Explanation:
They attempted to digitally fix the registration error on the negative in this scene (the image goes in and out of focus every couple seconds for a few shots), and they made it even worse.
Watching the shots in motion, it appears they cut out parts of an earlier frame, and then animated that 2D shape over the image… poorly. Like, seriously, his eyes and nose just start popping out of his face, and they did the same thing to his shirt. In the torch shot, you can see the original torch moving around behind the photoshop image they stuck over it.
Again about the 35mm LPP scan, I wouldn’t really call it “unfaithful” to the intended look. It’s just a grungy print (a dupe of an original print as far as I know), so darker scenes are very dark and contrasty, and it’s too cool. There is also some sort of fluid stain that lasts the second half of reel 2.
Jeez…I bought the Blu-rays when they came out but never got around to watching them. I just popped them in to check out these shots and, my god, what a failure. I would take the registration error 1000 times over this amateurish After Effects nonsense. Thank you for sharing this.