatest cinematographers of his time, achieve scenes of archetypal
intensity, and explore the simultaneity of past and present. Eisenstein’s filmic
language combine the monumental depiction of Mexican life with the power
of a historical drama, including pastoral scenes of peace under the shadows
of ancient pyramids, and the celebration of the Day of the Dead.
Seen within the oeuvre of Eisenstein’s work, ¡Qué Viva México! has a
special position. It was not intended as a revolutionary montage like his silent
films, nor was it designed as a historical epos in the reign of his later films
Aleksandr Nevsky (1938) or Ivan the Terrible (1945/1948). In its visual
conception and complex construction ¡Qué Viva México! is a film that evades
categorization. One could best describe it as a documentary drama: there are
narrative sequences of a complete fictional nature, while others show
Mexican celebrations in a heightened documentary form. The contrasts
between enactment and transformed reality were in constant dramatic
interaction. Eisenstein’s strong stylistic sense and formal domination
influenced, changed, and structured events, resulting in powerful
compositions and scenes.
Nothing like ¡Qué Viva México! had existed before in the history of cinema,
not even in the director’s own work. It took the generation of the 1950’s and
1960’s, directors such as Godard and Melville, to explore these new areas of
filmmaking. Today’s generation, which has access to the achievements of the
French nouveau vague, has seen the American underground films, and has
shot contemporary video experiments, may be the first to fully understand
Eisenstein’s intentions. He questioned, as every director should do, the
conventions of filmmaking and the expectations of cinema audiences.
Many film historians are convinced that ¡Qué Viva México! is one of
Eisenstein's greatest films. Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México!, for the first time
reconstructed as it was meant to be seen, will be of inestimable importance
to the understanding of cinema history.
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Production
Research & Production
Producer/film historian Lutz Becker has tracked down all original negatives
and master prints of ¡Qué Viva México! in archives such as the Museum of
Modern Art (MoMA), New York, the National Film and Television Archive
(NFTVA), London, and Gosfilmofond Archive, Moscow. During his yearlong
research, Becker discovered previously unknown footage that reveals the
extraordinary quality of Eisenstein’s unfinished film.
The preserved film footage, as fragmented as it may appear, is the
authentic source for the planned reconstruction. This mostly unedited
material contains a large number of alternative takes of important scenes and
will enable Mexican Picture Partnership to reconstruct ¡Qué Viva México!
according to Eisenstein's original intentions.
Lutz Becker's ability as film historian and director makes him particularly
suited to undertake the complex and prestigious reconstruction of
Eisenstein's film. Besides
making use of all surviving
film material, the
production will also take
into account all written
sources like scenarios
and diaries, some of them
unearthed by Becker at
the Russian State
Archives. Scene fr om F ies ta
The envisaged production period will be fifteen months, resulting in a final
cut of approximately two hours in length. The production period covers
editing, digital film restoration and production of the soundtrack.
It is important to note that the reconstructed and restored film will be an
entirely new film, a classic masterpiece completed in the 21st century.
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Production
Archive Materials
Eisenstein shot 195,000 ft. of film in Mexico of which 112,000 ft. have been
preserved, mostly in form of unedited rushes and a small number of edited
scenes.
Several films and travelogues were produced in the 1930’s from sections
sold off separately. These are:
• Thunder over Mexico (S. Lesser, 1933), 6124 ft.
• Death Day (S. Lesser, 1934), 1400 ft.
• Time in the Sun (M. Seton, 1939), 4209 ft.
• Mexican Symphony (W.F. Kruse 1941/2), 6400 ft., a compilation
of six short films distributed separately by the Bell and Howell
Co.: Mexico Marches, Conquering Cross, Idol of Hope, Land &
Freedom, Spaniard & Indian, and Zapotek Village
• Eisenstein in Mexico (S. Lesser, 1934), 1400ft.
Edited in conventional story form and memorable only for the stunning
camera work these films are totally alien to Eisenstein’s conception, retaining
none of the panoramic scope of the Mexican history and culture, which was
present in the filmmaker’s original plan.
