What's old will always become new again! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at movies released from the 1980s onward that were completely or nearly all presented in black-and-white.
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00:00You cannot capture a man's entire life in two hours. All you can hope is to leave the impression of one.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at movies released from the 1980s onward that were completely or nearly all presented in black and white.
00:13Look at me, George. Look at my face. That meeting's not for me.
00:21Number 10. The Lighthouse
00:23Robert Eggers' second feature centers on two men sent to look after a remote island's lighthouse, which could either be a beacon of enlightenment,
00:29bad luck to kill a seabird.
00:33More tall tales.
00:37Bad luck to kill a seabird.
00:39or insanity.
00:40Along with the boxed aspect ratio, the film creates a claustrophobic sentiment through Jaren Blaschka's black-and-white cinematography.
00:46The Lighthouse keeps us in the dark with its characters, emphasizing that the only escape is into one's own madness.
00:52What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What?
00:59Although the studio argued that a color film would be easier to sell, Eggers had envisioned this gothic 19th century horror story in black and white since the scripting stages.
01:10Blaschka shared Eggers' vision, seeking to give the film a transportive ambiance.
01:15Black and white not only makes us feel like we've been transported to another world, but another mental plane as well.
01:29Number 9, Ida. Black and white is an ideal way to convey a transitional period in a person's life.
01:49This Oscar-winning film follows a Catholic nun about to take her vows.
01:53Upon meeting her only surviving relative, the titular Ida, or Anna as she's been called most of her life,
01:58learns that her parents were Jewish.
02:09Accompanying her aunt on a road trip, Ida slash Anna questions who she was, who she is, and who she'll become.
02:14This journey of self-discovery is largely internal,
02:17but Vukasz Żal and Ryszard Lenczewski's cinematography hauntingly visualizes the grey era our protagonist is in.
02:23Channeling Polish films of the 1960s, Ida is a time capsule in more ways than one,
02:28immortalizing a young person's turning point while also confronting the sins of the past.
02:32You were a little girl.
02:35No one didn't know that you were a Jew.
02:40I'm sorry, Mr. Andrzeja, and I left her.
02:42Some films utilize black and white to bring out a sense of warmth and comfort that can only come from fond memories.
03:01Others use black and white to underscore a difficult period from somebody's past.
03:04Belfast blends both moods in a story where nostalgia goggles can only romanticize so much.
03:10Now, forget about what your father and your mother want.
03:16What do you want?
03:18I want you and my granny to come too.
03:21Writer-director Kenneth Branagh based this semi-autobiographical film on his upbringing in the titular Northern Ireland city.
03:27While Branagh will always have a strong connection to his hometown,
03:30The Troubles serves as a reminder that all good things are fleeting, childhood being one of them.
03:34Get to see me as his art.
03:36We're getting killed or in the corner.
03:40We'll be careful.
03:42Cinematographer Harris Zabber-Lukos highlights the highs and lows of Branagh's boyhood,
03:46going to the theater being the most consistent source of escapism and one of the few uses of color.
03:51Number 7. Good Night and Good Luck
03:53George Clooney's best directorial outing to date is one of the quintessential films about the importance of journalism.
03:58Are my children going to be asked to denounce me?
04:03Are they going to be judged on what their father was labeled?
04:07More specifically, the importance of broadcast journalism.
04:10In the 50s, television was not only a new medium for entertainment, but a new source of information.
04:15As Senator Joseph McCarthy fuels the Red Scare,
04:17journalist Edward R. Murrow uses his platform to spread the truth.
04:21Sponsors and his reputation be damned.
04:23I strongly urge you to reconsider your stand.
04:26These are very dangerous waters you are attempting to navigate.
04:30While Clooney employs an all-star cast, most notably David Stratham as Murrow,
04:34McCarthy is exclusively portrayed through archival footage, making it impossible to look away from the facts.
