I saw this movie once and all I could think about was "This movie should've been in black and white." For some reason it seemed like it was filmed in such a way. So, it came on earlier and I turned off the color on my television set and watched it. It seemed 1,000,000 times better. Seriously, try it, it can pass for a pretty well-made noir type film with just the simple change.
shareAHahah I just saw it off of HBO myself, I was thinking the same thing! Some of the shots at the dock scene almost felt like it should've been all dark (in color range). This is such an underrated classic.
shareBut color is used to such a great extent in this film, I don't see HOW you could make it color! Look at the great use of reds and blues throughout, and you might see why this film could NEVER be black and white, although it does recall the dark films noir of the forties and fifties.
shareThe problem is though, the color isn't crisp enough and doesn't really set the mood strongly to be more powerful than black and white. The use of shadows and angles work so much better in black and white.
shareBrilliant! I always thought this was such a criminally-underrated classic, with wonderful dialog, character development, etc. And I thought the muted colors were an essential part of that...
so imagine my surprise to find that already great movie is *vastly* improved in black and white!! now that i think about it (I'd never tried turning off the color on my set before), there's probably a lot of modern-noir thrillers with already desaturated colors that would work well in monochrome. think i'll try the B/W treatment on Fincher's Se7en next.
what else? Body Heat? Miller's Crossing? hmmm....
I'll have to watch it in b+w next time I view it, but I agree the use of the colors blue and red are quite important in the film, so I am glad it was filmed in color. Besides, even though it is a short scene, I don't know that the club scene would be as affective in b+w being as hip hop clubs are so flashy.
Damn, this movie needs a new DVD release!
"Anything with a ball: no good." - Martin Scorsese on sports.
Maybe have the film in black and white, but keep some color (ex. the blue and reds) like Sin City?
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