In 1957, the film
historian Jay Leyda
compiled for MoMA
21,713 ft. of Eisenstein’s
rushes into a set of
viewing reels entitled
Eisenstein’s Mexican Film
– Episodes for Study,
which he presented in
1958 to the Eisenstein Sce ne fr o m Ma g uey
Conference in Berlin. It was the first time that experts realized what a great
film world cinema had lost.
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Production
Chronology of Events and Chain of Title
The following chronology of legal events, commencing with the original
source, represents the successive and complete conveyances of ¡Qué Viva
México!, and support Mexican Picture Partnership’s claim to the title of and
right to Sergei M. Eisenstein’s film.
During the month of November 1930, Upton Sinclair agrees to support a
film to be produced in Mexico under the direction of Sergei M. Eisenstein. To
prevent disruption of his own literary production he delegates the running of
the business side to his wife Mary Craig Sinclair.
24 November 1930 Mary Craig Sinclair contracts Sergei M. Eisenstein to
make a “Mexican Picture.” The contract determines that:
a) the consideration is $25,000 set against 10% of sums
received by Mary Craig Sinclair from sale or lease of the
picture, and b) Mary Craig Sinclair “shall be sole owner of
all world rights… and shall be free to take up copyright in
her name.”
1 December 1930 On request of Eisenstein, Mary Craig Sinclair varies the
contract “to provide that the Soviet government may have
the film free for showing inside the USSR.”
9 December 1930 Sergei M. Eisenstein and his team arrive in Mexico City
and start filming on 13 December 1930.
9 July 1931 Declaration of Trust for the “Mexican Picture Trust.”
Signatories are Mary Craig Sinclair, Robert Irvin, and
Hunter Kimbrough. The purpose of the trust is to procure
further funds to cover increasing production costs. The
budget of the film rises from $25,000 to $80,000.
15 February 1932 Departure of Eisenstein and his team from Mexico. The
production – since April 1931 referred to as ¡Qué Viva
México! – is stopped with only one of the planned
episodes unrealized.
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Production
1 November 1932 The title Thunder over Mexico is registered for copyright
in the name of the Mexican Picture Trust.
10 January 1933 The Mexican Picture Trust contracts Sol Lesser of
Principle Pictures Inc. to edit the footage following Upton
Sinclair’s outline Hacienda into a complete film (with no
new material added). Thunder over Mexico is to recover
the production costs and is made without the
participation and consent of Sergei M. Eisenstein.
22 September 1933 Public premiere of Thunder over Mexico at the Rialto
Cinema, New York City. The full-length feature is
followed by two documentary films produced by Sol
Lesser: Eisenstein in Mexico, premiered on 31 October
1933, and Death Day, premiered on 27 June 1934.
October 1939 London film critic Marie Seton obtains a license from the
Mexican Picture Trust to produce Time in the Sun, a film
utilizing Eisenstein’s footage.
1940 William Kruse acting on behalf of Bell and Howell Inc.
acquires a license from the Mexican Picture Trust to
produce educational documentary films based on
Eisenstein’s footage: Mexico Marches, Conquering
Cross, Idol of Hope, Land and Freedom, Spaniard and
Indian, and Zapotek Village.
March 1941 Assignment of Trust property to Mary Craig Sinclair, and
termination of the Mexican Picture Trust. Signatories are
Mary Craig Sinclair, Robert Irvin, and Hunter Kimbrough.
April 1954 Upton Sinclair deposits all unedited negatives of ¡Qué
Viva México! with the film archive of the Museum of
Modern Art (MoMA), New York. The material is
consequently catalogued by Jay Leyda.
The status of the deposited material is as follows: while
MoMA is in physical possession of the footage, Upton
Sinclair and subsequently his Estate retain title and all
copyrights to Eisenstein’s film.
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Production
1957 Jay Leyda compiles for MoMA some of the rushes into a
set of viewing reels known as Eisenstein’s Mexican Film
– Episodes for Study.
April 1959 Presentation of Eisenstein’s Mexican Film – Episodes for
Study at the Eisenstein Conference in Berlin.
1968-1971 MoMA in collaboration with the British Film Institute (BFI)
embarks on a preservation program that includes the
duplication of endangered nitrate material onto safety
fine-grain positives.
