A Lament for Black and White
Sep. 9th, 2008 11:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerOne of the minor tragedies of the last fifty years, on par with the disappearance of illustrations, is the death of the black and white film. Black and white oozes drama and artistic potential and opportunities to use the word “chiaroscuro”, and the fact that it’s been entirely superseded by color almost entirely is an aesthetic travesty.
Just look at Bewitched or The Avengers. The black and white seasons are far superior to the color. Or look at the brilliant use shadows in black and white:
The bars! The menacing shadowy figure! The stark black leather! Black and white films have an appealingly surreal edge, because of the stark tonal contrast and the clever shot compositions required to create ambience and emphasis without the crutch of color.
Despite the aesthetic possibilities, the movie industry has turned its back on black and white. It's become Artistic, which is the kiss of death; it’s used now only in dull and pretentious projects like Good Night, and Good Luck, which didn’t even do black and white well; the film is a morass of undifferentiated gray.
I think Good Night, and Good Luck’s success proves that critics, like nature, abhor a vacuum. Given the film’s total lack of plot or coherent character arc—given the fact that the climax of the movie is as flat as a piece of stale toast—the critics must have decided that any film so devoid of entertainment value must have Moral Worth.
I think this trend created the illusion that all black and white films are monuments of dullness, which is tragic. There are plenty of brilliant old black and white films to watch (I just saw this great movie called Gaslight, if anyone has seen that), but the fact that the form is basically dead is too sad for words.
Just look at Bewitched or The Avengers. The black and white seasons are far superior to the color. Or look at the brilliant use shadows in black and white:
The bars! The menacing shadowy figure! The stark black leather! Black and white films have an appealingly surreal edge, because of the stark tonal contrast and the clever shot compositions required to create ambience and emphasis without the crutch of color.
Despite the aesthetic possibilities, the movie industry has turned its back on black and white. It's become Artistic, which is the kiss of death; it’s used now only in dull and pretentious projects like Good Night, and Good Luck, which didn’t even do black and white well; the film is a morass of undifferentiated gray.
I think Good Night, and Good Luck’s success proves that critics, like nature, abhor a vacuum. Given the film’s total lack of plot or coherent character arc—given the fact that the climax of the movie is as flat as a piece of stale toast—the critics must have decided that any film so devoid of entertainment value must have Moral Worth.
I think this trend created the illusion that all black and white films are monuments of dullness, which is tragic. There are plenty of brilliant old black and white films to watch (I just saw this great movie called Gaslight, if anyone has seen that), but the fact that the form is basically dead is too sad for words.
