Black & White
As Thanksgiving approaches, we’re entering that time of year that is a favorite of film lovers. It seems every week one or more high-profile movies with awards ambitions are released. Thanks to the slow but steady resurgence of the theatrical market and the ever-increasing output of the streamers, we have much to choose from at the end of 2021.
Of those choices, there is a well-documented trend that has emerged; black and white films.
This year there have been 8 films released that are exclusively done in black and white including The Tragedy Of Macbeth, C’mon C’mon, Belfast, and Passing. Other films such as The French Dispatch utilize black and white for substantial portions of the film.
The choice to release a film in black and white is a significant one and the logic behind it is personal to each filmmaker and their team. This article does a nice job of showing us the wide variety of thought that goes into this decision.
In the piece, Belfast’s Haris Zambarloukas sums up his point of view on it well.
“I think we’re using a strength of black and white, which is not to tell you how a person or place looks but how they feel. It has a transcendental quality to be of the past and the present. It’s realistic, but it has a certain magical sense to it as well.”
I recently attended a discussion with C’mon C’mon director Mike Mills where he dove into some detail on his and cinematographer Robbie Ryan’s approach when shooting the film for black and white. He spoke about the use of deep blacks in each frame and how they made a concerted effort to lean into heavy contrast. The result is very distinctive and reminds us that the use of black and white in a film is a complex one, rich with many subtle details that will often go unnoticed by most audiences.
Looking at the surge of these films in 2021, I was curious to look back to see how many titles have been released in black and white and of course where we might be able to find these movies to watch.
A couple of notes on criteria.
First, the obvious one. The goal of this exercise is to look at the films that have used black and white as a stylistic choice. “Choice” is the operative word there since most films in the first 2/3rds of the 20th century had to be shot in black and white. It’s difficult to draw a solid line between the black and white and color era. For this list, I’m going to draw a somewhat arbitrary line at 1970.
The other elusive factor is to what degree black and white is “exclusively” used. I have tried to make sure each film on here is almost entirely in black and white. The two notable exceptions are She’s Gotta Have it and Schindler’s list, both of which make small use of color as stylistic disruption choices.
Finally, I’ve put the whole list through our typical quality filtering using our usual tools including award wins, placement on top films lists, and our blended scores. But for this one I have also made sure to include any films that have had a win or nomination from the American Society Of Cinematographers.
After applying these filters, there are 104 black and white films available to watch right now.
Looking at the little over 50 years of black and white films, here’s how things break down by decade.
You can see here how this specific creative choice has not diminished and even grown over time. It will be quite interesting to see where the 2020’s wind up at the end of this decade.
While there have been several cinematographers within this period who have worked more than once in black and white, Robby Müller stands out as having 7 black and white films on his filmography. The New York Times wrote of his work at the time of his death in 2018 and celebrated his immense contributions to cinema.
In the obituary, Jim Jarmusch noted that Müller taught him “...how black and white can stimulate the imagination by a reduction of information — that it can be more dreamlike and evocative than color.”
There are 4 Robby Müller films to watch on this week’s menu. Remember you can always use the search bar in the menu to find specific people, films, and streaming platforms.
I hope you find something new and interesting to enjoy!