With the agreement of the International Federation of
Film Archives (FIAF) MoMA exchanges some of the
original nitrate material with the Soviet State Film Archive
(Gosfilmofond) for copies of Russian classics. This
transaction eventually enables Grigori Aleksandov to edit
a film entitled Da Zdravstvuyet Meksika!. 5
22 December 1993 Letter by Jean Sinclair authorizing Lutz Becker to
produce a reconstruction of ¡Qué Viva México!. This
letter, provided by law firm McIntosh and Otis Inc., New
York, is addressed to the BFI, the MoMA, and
Gosfilmofond. The letter is presented to the directors of
these film archives by Lutz Becker personally.
16 December 1996 Notice of Intent to enforce a copyright restored under the
Uruguay Round Agreements, filed by Mosfilm Studios in
connection with Que Viva Mexica.
27 March 1999 Option Agreement regarding original film footage shot by
Sergei M. Eisenstein entitled ¡Qué Viva México! between
the Estate of Jean Sinclair by John Weidman, Executor,
represented by McIntosh and Otis Inc., New York, and
Felix von Moreau’s Arcadia Films Ltd., London.
5
Da Zdravstvuyet Meksika! premiered in 1979.
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Production
1 July 2002 Supplement Option Agreement regarding ¡Qué Viva
México! between the Estate of Jean Sinclair by John
Weidman, Executor, and Arcadia Films Ltd., London.
1 September 2003 Arcadia Films Ltd., London, transfers all rights and
obligations connected with ¡Qué Viva México! to Mexican
Picture Partnership, London, represented through Lutz
Becker and Felix von Moreau.
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! The Structure of the Film
THE STRUCTURE OF THE FILM
“I am not aiming to make a 1930’s pastiche. I think that a subject
that is set into mythological timelessness can be both, a film of the
early 1930’s as well as of our own time.”
Lutz Becker
Conceived as a gigantic tableau of Mexican life ¡Qué Viva México! is a
startling portrayal of the dramatic interaction between the ancient Mayan
civilization, the Spanish conquistadors, and the modernizing mythology of the
Mexican Revolution.
¡Qué Viva México! as
Eisenstein had planned it,
was to consist of seven
interdependent episodes.
Their relationship not
strictly a narrative one, but
based on poetic
associations of ideas and
visual concepts united in
an epic montage. Scene fr om t he Pr ologue
A blend of the ethnographic, the political, the scenic and the surreal,
Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! is nothing short of brilliant and superior to the
legion of films it strongly influenced: Orson Welles' It's All True (1942/1993),
Alejandro Jodorowsky's El Topo (1970), and the works of Sergio Leone. With
sequences devoted to the Eden-like land of Tehuantepec, the savage
majesty of the bullfight, the struggles of the noble peasant, and the hypnotic
imagery of the Day of the Dead, Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! will emerge
as a vivid tapestry of Mexican life, which, thanks to careful restoration, will
take its rightful place alongside Eisenstein's other legendary works.
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! The Structure of the Film
Prologue
The Prologue takes place in the
province of Yucatan – a landscape
shaped by ancient culture, ruined
cities, and magnificent pyramids – and
is inspired by David Alfaro Sequeiro’s
fresco painting The Worker’s Funeral.
The episode establishes Eisenstein’s Scene fr om t he Pr ologue
vision of the simultaneity of the past and present in Mexican life where native
Mayas retain characteristics and traditions of their ancestors.
Conquest
The second episode represents the
mixing of Spanish and Catholic
tradition with native Indian customs
and passion, containing reminders of
the cruelty of past conquests.
Eisenstein depicts the customs of
Mexican celebrations combining two Scene fr om F ies ta
actual rituals with Christ penitents following the Stations of the Cross: the
Feast of the Virgin and the Easter ceremony.
Sandunga
Sandunga is the name of a slow
Oaxacan folk song that will accompany
the sequence, which is set in the
province of Tehuantepec, a world of
great tropical beauty.
Sandunga takes place in a village
located in a lush tropical forest at the Sce ne fr o m Ma g uey
southern tip of Mexico, and tells a story of Zapotec life uncontaminated by
European culture, the coming of age of a young girl named Concepción, her
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! The Structure of the Film
marriage to Abundio, and her motherhood. It is an Arcadian tale reminiscent
of F.W. Murnau's Tabu (1929).
