Flick Critique: Black and white films are more complex than they appear

Ever since the arrival of color films, black and white movies have become increasingly rarer. Nonetheless, just as color helps portray a story more effectively in some cases, sticking to black and white can have a similarly impactful effect.

Here are five films released in the past 40 years that opted for a black and white color scheme, and it certainly paid off.

The oldest film in this list, Martin Scorsese’s “Raging Bull,” was released in 1980. The story shows a talented boxer troubled with major anger issues and a rocky relationship with his family. Extremely raw, Scorsese’s choice of black and white does not scale back on the violence present throughout the film. If anything, it makes everything far more graphic and tangible.

Scorsese’s directorial style makes it evident that the boxer’s life was just as gritty on the ring as off, while the boxing ring scenes highlight the physical and emotional hardships the characters are experiencing.

Perhaps one of the most well-known uses of black and white came 13 years after “Raging Bull,” with Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List.” This 1993 film portrays the story of Oskar Schindler, a member of the Nazi party who managed to save many lives during the Holocaust.

The use of black and white makes the overall mood of the film more somber and is fitting considering the historical context.

Fitting with the horrors of the Holocaust, the use of black and white makes the overall mood more somber and fighting for the historical context.

However, Spielberg does have a single notable use of color in this film in the form of a young girl’s red coat. In the midst of chaos and confusion in a concentration camp, Spielberg focuses on the girl in her bright coat, providing a sense of hope for the victims.

However, when the girl’s body is seen in a wheelbarrow later in the film, the viewer sees her sullied red coat as a symbol of the many deaths resulting from the Holocaust.

The most recent release on this list, the highly praised Netflix film “Roma” — directed by Alfonso Cuarón — is an award-winning modern black and white film. With painstaking attention to detail, Cuarón managed to build a set faithful to his memories of 1970s Mexico City.

Having to balance the use of color on set and how it translated to black and white, Cuarón’s hard work certainly paid off, earning an Oscar for Best Director and Best Cinematography this past Academy Awards season.

Shifting from a film with an ample budget to one with nearly no budget at all, we have Darren Aronofsky’s 1998 film “Pi.” Aronofsky’s full-length directorial debut was enough to warn audiences about his now highly acclaimed directorial style, with “Pi” leaving many audiences both confused and curious following the film’s release.

Following the story of a math-obsessed man, the film focuses on the protagonist’s mental state and his search for meaning in life.

Disorienting and confusing, the style mirrors the character’s life and his journey into finding something more. Evidently, Aronofsky’s ambitious first major film paid off, as he has established himself as one of the most innovative and creative directors in recent years.

Another highly praised film is the French film “La Haine,” released in 1995 and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. The film is certainly intense with its plot, centering its story on three young men from different ethnic and racial backgrounds in France.

Often victims of police brutality, the three protagonists battle between wrong and right and between being forgiving and seeking revenge. The many moral dilemmas raised throughout the film show that, unlike the color pallete, not everything is as black and white as it may seem.

These characters are seemingly pushed toward more violent actions by society itself. Nonetheless, the director himself has said that due to France’s current political climate, it is time for a sequel.

Evidently, while color is key in the visuals of a film, the absence of color can be equally, if not more, powerful. Directors opt for a black and white film for anything from reducing costs to being faithful to a time period. However, regardless of the reason, black and white will remain an influential stylistic choice for filmmakers around the globe.