The real
thing I want to talk about and I hope I can get it done in 500 words was about
a movie I watched Saturday night. My
wife and I usually settle in to watch a movie at around 8 PM. Usually it is
something old on Turner classic movies but instead this Saturday, we turned on
Netflix and watched a movie called R. I. P. D. or rest in peace department. It
was a cross between , Ghostbusters and the “Men in Black “ movies with Will
Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. The Rest In peace Department is the constabulary arm
of the ethereal force that controls our afterlife. The officers are sworn to
apprehend space characters that had avoided arrest for some extra-terrestrial
crime. This was very entertaining, but I only mentioned it, because when it was
over, Vickie went to bed as she usually does after watching one movie. This meant
I had the TV in the room to myself. Remember, I am in Lake Worth Florida at my
stepson’s apartment. He graciously lends to us for the winter so my environment
total different from home. I began surfing Netflix for further entertainment. That by itself could put me to sleep. As I
fought that yearning a title peaked my dulled
interest . The title was “Kodachrome.” At first I thought this was a
take on the Simon and Garfunkel song with that name, but as I read the short
description , I saw it was about an old photographer that was dying and needed
to make a road trip to the last lab that developed Kodak’s Kodachrome film.

We need to understand Kodachrome, the film not the movie.
There is history to Kodachrome. It was a color film that Kodak, the world’s
leader in filmmaking and processing, produced in 1935. It was a color film that
was a significant advance of the day. Prior most films used by the hobbyist,
and every day people were black and white. It did not need making a print for
viewing when processed

It became a
mainstay of color photography because it was slide or transparency film (a
positive image), that did not need a print for seeing your results. The labs
returned it to people mounted in cardboard, to view by hand, while holding with
a light behind it, or in a projector that would throw the image up onto a
screen. Not so much simpler than black-and-white prints from negative, but
nevertheless it was a fine finished product. The main feature of the film was
it’s color rendition. It was first considered the closest to real colors we see
daily, but also there was a richness and a warmth to the tone that made it
ideal for landscape and portrait.

My curiosity
peaked because I myself still have at least 6 unexposed and unprocessed rolls
of Kodachrome in my refrigerator that I can do nothing with. Nobody can develop
it. There may be an opportunity to sell it on eBay, but not likely. Sadly, I
cannot force myself to throw it away.

So on Sunday I
set out to research the articles that were the premise for the Movie. We should
note that in 2010, Kodak stop producing this film and the dyes that were needed
to process it. The movie screenplay was adapted from an article in the New York
Times on December 29, 2010 by A. G. Salzburger. It told the story of a photo lab in an unlikely town called Parsons Kansas.
Parsons is located on the western side of Kansas close to the Oklahoma border.
Dwayne’s Photo lab was the last remaining enterprise of its kind to be
processing Kodachrome. A point
of pride for Dwayne Steinle, the owner. He made the entrepreneurial decision years ago
to be a leader in processing Kodachrome. The result over the years established a
solid customer base. That is why Kodak
provided a preference for them to receive the last remaining chemicals needed
for their customers.

The article
references a pilgrimage, a trek of those with hearty souls procrastinating
souls with undeveloped roles of the stuff. They finally, recognizing the last
minute get it done by trekking or mailing it into this lonely place in Kansas. Their
final reward is the rush they feel by looking at they left sitting in a dark
place undeveloped but full of expectations. The article spoke of one man with
1500 rolls undeveloped. It cost him like $50,000 to get it done and he borrowed
money to do it.

As the Story unfolds, we find that, the photographer is
dying. He has hoarded for years unprocessed roles of this Kodachrome film. These
are his last days is his last chance to get it processed. It appears the photos
are very important to him.

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