Eisenstein creates a gentle style for this episode with Tissé’s photography
turning away from his well-known sharpness to a softer tone.
Fiesta
This episode is inspired by images of
bullfights, the famous La Tauromaquia
by Francisco Jose de Goya.
Fiesta is composed from essential
Spanish elements in Mexico – the
romance and elegance of pre-
revolutionary colonial life. The episode Scene fr om t he B ullf ight
follows matador David Liceaga, and shows his elaborate preparations for the
Corrida in the arena of Merida. The footage of the bullfight is not staged – the
danger is real, as is the wild enthusiasm of the crowd when Liceaga finally
dispatches the beast.
Eisenstein saw a connection between the Christian myth of the crucifixion
and the profane ritual of the bull's death in the ring. The bullfight scenes were
to exemplify the way death is accepted as a part of life.
Maguey
The central, dramatic episode of the
film, Maguey is set prior to the
Mexican revolution and in the days of
the dictator Porfirio Diaz, on a pulque
producing hacienda in the province of
Hidalgo.
The visuals are inspired by the Scene fr om F ies ta
frescos of Diego Rivera, and feature contrasting images, aggression,
machismo, arrogance and austerity: farm workers Sebastian and Maria fall
victim to the sadistic machinations of their Spanish colonial landlord. It is a
story of the powerful crushing the powerless. Eisenstein portrays class
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! The Structure of the Film
struggle without loosing sight of the people involved by looking at the
personal tragedy devoid of any heroic slogans.
Eisenstein’s sense of space is never more rigorous than in Maguey. The
hacienda towers over the peons like an unattainable mountain of supremacy.
It is during this episode that Eisenstein achieves striking visual effects, for
example, when the peasants cross in a line along the horizon. Critics agree,
that Maguey is one of the most powerful works in Eisenstein's career.
Maguey was the episode that provided the materials for Sol Lesser's
Thunder over Mexico (1933).
Soldadera
Soldadera is the only missing episode of Eisenstein’s film. Echoing the
paintings by Jose Clemente Orozco about the Mexican Revolution,
Soldadera was to be the revolutionary center of the film – a vision of the
people rising up to win their freedom after enduring immense suffering and
privation, a triumph over the despotism portrayed so vividly in Maguey.
The intention of Mexican Picture Partnership is to replace the sequence
with a montage of original documentary material of the Mexican Revolution.
Epilogue
The final episode is set in 1930’s
Mexico City; it shows both industrial
development and urban life in
juxtaposition with old traditions and an
unselfconscious sense of continuity.
The Epilogue takes place on the Day
of the Dead. The face of death is Scene fr om Day of the Dead
everywhere: people wear death masks, eat candy in the shape of skulls,
dance and laugh with skeletons. The Day of the Dead, the Calvera, honors
the departed ones and celebrates the unity of life and death. The ecstatic
imagery in the Epilogue is reminiscent of the popular woodcuts of the folk
artist Jose Guadalupe Posada.
¡Qué Viva México! begins with the ancient past and comes full circle with its
modern day Epilogue – it depicts the energy of a liberated Mexican people.
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Construction - Reconstruction
CONSTRUCTION - RECONSTRUCTION
Reconstruction of a Lost Masterpiece
Film restoration involves knowledge of the film, its context, detailed
research, technical expertise, and subjective decision-making. Restoration
techniques continue to evolve and new equipment and processes become
available to complement traditional photographic techniques that have been
used with varying success in the past. The best digital scanning and image
manipulation systems are capable of restoring and grading film close to its
original appearance. The impact of scratches and dust can be almost
completely removed and major damage including tears, heat, and water can
be effectively addressed. Though digital restoration offers a comprehensive
set of tools, the technique has also served to complicate the decision-making
about how to restore, subject to the format, hardware, software, resolution,
and so forth. However, new tools imply new skills and therefore close
cooperation with digital technicians becomes increasingly important. Which is
why, Mexican Picture Partnership has chosen to work with practitioners of
digital restoration, such as software developers and digital artists, who have
the best understanding of current technical possibilities.
