[KineJapan] ORTHOchromatic SHIN GODZILLA?

[quentin turnour]

Just seen the NY Japan Society announce that they will internationally premiere the 'ORTHOchromatic' version of the 2016 franchise's re-re-re-re-re-...boot here: https://japansociety.org/events/shin-godzilla-orthochromatic-encore/ Does anyone know it the rationale for this - beyond mere novelty and a market ploy / excuse to re-release - has been explained in the Japanese press? 
Japanese film labs have a great tradition of pioneering creative optical-chemical film processes. Bleach-bypassing is just one. So I though for a moment that this might be the revival of a past process used on a Toho release in the past. There's also the argument Dr. George Miller made when he re-released FURY ROAD in grey scale; because that's how he saw the film in his head, in development. But B&W FURY ROAD emphasised the gleaming silvers and chiaroscuro. 

This is not so explicable. If it reflects an old-school film process you'd hope for a Christopher Nolan-style 70mm film re-release, which is back in fashion in the US with VistaVision and similar 1950s big screen format originals getting restorations (like the new version of THE SEARCHERS). But this is appearing only on DCP. 
Obvious, also SHIN GODZILLA is a contemporary-set film, and stands out in the franchise for playing in the field of post 3/11 Japanese social commentary. Surely a 1950s B&W Tohoscope sort of retro feel would be better applied to the newer, overtly retro GODZILLA -1?
Finally and weirdest of all: Is this really Orthochromatic? English-language marketing is being coy about what this actually means, but silent film- and early photography historians will know its the old, pre-1922 B&W film process, which basically could only see blue and green colours in the spectrum, and explaining why pre-mid 1920s silent films are often drab, often have dense daylight shadows, little detail in clear blue sky, and coal-black reds. (This Wiki on this does a better job explaining this than me (and I like that the photo they use to illustrate what it did to Union Jacks features the famous Australian explorer Douglas Mawson): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthochromasia. This other Wiki explains why panchromatic film can see the whole spectrum: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchromatic_film. 

So are Toho merely playing with an English loan word they hope no one in Japan actually understands? Is this meta-play with some corner of GODZILLIA or Toho history? Does the ortho, missing colour-specturm aesthetic make this a movie-going experience I need to have (per this article, which acknowledges ortho's charms using modern stocks: https://thedarkroom.com/orthochromatic-vs-panchromatic-film-a-photo-comparison/ )? 
Or is it all just hype?

Quentin TurnourNational Archives of Australia / Cinema Reborn Film Festival, Sydney.


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