Imagine a publisher of a book about Van Gogh saying this to :“Meh. I’m not that fond of this “Vincent” signature on this painting. Let’s get rid of it and replace it with Comic Sans.”
I don’t think many art lovers would be interested in buying the book after a decision like that. I admit a title sequence is not really comparable to a signature on a painting, but it is part of a work of art. In fact, it’s the first thing you’ll see while experiencing the work of art. If you replace certain elements you’re rewriting history. Cinema history.
Moest of the examples below are minor alterations: titles have been replaced using the same or similar fonts. The chosen fonts are often close to the original versions, so I often shrug and try to ignore this phenomenon. But this time it’s the Criterion Collection, a company often praised for their high standards, that’s rewriting cinema history. The original opening credits on their Blu-ray of Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto (Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, 1970) have been replaced. Instead of white letters set in Recta (“the Italian Helvetica”) we get blue/green credits set in Arial (a font published in 1982, 12 years AFTER this film came out).
Criterion have also released Agnes Varda’s Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962), where the original titles set in Futura are replaced by Gotham, a font released in 2000.
Another Criterion Collection release, Les demoiselles de Rochefort (1967) used to have a title sequence designed by Jean Fouchet, France’s most important title designer. It’s replaced with titles set in Arial (15 years younger than the movie), in a different color (orange instead of white).
This list is getting longer every year. It’s worrying that films from some of the most well-known directors are being released without the authentic title sequences.