Eisenstein's original footage is divided among three archives: the Museum
of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, holds a complete fine grain duplicate and
uncut nitrate stock, and original material of Thunder over Mexico and the Bell
& Howell films. The National Film and Television Archive (NFTVA), London,
holds the original negative of Time in the Sun and additional fine-grains,
while the remaining original rushes are logged with Gosfilmofond, Moscow.
For the production of Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Mexican Picture
Partnership has secured not only the full cooperation of these archives but
also support from the Int’l Federation of Film Archives (FIAF).
Mexican Picture Partnership aims to utilize the most suited restoration
process, which will enable a new 35mm negative to be generated, as well as
outputs to DVD and other media. However, as always, there is a balance
between the technical, creative, and commercial constraints. The aim is to
employ a combination of the most advanced digital technology to provide the
best quality result at a price level that is commercially viable.
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Construction - Reconstruction
Stage One
Stage One covers the transfer of all archival originals totaling 112,000 ft. –
edited or unedited materials alike – onto new 35mm film masters. These
negatives and/or fine grains will be digitally transferred with the AVID system
serving both as cataloguing and editing device. Thereafter Mexican Picture
Partnership will donate the new 35mm print to the MoMA as contribution to
the long-term preservation of Sergei M. Eisenstein’s work.
Scanning is carried out at 2K resolution and at a speed of five frames per
second. The digitized film is subsequently stored on disk. A digital master will
be created to save the original negative from further decay and provide an
exit route for financiers before detailed restoration work is carried out.
The digitally transferred images will be copied back onto film, thus replacing
the 1931 original footage with a fresh, high-quality negative.
Stage Two
The original rushes will be reconstituted and the most suitable scenes
selected. The reconstruction will follow the principles developed by film
historian Jay Leyda and Lutz Becker. A rough-cut will be established and a
35mm film cutting copy edited and matched to the AVID instructions.
All final picture and sound editing will be made on film to the final length of
approximately 120 minutes.
Stage Three
A comprehensive soundtrack will be recorded, assembled, and matched to
the picture rough-cut. Lutz Becker will oversee the recording of regional
dialects and authentic voices, sound effects, and village atmospheres on
location in Mexico.
Missing dialogues will be lip-read, transcribed, and dubbed with proper
Spanish intonation onto relevant scenes. These field-recordings will be
combined with a commissioned music score and traditional songs into the
final soundtrack assembly.
Mexican Picture Partnership intends to employ a native composer who can
create a contemporary score that will incorporate in an unsentimental,
dramatic way, elements of traditional Mexican and Mayan music.
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Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Construction - Reconstruction
Stage Four
Once the final film has been established and the soundtrack integrated, the
edited master will be digitally restored. Gamma settings will be established
for the reconstruction of the original grayscale and to provide for consistent
grading, which is carried out by running the film on a scanner and
programming set-ups at required positions. Certain software programs will
have to be specifically created for the restoration of Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva
México! to automatically remove scratches, and, where necessary, address
secondary gamma correction and image stabilization.
Once all the restoration work has been completed, a fully restored digital
master is made, which generates the highest quality copies in any standard
or format. During the restoration process, a database documenting all the
parameters is made for future reference: machine models, the settings used,
and the type of work carried out. In the case of manual restoration a
description of the problem and how it was corrected is given, with a list of
tools and processes used.
The digital restoration process will address specific issues in regards to
Eisenstein’s film and encompass:
• Adjustment of undercranked camera: some scenes were shot at
a shutter speed of between 20 and 22 frames per second;
• Frame Stabilization: some sections of the footage are unsteady
due to film shrinkage and an occasional shutter problem;
• Image Ratio: a specialized scanner will make advantageous use
of the full silent image ratio through a 12% compression of the
frame;
• Image Restoration: inherent blemishes and defects such as
shrinkage and emulsion damage will be repaired digitally. It is
estimated that the process of restoring the full tonal range of the
images will take approx. two minutes per frame;
• Grading and Contrast Control: qualitative discrepancies due to
Tissé’s use of various film stocks will be eliminated to achieve
greater visual cohesion.
