Come to the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center, where movies look better than ever!

At the California Film Institute, we strive to offer our audiences not only the best film work from around the world, but also the finest-quality presentation. It’s always thrilling for us to have filmmakers in attendance and watch their personal reactions to the way their work looks and sounds at the Rafael.

Recently we acquired new digital equipment that provides a significant upgrade to the Rafael experience. 4K resolution represents an improvement over standard high definition, offering a crisper and more detailed image. And our new laser-based projection system provides superior brightness and color spectrum. The result is a more vibrant and immersive experience for the audience.

In celebration of our new setup, we offer this special series of 4K restorations showcasing films best enjoyed on the big screen. Some films originate from high-resolution film formats, and all promise revelations in screen quality.

We would like to thank Henry O. Timnick for contributing to the Rafael’s new technical enhancement.

ADMISSION: $12.50 General  |  $9. Senior • Youth • Matinée  |  $7 CFI Members

TUCKER: THE MAN AND HIS DREAM

One of Francis Ford Coppola’s most overlooked gems comes delivered to our showroom in a nifty 4K restoration. Jeff Bridges stars as real-life inventor Preston Tucker, who attempted to market “the car of the future” during the postwar boom of the late 1940s, only to be undone by the government and the auto industry. Coppola had pursued this subject for many years, even imagining it as a musical. The musical didn’t happen, but the film does maintain an exuberance and style that sweeps you along. Add to that the delicious visuals of cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, and an amazing cast, including Martin Landau, Joan Allen, Lloyd Bridges, Frederic Forrest and Dean Stockwell. (US 1988) 110 min.

SUNDAY, DEC. 25  • 1:00
MONDAY, DEC. 26  • 7:00

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NORTH BY NORTHWEST

When screenwriter Ernest Lehman set out to write the “Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures,” the legendary director obliged with this spectacular color production using high-resolution VistaVision cameras, rendered beautifully in this 4K restoration. Cary Grant stars as a mild-mannered advertising executive inadvertently mistaken for a spy, and this delightfully convoluted drama lands him in the United Nations, the top of Mount Rushmore and an eerily quiet Midwest cornfield. Some have credited this picaresque adventure as “the first James Bond film.” With Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. Director: Alfred Hitchcock. (US 1959) 136 min.

PSYCHO

This recent 4K restoration retrieves some footage that has been missing since the film’s original release. Alfred Hitchcock shocked his audience with this low budget thriller that became his greatest success. Featuring one of the most astounding twists in film history, it begins with a desperate Janet Leigh absconding with a bank deposit and continues as a portrait of the young motel proprietor played by Anthony Perkins, in a role that would define his career. This elegantly wrought horror masterpiece has been frequently emulated over the years, but never bettered- especially the unforgettable music score by Bernard Herrmann. (US 1960) 109 min.

SUNDAY, OCT. 30  • 1:00
MONDAY, OCT. 31  • 7:00

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

Stanley Kubrick’s legendary space epic, filmed in Super Panavision 70 (and branded as Cinerama), remains an essential big-screen experience. Initially rebuffed by many critics, it is now widely considered a masterpiece. Kubrick collaborated with writer Arthur C. Clarke on the story and eschewed fanciful depictions of space travel for a thoroughly realistic approach. And Kubrick himself supervised the visual effects, which were produced in the pre-digital age but remain stunning today, influencing virtually every science fiction film that followed. The 4K edition is based on 8K scan of the original negative. (US 1968) 149 min.

SUNDAY, NOV.6  • 1:00
MONDAY, NOV.7  • 7:00

ILYA MUROMETS

AKA THE SWORD & THE DRAGON

Aleksandr Ptushko was an accomplished fantasy filmmaker in the Soviet Union, creating films that can only be compared to those of Walt Disney, George Pal or Ray Harryhausen. This recently restored live-action adventure, a sweeping epic of medieval knights, furry wind demons and three-headed dragons, was initially released in the US in a truncated and dubbed version called The Sword and the Dragon. This 4K restoration of Ilya Muromets boasts eye-popping color and special effects servicing epic poetry in the Soviets’ first production in Cinemascope and stereo sound. (USSR 1956) 94 min. In Russian with English subtitles.

SUNDAY, NOV. 13  • 1:00
MONDAY, NOV. 14  • 7:00

ALMA’S RAINBOW

Notable in 1994 as one of the first 35mm features in America to be written, produced and directed by a Black woman, this coming-of-age comedy from filmmaker Ayoka Chenzira is ripe for rediscovery in this vibrantly colorful 4K restoration. With humor and sensitivity, the film explores matriarchy within one family. Rainbow (Victoria Gabrielle Platt), a teenager just entering womanhood, lives with her strait-laced mother Alma (Kim Weston-Moran), who runs a hair salon in the parlor of their home. When Alma’s free-spirited sister Ruby (Mizan Nunes) arrives after a long absence, the sisters spar over what direction Rainbow’s life should take. (US 1994)

SUNDAY, NOV. 20  • 1:00
MONDAY, NOV. 21  • 7:00

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA

60 years after its premiere, David Lean’s masterpiece remains epic cinema at its best. It was filmed by director Lean and cinematographer Freddie Young in Super Panavision 70, and the large film format has been exquisitely rendered in this 4K restoration. Peter O’Toole stars as the real-life British officer who assisted the Arab revolt against the Turks during World War I. Co-starring Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, with the iconic music score by Maurice Jarre. Winner of seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture). (UK/US 1962) 227 min. plus intermission.

SUNDAY, NOV. 27  • 1:00
MONDAY, NOV. 28  • 7:00

THREE COLORS: WHITE

Split between Paris and Warsaw, the middle film in the trilogy is a darkly funny revenge film reflecting Poland’s position in the burgeoning European Union. A Polish immigrant in France is divorced and framed by his beautiful French wife (Julie Delpy), and he returns to Poland with a scheme in mind. New 4K restoration. In French and Polish with English subtitles. (France/Poland 1994) 91 min.

The “Three Colors Trilogy” comprises French-produced dramas by Polish filmmaker Krysztof Kieślowski. Each has a different and independent story. The titles refer to the colors of the French flag and the three ideals in the French motto: liberty, equality, fraternity.

SUNDAY, DEC. 11  • 1:00
MONDAY, DEC. 12  • 7:00

THREE COLORS: BLUE

Juliette Binoche stars as Julie, the wife of a famous composer, who survives a car accident that claims her husband and daughter. Taking an apartment in Paris, she attempts to cut herself off from everything but finds she can’t free herself from human connections. This study of grief uses striking color design and music. New 4K restoration. In French with English subtitles. (France/Poland 1993) 94 min.

The “Three Colors Trilogy” comprises French-produced dramas by Polish filmmaker Krysztof Kieślowski. Each has a different and independent story. The titles refer to the colors of the French flag and the three ideals in the French motto: liberty, equality, fraternity.

MONDAY, DEC. 5  • 7:00 -CANCELED

THREE COLORS: RED

The final film in Kieślowski’s trilogy is an astonishing affirmation of life and art, as well as a meditation on fate and chance, focusing on a runway model (Irène Jacob) in Geneva whose life dramatically intersects with that of a retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant). New 4K restoration. In French with English subtitles. (France/Switzerland 1994) 99 min.

The “Three Colors Trilogy” comprises French-produced dramas by Polish filmmaker Krysztof Kieślowski. Each has a different and independent story. The titles refer to the colors of the French flag and the three ideals in the French motto: liberty, equality, fraternity.

SUNDAY, DEC. 18  • 1:00
MONDAY, DEC. 19  • 7:00

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