AN INTERVIEW with THE DEVILS 4K restoration colorist Andrea Leigh Chlebak

by John Larkin

I recently had the good fortune to connect with Andrea Leigh Chlebak, Senior Colorist at Water Tower Color, to tell her how much I enjoyed her work on the new 4K restoration of Ken Russell’s THE DEVILS (1971). Seeing it projected on 35mm at the Walter Reade Theater was a highlight of this year’s New York Film Festival, and I was particularly struck by how natural its colors felt. She generously agreed to an interview for Films in Review about her career, her process, and the responsibility of helping restore a film whose troubled release history made finding a reliable visual reference particularly challenging.

In our conversation, Chlebak discusses piecing together those references from an older video master and original lobby cards, preserving David Watkin’s cinematography, and deciding which imperfections were essential to retain. She also reflects on her beginnings in photography and film finishing, the balance between historical fidelity and creative judgment, and the experience of reviewing the film’s color with Guillermo del Toro. Throughout, she describes an approach guided by close attention to the original photography and a desire for her own contribution to remain invisible.

JL: Andrea, thanks so much for taking the time to do an interview about your incredible work helping to restore THE DEVILS in 4K. I had always really liked the film, but watching the new 4K restoration projected on 35mm at the Walter Reade Theater was transcendent and the highlight of my experience at the New York Film Festival this year. I’m curious, to start, how were you assigned to work on this particular restoration as a colorist at Warner Bros.? Was it a project you actively pursued, or did the opportunity come to you?

AC: I actually had just started at Water Tower Color at Warner Bros. in Burbank in January this year, when whispers of a really exciting and somewhat controversial restoration were starting to circulate. I was lucky that Daphne Dentz, [Senior Vice President, Post Production Creative Services], and the team steered the project my way, and when I found out what it was, I was immediately all in. THE DEVILS has been a point of reference, and honestly reverence, for most of my career. I knew the story of how it was never properly released the way the director intended, and the production design and cinematography have always been on my mood boards, so needless to say, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to do the grade. My work is often rooted in horror and thriller, so as someone who grades modern features, it’s a real gift to get my hands on the film that influenced so many of them.

JL: THE DEVILS has a controversial history, and for many viewers, finding a high-quality version has been a challenge. Did you have a reliable visual reference for how the film was originally intended to look, and how did that inform your approach to the color grading?

AC: Honestly, nothing reliable. There was no single ideal reference, which is very common with restorations. But for this film especially, I think it was always printed or transferred with compromise, so that had to be taken into consideration. With that, I built a kind of mosaic of reference from the pieces I could find.

I spent a lot of time with the most recent PAL Digibeta, which would have been the master for most of the versions people have seen on DVD or at festivals over the last twenty years. There’s value in honoring some of that look, because it’s what most people picture or remember when they think of this film. Warner Bros. also had a festival print, but it had faded badly, so it couldn’t be a true color reference. Another interesting reference was the printed lobby cards from the 1971 release. They were part of the original marketing, but they were likely made from stills shot on set rather than from the cinematography itself, so they were more a whisper of intent than proof of exact color.

When I got into the grade, I started with the Digibeta. Once I was confident the look I was building was a clear improvement, with skin tones, contrast, and depth feeling more natural, I shifted into a more intuitive process.

I worked through the film as though I were back in the day, trying to emulate the kinds of changes that would have happened at the printing stage. From there, I moved into the places that always seemed compromised, like plugged-up blacks or color shifts in the white brick scenes from mixed lighting. The goal was to honor the beauty already in the film without adding a new voice or a texture that felt heavy-handed.

JL: David Watkin, the film’s cinematographer, passed away in 2008, so he wasn’t available to offer guidance on the restoration. Without his input, how do you balance fidelity to his work with your own creative judgment? Is there room to make choices that reflect your personal sensibilities, even if they might depart slightly from the original look, or do you see your role as preserving that look as faithfully as possible?

AC: Great question. Especially as someone who typically works closely with a cinematographer, I think that when it comes to a restoration, most often the DP isn’t around to supervise, so I always try to see myself as a custodian of the look. My aim as the colorist for this one was to be as invisible as possible.

Because I see myself as an extension of the cinematographer, that’s how I approach all my work, features and restorations alike. Sometimes I’m invited to collaborate on stronger, bolder looks that I can help synthesize and transform, but in general, if I’ve done my job, you aren’t feeling separated from the image by a color effect or a palette that feels forced.

David Watkin’s work is the foundation, and I wasn’t there to improve on it or even update it. I didn’t want to push anything too modern, because I didn’t think I had to. I believe my natural sensibilities already bring a contemporary feel to the grade, so I can trust that instinct and focus on listening to the film.

So there’s room for my judgment, but it lives in the small decisions: where a black level or contrast should sit, how a skin tone breathes throughout a daylit scene. Those choices serve his work rather than compete with it. The goal is for the viewer to forget a colorist was ever involved.

JL: What impressed me most about THE DEVILS restoration was how natural the colors felt. Every choice seemed right, without a dramatic shift in the film’s overall palette. By comparison, something like THE EXORCIST’s first Blu-ray release in 2010 represented a complete shift toward an icy blue look compared with the more natural-looking versions before it, (although I think that version of the film still works). With the 4K restoration of EYES WIDE SHUT, I found the image too yellow and the grain too pronounced for my taste, even though cinematographer Larry Smith supervised it. Some viewers consider it more faithful to the intended look, but I personally prefer the earlier Blu-ray’s color grading. Have you seen those releases, and what do you make of their visual choices? As a colorist, how do you think about the distinction between an image being historically accurate and an audience finding it visually satisfying, particularly when we’ve grown accustomed to a different version?