04:39Since the footage of McCarthy was in black and white,
04:41cinematographer Robert Elswit presents the film as if we were watching a 50s news telecast,
04:46albeit through a wider, clearer lens.
04:48Since he made no reference to any statements of fact that we made,
04:52we must conclude that he found no errors of fact.
04:55Number 6. Sin City
04:57Where most comic book movies continue to take major creative liberties,
05:00Robert Rodriguez sought to deliver a faithful adaptation of Sin City,
05:04even bringing on Frank Miller as a co-director.
05:06Beyond replicating much of the pulpy dialogue from page to screen,
05:09Rodriguez's cinematography doesn't stray from the source material's black and white roots.
05:14What if I've imagined all of this?
05:16What if I finally turned into what they've always said I was going to turn into?
05:21A maniac.
05:23There are glimpses of color to be uncovered.
05:24In most modern black and white movies, color usually provides a symbol of hope or innocence.
05:29I'm staring at a goddess.
05:32She's telling me she wants me.
05:34I'm not going to waste one more second wondering how I've gotten so lucky.
05:38In Sin City, it's often used to foreshadow somebody's grim fate,
05:41to spotlight how dangerous a character is,
05:43or to intensify the bloody beating somebody is enduring.
05:46The result is one of the grittiest and most gorgeous movies we've ever seen,
05:50with every frame worthy of an art gallery wall.
05:52Let it in. Let it fill your lungs.
05:56They were counting on you, and you blew it.
06:00Number 5. The Artist.
06:02Black and white movies are sadly a rarity nowadays,
06:05but silent pictures are even harder to come by.
06:07Michel Azanavichus took big swings with The Artist,
06:10which paid off with the first Best Picture Oscar for a mostly silent film,
06:13since the awards inaugural year.
06:22Along with cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman,
06:32Hazanavichus captures the look and feel of a 1920s picture.
06:35Even cast members like Jean Dujardin resemble stars of the silent era.
06:39For those who believe silent films are boring,
06:41The Artist serves as a reminder of how humorous, charming, romantic,
06:45exciting, and tear-jerking a film can be with almost no noise.
06:48Sound, like color, certainly has its advantages.
06:51By pushing film toward realism, though,
06:53cinema's dreamlike quality can be lost.
06:55The Artist brings it back.
06:58Perfect!
07:00Beautiful!
07:02Can you give me just one more?
07:05With pleasure.
07:06Number 4. Ed Wood.
07:08Edward Davis Wood Jr. was not a good director.
07:10In fact, he may have been the worst Hollywood director to make more than one movie.
07:14That doesn't mean he wasn't passionate about his craft.
07:16That passion rubbed off on Tim Burton,
07:18who did Wood's life story justice in a biopic
07:20that simultaneously romanticized and brutally honest.
07:24Mr. Wood.
07:24Huh?
07:25I only got one hour of sleep last night.
07:26Yeah, well, I got no sleep and I feel great.
07:29Go get him, kid. Go get him.
07:31To do right by the man who gave us Glenn or Glenda
07:33and Plan 9 from Outer Space,
07:34Burton insisted that the film had to be in black and white,
07:37even if it meant switching studios.
07:39Burton realized his vision with a film that possesses a B-movie spirit,
07:42but an A-list cast, script, and cinematography from Stefan Chopsky.
07:47Visions are worth fighting for.
07:49Why spend your life making someone else's dreams?
07:52Like Burton's Frankenweenie,
07:53to produce Ed Wood in color would have missed the point entirely.
07:56Number 3. Roma.
07:58Despite winning three Oscars,
07:59two of which were for Alfonso Cuaron's direction in cinematography,
08:03we've all met somebody who argues that nothing happens in Roma.
08:06Not to sound like a pretentious Letterboxd user,
08:17but life happens in Roma.
08:19With the appearance of an old photograph,
08:21the film's use of black and white accentuates the dreariness of the titular neighborhood
08:25and the trials our characters must overcome.
08:27Yet, the cinematography also emphasizes
08:29that even when performing the most mundane tasks,
08:32something deeper can be happening beneath the surface.
