Solvej Schou on the importance of older female characters in the movies, as reflected in roles played this year by Sally Field, Judi Dench and Helen Mirren.
have no idea what these movies should look like anymore.” It was wrong, the balance was completely off. Oscar-winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker, who recently found herself unable to obtain a new print of “The Age of Innocence” for a museum screening, is worried, not just about the future availability of older titles, but the preservation of the ones that do get converted: “I saw a digitized version of a film that David Lean made during World War II, and it looked just like a TV commercial that was shot yesterday. Much column ink has already been spilled on the demise of 35mm in contemporary film - some of it overly doom-laden - but less has been said about the effect the digital switchover will have on repertory screenings. It’s obviously a slow day for movie news, but this Atlantic piece about the danger posed to classic cinema by the digital revolution really registered with me.