AC: I’m definitely familiar with, and have experienced, the bluer take on more recent restorations. It’s a common critique of modern restorations that we can over-neutralize or push things into a space that now feels like something entirely different. In some cases, I think this happens because we have a lot more reference for that look in a certain genre, and in efforts to “modernize,” things go too far. I agree that it can still work.

In many cases where new directions or changes are made during the restoration stage, a director or DP is present to oversee or request them. This comes when the film has faced time or budget limitations when it was originally made, and restoration gives the filmmaker an opportunity to get it the way they feel it was meant to be. However, there are a few schools of thought on what counts as an acceptable change in restoration and what veers from the original intent.

On one side, you have the limits of the time, budget, and technology that existed when the film was made. On the other, you have more time, new technology, expanded palettes, and modern advances in organic texture. When I think about earlier films I’ve graded, and how we go through different trends, I think it’s important to build a toolkit of understanding for all of that, and not just apply a look because we can. In other words, just because we can doesn’t mean we should. And in some cases, I’ve worked on restorations where the DP or director always wanted to do something but couldn’t because of time and budget, and this becomes their opportunity.

So I think it really depends on the film, the original intent, and the compromises that were in place at the time. If it’s a genre film that would benefit from an expanded palette in HDR, or more organic film texture, then I think it’s worth exploring. But with something like THE DEVILS, I truly didn’t see the reason to put something new into a film that had its own perfect imperfections. This one was about giving it the attention it deserved, and giving audiences the truth of what was intended, without the compromises and censors of the past.

To be frank, there are choices in this film that, in a modern project, people might have been tempted to steer differently. I felt strongly about leaving them exactly as they were, so that this would be the most honest version of the film we could give back.

JL: Now, pulling back, how did you get started as a colorist?

AC: I studied film and photography at Emily Carr University in Vancouver, where I’m from. When I graduated, I started out as a photographer, shooting film editorial and portraiture, but I always had a pull toward filmmaking. Working as a lighting artist in VFX felt like the natural next step from photography, so I went after that, but I think I was too big picture for VFX. Along the way, I worked as an editor, a graphic designer, and a compositor. I tried on a lot of hats in post before I found the one that fit.

Then I got the opportunity to learn digital-to-film transfer at a small post studio, and that changed everything. I loved going to the lab each day, learning about timing and also about digital filmmaking, and it felt like I’d finally found the room where all of my interests lived together. When the studio added a digital intermediate workflow, with a color grading platform, a film scanner, and a film recorder, I raised my hand to learn it inside and out. I was 100% like, “That is what I want to do,” and I was given a shot at it.

A senior colorist came in, and while I learned a bit from him, he only stayed a few months. When he left, we had an indie feature on the slate to finish, shot by DP David Moxness, ASC. I had only graded short films at that point, but we connected and he was open to the idea of working with me, so I jumped in and graded my first feature in 2008. It was sink or swim, with a very patient cinematographer!

Because of that experience, I like to say that I was trained to color by a DP. He taught me to see the way a cinematographer sees, to think in light before I thought in tools, and that has grounded my approach ever since. I’ve never let go of the feeling that I’m an extension of the cinematographer, and not the other way around, which is how some colorists like to think of themselves. The software taught me where the buttons are. A DP taught me what they’re for. And the rest is history!

JL: Do you follow a consistent process from one project to the next? Did THE DEVILS call for any departures from your usual approach, or did your tried-and-true methods serve the restoration well?

AC: Because I work across features, series, commercials, and restorations, I really do have the opinion that every film is unique in terms of process. That said, I generally approach things with a similar curiosity and reverence. I love movies, I love filmmaking, and I love the process of exploring. I’m a seeker at heart. With new and old films, I love uncovering gems and bringing my perspective to each project, and I find something new every time that I add to my repertoire. It might sound corny, but in every case, I like to let the film tell me where it wants to go.

The 4K scans of THE DEVILS were immensely impressive, so in a way the film told me where it wanted to be. Still, I took a bit more time with this one, because of the nature of the film, the controversy around it, and how many people have expressed their love for it over the years. No pressure! I wanted to be bold and confident that I’d given it the light it deserved.

Knowing it carried that weight, Clockwork WB brought in Guillermo del Toro to review the film and share his thoughts on the color. I got to experience the film through his eyes and talk through the approach with him, which was a gift. He’s such a devoted fan of this film, and he’s a genius filmmaker who upholds the humanity and the craft in filmmaking. Spending time with him and with the film is something I’ll treasure.

JL: Lastly, as a physical media collector, I’d be remiss not to ask: is there anything you can share about a possible disc release through Warner Clockwork? When might we finally be able to add this restored masterwork to our collections?

AC: Of course you have to ask that! Unfortunately, that’s one question I don’t have the answer to!

JL: Thanks so much for taking the time to share all this. Is there anything else you would like to say about working on the restoration?

AC: The pleasure is all mine! It’s awesome to be able to share about the process and hopefully offer insight for those interested in how much work goes into restoration.

I would love to shout out my team at Water Tower Color, with special mention to Daphne Dentz, SVP, Post Production, Warner Bros., for leading this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; Michael Borquez, Scanning and Film-out Operations; Paul Lavoie, Finishing Producer; Leo Ferrini, Finishing Editor; Katie Largay, Engineer and Conform; and Jonathan Mecenas and Laila Tehrani, Finishing Coordinators. This process does not happen alone or in a vacuum, and I was blessed with a great team!