The Irish Film Institute, Ireland’s only screening house for 70mm prints, will screen David Lean’s 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia in 70mm for ONE WEEK ONLY from Friday, October 20th.
The IFI will screen David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia as it was meant to be seen, in 70mm, and from a brand new print.
Lean’s timeless epic, breathtaking in its scale and visual mastery, stars Peter O’Toole as British soldier T.E. Lawrence, who found his loyalties divided between his own army and the Arabic tribes with whom he becomes involved as they mount an uprising against Turkey. As critic Roger Ebert wrote, “you need to somehow, somewhere, see it in 70mm on a big screen. This experience is on the short list of things that must be done during the lifetime of every lover of film.”
These screenings of Lawrence of Arabia in 70mm follow the IFI’s record-breaking run of Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk in July and August. Since the installation of 70mm projectors in the IFI in 2001, a number of films have been shown, including Vertigo, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Die Hard, The Hateful Eight, and The Master.
Tickets for this strictly limited run are priced at €14/€13 and are on sale now from www.ifi.ie and the IFI Box Office – 01 6793477.
A NOTE ON 70MM:
When one refers to a 70mm film, one is discussing a cinema print in which each frame is 70mm wide, containing 65mm wide visual image, with the remaining 5mm containing the soundtrack *four magnetic strips, holding up to 6 tracks of sound). Optimal results – in terms of resolution and picture quality – are achieved when material is shot on 65mm stock and then printed onto 70mm. However, due to the cost of shooting on this format, many 70mm prints are so-called “blow-ups”, which originated on 35mm stock.
Despite the remarkable audiovisual experience offered by 70mm films, which can still surpass the best of what digital cinema has to offer, there are a limited number of “true” 70mm films, and indeed of “blow-ups”. Even within the prints available internationally there are a finite number which remain in a condition that best shows off the format.
However, as the only cinema in the country capable of showing films on 70mm, it is the IFI’s intention to hold regular screenings of the best of what is currently available, and we encourage anyone with an interest in film to experience it at least once for themselves.