08:34You just have to look closer.
08:45Looking closer at protagonist Cleo,
08:47we see her evolve from a live-and-made
08:49to a beloved member of the family.
08:51Roma finds beauty in its simplicity,
08:53saying a mouthful with few words or colors.
08:55Number 2. Raging Bull.
09:06We're not sure what's more shocking,
09:07that Martin Scorsese didn't take home the Best Director Oscar for Raging Bull,
09:11or that Michael Chapman didn't win for his breathtaking cinematography.
09:14What do you think you're doing out there?
09:17Huh?
09:18What are you doing out there?
09:20The black and white aesthetic establishes that Jake LaMotta might be a champion,
09:24although he isn't somebody we're going to root for.
09:26It's just one of the elements that separates Raging Bull from the sports movies we're accustomed to.
09:30Let me see.
09:31You know what?
09:33I want you to hit me in the face.
09:35What?
09:36I want you to hit me in the face.
09:37The story isn't about an underdog going the distance.
09:40It's about a boxer with 83 wins,
09:42but he could never conquer his greatest enemy, himself.
09:45They're going to be an animal.
09:47I'm not an animal.
09:48I'm not an animal.
09:49Oh, you want to treat me like this?
09:51I'm at the bed.
09:52I'm at the bed.
09:54While the film is more about LaMotta's life outside the ring,
09:57the boxing sequences are among the most intense ever committed to film,
10:00with the black and white photography sharpening every ounce of blood and sweat.
10:04Before we unveil our top pick,
10:05here are a few honorable mentions.
10:07Francis Ha.
10:08Before they went all in on pink,
10:10Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig embraced black and white.
10:27Clerks.
10:28Black and white captures the mood of someone who isn't even supposed to be here today.
10:31Oh, what?
10:32What's with you, man?
10:33You haven't said anything for like 20 minutes.
10:35What the hell's your problem?
10:36This life.
10:38This life?
10:39Why do I have this life?
10:41Have some chips.
10:41You'll feel better.
10:42She's got to have it.
10:43Spike Lee starts his bold cinematic journey in black and white.
10:46I want you to know the only reason I'm consenting to this is because I wish to clear my name.
10:51Not that I care what people think, but enough is enough.
10:55And if in the end it helps some other people out, well then that's fine too.
10:59The Elephant Man.
10:59The absence of color paints a tragic, yet sympathetic portrait of John Merrick.
11:03The man who wasn't there.
11:19Black and white feels so natural that it's as if the camera wasn't there.
11:23Cleanliness, friend.
11:26There's money in it.
11:28There's a future.
11:29There's room to grow.
11:30See?
11:32That looks pretty good.
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11:50Number 1.
11:51Schindler's List
11:52With Schindler's List, Steven Spielberg sought to represent the Holocaust as authentically
11:56as possible.
11:57It was you.
11:59You committed this crime.
12:01No, sir.
12:01But you know who, though?
12:03Yes.
12:04The Holocaust might not have been in black and white, but it's hard to imagine this tragedy
12:07in color.
12:08Part of that's because much of the real-life documented footage is in black and white.
12:11More importantly, as Spielberg puts it, the Holocaust was life without light.
12:15For me, the symbol of life is color.
12:22As such, A Little Girl in Red stands out as one of the few uses of color, stressing that
12:32the Holocaust was happening in plain sight.
12:34Yet few world leaders acknowledged its existence.
12:37Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski also felt that black and white would give the film a timeless
12:41feel, full of unforgettable imagery.
12:43Schindler's List is guaranteed to stay with the viewer forever.
12:46I was going to say we'll have a drink then.
12:52I think I better have it now.
12:57Which modern movies do you think benefited the most from black and white?
13:00Let us know in the comments.
13:01Wow, it's so cool over here.
13:03I hate our neighborhood, man.
13:04There's no color.
13:07Hey, you don't see colors, do you?
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