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Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Biographies
BIOGRAPHIES
Sergei M. Eisenstein, Director
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein was born in Riga, Latvia, on 23 January
1898 into a Jewish family of German descent. He spent his adolescence in
St. Petersburg, studying at the Institute for Civil Engineering and pursuing his
interest in art. Following his first short Glumov’s Diary, Eisenstein made the
feature Strike (1924): the beginning of his collaboration with cameraman
Eduard Tissé, an artistic symbiosis that resulted in the legendary Battleship
Potemkin (1925). Until today, the Odessa steps scene remains probably the
most famous sequence ever put on film.
Throughout 1927,
Eisenstein was filming
October (aka Ten Days
That Shook the World).
His last silent movie was
The General Line (1929),
which was released
following severe cuts by
Stalin under the title The
Old and the New. Ser g ei M. E ise nst ei n i n th e c ut ti n g ro o m.
The year 1929 marked the beginning of three years of travel. Eisenstein
went to Berlin to promote October and to study at the UFA studios in
Babelsberg, where he observed the shooting of Josef von Sternberg’s Der
Blaue Engel (aka The Blue Angel), the technique of sound film production.
After an interlude in Switzerland during which he participated in a landmark
congress for filmmakers, Eisenstein went to Paris and London, connecting
with intellectual circles and film communities. By then Jesse Lasky, who co-
founded Paramount Studios with Cecil B. DeMille, had taken notice, and
lured the Russian filmmaker with the prospect of making his first sound film to
California. Eisenstein submitted three scripts. The studio rejected all.6
6
An American Tragedy, a faithful adaptation of Theodore Dreiser’s novel, was refused by the studio
because Eisenstein objected to employ stars and insisted on non-professionals to achieve the
naturalism he saw as essential to the story. For years to come producer David O. Selznick (Gone
With The Wind) referred to Eisenstein’s adaptation as “the most moving script I have ever read.”
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Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Biographies
It was not before Charlie Chaplin
introduced Eisenstein to the author
Upton Sinclair, that the filmmaker
would start work on his next project:
¡Qué Viva México!. Mexico was for
Eisenstein a magical subject. He had
been sensitized for everything
Mexican by the poet Vladimir
Mayakovsky, who had told him raving
stories about wilderness and mystery,
and the novels by B. Traven, author of S. M. Eis ens tein and U. S inc lair
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, which Eisenstein had read in their German
originals. Furthermore, Diego Rivera, the Mexican muralist, had visited
Moscow in 1927 and become a close friend of Eisenstein. Unfortunately, due
to financial difficulties, growing alienation between the director and the
Sinclairs, and finally after Stalin's intervention, film work was halted. An
experience Eisenstein was never to recover from. He was obsessed with
¡Qué Viva México!, and throughout his life would speak of getting his
Mexican footage and editing it.
The Moscow Eisenstein returned to in 1932 had changed since his trip to
Europe and America. He was greeted with an atmosphere of preparation for
purges. Artists were attacked for “formalism,” and “socialist realism” was the
bureaucracy’s aesthetic. Eisenstein was left without film work until Beshin
Meadow (1935/37), on which production was stopped for ideological reasons
and the negative destroyed – another catastrophic loss for the director and
his audiences.
Aleksandr Nevsky (1936/38), a historical film with music by Sergei
Prokofiev, brought Eisenstein back into favor with the authorities, and he was
awarded the Order of Lenin. In 1940, he was appointed artistic director of
Mosfilm and started work on the first part of Ivan the Terrible, for which he
received the Stalin Prize in 1945. The second part featured some color
scenes and was completed in 1946, but displeased Stalin to such a degree
that it was shelved immediately; of the third part, Eisenstein’s last film, only a
fragment remains.
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Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Biographies
Eisenstein returned to lecturing and writing thereafter. An unfinished
manuscript on color cinematography and an old note from Upton Sinclair
promising the imminent arrival of the Mexican footage – an affair which,
Eisenstein admitted, “has broken my heart” – was on the desk at which the
filmmaker died in 1948.
Lutz Becker, Producer and Director
Lutz Becker, born in 1941, studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, London,
where he graduated under Thorold Dickinson. He is a distinguished director
of political and art documentaries such as Art in Revolution (1971), Lion of
Judah (1981), and Vita Fururista (1987). His award-winning documentary
The Double Headed Eagle (1972), a different and disturbing look at the rise
of the Nazi party, earned him recognition as a master in archival film
reconstruction.
