Nicholas Ray's last film will finally see the light of day.
Hollywood maverick Nicholas Ray will be celebrated by the Venice Film Festival with a $500,000 restoration of 1976's "We Can't Go Home Again," the experimental final work by the late helmer best known for "Rebel Without a Cause."
After sitting on a shelf for more than 30 years, negatives for this multinarrative, boundary-pushing pic, conceived by Ray (who died in 1979) and his wife, Susan Ray, are being restored and re-edited into a definitive cut under Susan Ray's supervision.
The restoration is funded by the Nicholas Ray Foundation in collaboration with the fest; its parent org, the Venice Biennale; and sponsor Jaeger-LeCoultre. It will be completed in 2011 and world preem at the Lido's 68th edition to mark the centennial of Ray's birth.
Besides honoring Ray's legacy, the Venice restoration project aims to find new ways of preserving and showing vintage movies.
The Ray celebration will include a series of DVDs, an installation, an educational film titled "Nicholas Ray Master Class" and an interactive website.
Contact Nick Vivarelli at
nvivarelli@gmail.com