Monochrome (black and white film) was one of the most revolutionary inventions of the late 19th century. One image that became multiple images to create the illusion of artistic believability and movement was one of the earliest forms of cinema for the next few decades. In the 1930s, technicolor came into the picture and exploited a new opportunity to create artificial and colorful moving imagery.
After technicolor was introduced in cinema, there were a few films released with the new technology such as Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), and the big-budget studio features such as The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Gone with the Wind (1939). In an effort to bring audiences back to the cinemas after the invention of television in the 1950s, studios began promoting color titles.
Once the 1960s and 1970s came around, black and white films weren't as popular as they once were. However, it didn’t mean they disappeared entirely. Filmmakers such as Peter Bogdanovich, Martin Scorsese, Tim Burton, Steven Spielberg, The Coen Brothers, and David Lynch have experimented with the formal qualities of their films to include black and white shooting.
There are numerous black and white movies made today with certain textures, atmospheric qualities, and charcoal effects that give them a distinctive impact. Below are some examples of 21st-century films that use the monochrome form to evoke the past, embody a theme, or establish a particular environment.
The Artist (2011)
Starting with the 2011 Oscar Winner for Best Picture, The Artist is a silent film that presents the rise and fall of fictional silent film star George Valentin as he loses the popularity he once had over his protégé Peggy Miller who becomes the new star of Hollywood’s talking pictures. It presents a smart depiction of Hollywood's transition from silent to sound filmmaking.
Finely balancing George’s charisma, charm, anger, depression, and isolation all rolled into one, the leading Jean Dujardin took home the Oscar for Best Actor. Berenice Bejo gives a charming and heartfelt performance as well.
Although its presentation and style are of classic Hollywood, The Artist looks a lot sharper and presents a clearer depth of field and close-up shots. The Artist is an irresistible and glorious black and white silent spectacle.
Get your copy of The Artist on DVD by clicking here.
Nebraska (2013)
Set in the midwestern setting of Montana, an aged old Korean war veteran and alcoholic Woody Grant believes he won million-dollar sweepstakes and wants to walk all the way to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect his winnings, but his son (SNL alum Will Forte) volunteers to drive him. Crossing between Alexander Payne’s familiar grounds of presenting familiar and reliable characters, all with their own flaws and antics. Bruce Dern gives a quiet and silent performance as a man of few words who speaks more through his actions. June Squibb is hilarious as Woody’s long-time, tough-as-nails wife who is never afraid to speak her mind.
The film showcases a pastoral look with wide shots of highways, countryside landscapes, towns, and characters walking within wide spaces. The black and white, simply composed images elevate the material and bring a sense of raw beauty and incredible depth to tell a humanistic story that is pure and honest.
Read our review of Nebraska.
Get your copy of the Nebraska Blu-ray DVD by clicking here.
Cold War (2018)
Cold War is an emotionally impactful film that transcends many language and cultural barriers. It is a love story between Wiktor, a musical director, and Zula, a performer/singer. They form an impossible romance during the Cold War that not only puts their personal lives at risk but their political lives as well. Over the years, they travel from Poland, Germany, France, and Yugoslavia. Their poetic and complicated relationship is under the shadow of communism.
The film’s black and white cinematography is full of luminous compositions and powerful images. Every shot is within a framed tableaux, a position that rarely allows for the camera to move, providing a more ascetic experience for the audience. Cold War is a visually spellbinding film that transports audiences into an emotional story within one of world history's most haunting and chaotic periods.
Read our review of Cold War.
Get your copy of the Cold War Blu-ray DVD by clicking here.
Roma (2018)
Roma is told from the direct memories and personal history of Alfonso Cuaron, a masterful filmmaker who’s in complete control of his craft. Roma follows Cleo, a young woman who is a domestic worker for a middle-class family in1970s Mexico City. Personal complications arise between Cleo and the family when Cleo becomes pregnant and the head of the household leaves the family. Life puts Cleo to the test as she struggles through complications of love, loneliness, and personal hardships. Yalitza Aparicio's performance as Cleo is beautiful and vulnerable.
The black and white cinematography transports the audience through memory, transporting you through Cuaron’s nostalgic and personal past. Cuaron uses precise camerawork and individual shots that feel theatrically staged that flow in dynamic ways. Roma is an enchanting masterpiece that feels like more than just a movie.
Read our review of Roma.
We also include Roma on our list for International Women's Day
Get your copy of the Roma Blu-ray DVD by clicking here.
The Lighthouse (2019)
Robert Eggers crafts a strange tale of two lighthouse keepers that set foot on an isolated lighthouse in New England for four weeks. Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson give career-best performances as two men struggling to maintain their sanity. The film is strange and somewhat repulsive, bringing the audience into a dreamlike state of mind that is full of twists and turns. It is a visually arresting experience of disturbing paranoia and abnormality.
Eggers and his cinematographer Jarin Blaschke paint grainy and old-fashioned images that create an orthochromatic aesthetic that resembles early 19th-century photography. The use of traditional 35mm film and an Academy ratio of 1.19:1 (a square format presentation) gives The Lighthouse a Gothic horror look that makes the environment dark and glaring. It is a grim, somewhat off-putting film that uses black and white cinematography to craft an uncanny visual experience.
Read our review of The Lighthouse or essay on the film's queer themes.
Get your copy of The Lighthouse on Blu-ray DVD by clicking here.
Mank (2020)
Director David Fincher evokes Orson Welles and his decision to make Citizen Kane black and white to reflect newspapers for his biographical drama about Herman J. Mankiewicz (Mank as most people called him), a social critic and alcoholic screenwriter who works under the contact of Orson Welles. Mankiewicz races against time to write the screenplay for what would become the infamous Citizen Kane. The film also explores past events and people Mank knew in the 1930s. Gary Oldman gives a tour de force performance as the smart drunk and life of the party, Mank. Amanda Seyfried steals every scene she’s in. Charles Dance, Lily Collins, Tom Pelphrey, and Tom Burke round out the supporting cast.
The cinematography balances the look of Citizen Kane and luxurious shots that give the film a vintage look of silvery and silken tones. Mank is an impressive piece of work that is more than your average Hollywood biopic. It gives the audience a look and appreciation into the history behind what some consider the greatest American film of all time.