"It don't matter if it's black and white."
I recently graded quizzes from last week's Film Criticism class (3rd Period). The film we had watched that week was Charles Chaplin's CITY LIGHTS (1931).I was stunned by the number of my students who revealed their general distaste for movies shot on black and white film.
Apparently, many (if not most) teenagers think B&W films are "boring," "old fashioned," or otherwise not appealing.
Are you guys kidding?
There are far more dull/boring/old fashioned color movies than B&W, given the fact that so many more color movies have been made than B&W. That said, films shot on B&W since color became the film standard (late 1940s, early 50s), are almost all Top Ten films of their year, if not decade. When a modern director chooses B&W, that generally indicates that the director is ambitious. Another sure sign that a movie will not suck.
Now. One more thing on B&W. To immediately tune out a black and white film--modern or classic--simply because it lacks pigment, is foolish. It indicates a shallowness of thought that bodes well for vapidity, triteness...a mind gravely lacking intellectual gavitas.
Do you reject the U.S. Consitution because of its difficult, old-timey language? Would you pass on a great Italian wine because you couldn't read the bottle? Would you not speak to a kid a school because he/she wore unfamiliar clothes? Or had a bad haircut? Or talked with a weird accent?
How about race? Do you avoid contact with people of different races simply because of the color of their skin?
How can anyone claim to be smart and alive, and out-of-hand tune out any black and white film?
posted by CW at 5:23 PM
3 Comments:
There are plenty of good black and white films, take Clerks for example. That movie became a mass cult classic, and that was made in the nineties. I don't even see the black and white, I see it in colour. I remember it in colour. It give your imagination a little to work with.
I recently had a discussion with a neighbor about this. He claims not to like any "old" movies. He's all about special effects and such. Go figure. I think color can be a distraction sometimes. I tend to focus on a movie more if it's in black and white.
Wow, that really makes me mad. People who don't enjoy black and white movies, don't enjoy them because they never give it a chance in the first place. They bein to watch it and say "Man its in black and white?! This is gonna be boring!" I would fail these people if I were you, but I'm mean. There are plenty of black and white movies that are more entertaining than anything else that's out nowadays: Night of the Living Dead is still scary to this day even though its in black and white. Pshyco, Clerks (as Kyle said), Dr. Strangelove, Lolita, The Elephant Man, Pi, Sin City was mostly in black and white too! That was recent and full of interesting modern stuff! And let's not forget Citezen Kane and Casablanca, the AFI's number one and number two movies of all time. Those are both in black and white. You should show nothing but black and white this year so these students can appreciate it.
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