As a renowned film historian who studied Russian film and art for many
years, Lutz Becker is particularly suited to resolve the complexities of the
reconstruction of Eisenstein’s original concept. Becker’s interest in ¡Qué Viva
México! stems back as far as the early 1960’s when he was struck by the
blandness of Mary Seaton's Time in the Sun, an honest but inadequate
attempt to reconstruct the film from Eisenstein’s scenario.
Ever since Becker has searched fervently for more information about the
unfortunate series of events that had prevented the completion of a
masterpiece, and he has seen as much as possible of the original footage
that still exists. His first attempt to construct the film in 1971 failed due to bad
timing: Grigori Aleksandrov, Eisenstein's one-time assistant, was working on
a television version entitled Da Stravstvuyet Mexica. Later in 1986, Becker
discussed the idea with Jay Leyda in New York, but the famous film historian
was already too ill to work with Becker, and sadly died soon thereafter.
A practicing painter, Becker is also a curator of exhibitions, collaborating
with the Hayward Gallery on The Romantic Spirit in German Art (1994), Art
and Power (1995), and the Tate Modern on Century City (2001).
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Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Biographies
Felix von Moreau, Producer
Felix von Moreau was born in 1958 and studied literature and history at the
University of Heidelberg, Germany.
During the period 1979/80, he was assistant director at the Cologne City
Theater. Shortly thereafter Felix started his film production career in Munich
by producing the independent feature Lobster Cowboy, starring the American
performance artist Pattie Smith.
After working as a news journalist for the daily Kölner Stadt Anzeiger, Felix
joined the London bureau of German state television ZDF in 1984 as
producer. In 1986 he was Head of the European Research Team at Thames
Television for a major Channel Four biography on the fourth United Nations
Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, a co-production with Home Box Office
(HBO), New York. Following the success of the documentary, Felix was
commissioned by Channel Four to conduct a two-year production/research
that resulted in the highly acclaimed film biography of Adolf Hitler, a co-
production with London based Brook Productions and Cinetel, Munich.
In parallel with international feature journalism assignments for Forbes
Magazine, Felix became a producer for Reuters TV, the television division of
Reuters, in 1990. At Reuters TV, he launched a three-language daily news
program that was carried live on the transnational satellite TV network
Superchannel. He also produced numerous business items for German
broadcaster SAT 1 and wrote for several publications in Germany.
Since 1992 Felix is the managing director of development and production
outfit Arcadia Films, London.
Jurgen Proschinger, Co-Executive Producer
Jurgen Proschinger, CEO of Gryphon Entertainment, has extensive
experience on both the creative and business side of the entertainment
industry, and operates comfortably within the cultures of Europe and the US.
After creating marketing strategies for CIC’s video releases of major
Hollywood films like Forrest Gump and Schindler's List for the German
language market, Jurgen became influential in initiating the slate-funding
scheme for the European Union’s Media Program. At the European Media
Development Agency (EMDA), London, he assessed and coordinated
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Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México! Biographies
funding for business plans and slates from independent production
companies across Europe, advising on finance and development strategies.
In May 2000, Jurgen accepted the post of New Business Development and
Sales Manager at MAX – European Post-Production Alliance, a joint venture
of Digital Effects experts, constituting leading post-production houses in
seven countries. It was during his tenure at MAX that Jurgen became
involved in the reconstruction of Eisenstein’s ¡Qué Viva México!.
The demise of the group saw the project brought to an unexpected stand-
still in May 2002, and Jurgen subsequently joined London-based production
outfit Qwerty Films as Finance Manager where he was involved in the
production and distribution of films such as I Heart Huckabees and Kinsey.
Jurgen studied Business Management and Marketing at AKAD, Black
Forest, and has a European Master in Audiovisual Business Management
from ECAT, Rome. He obtained a Filmmakers’ Diploma from the New York
Film Academy, New York, and a Diploma in Advertising from the Axel-
Andersson Academy, Hamburg. His articles on audiovisual entertainment
aspects have been published in Entertainment Law Review, Independent
Film Monitor, Screen International, and Filmecho.
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