Colour is overrated

Forgive me if I am a tad incoherent in what I write here, I am still collecting the scattered pieces of my mind that have just been blown away by watching a brilliant film called ’12 Angry men’. You don’t need me to tell you what it’s about, you have imdb or google for that. This is not going to movie review route, don’t worry. I am aware that I suck at them.

I am writing this because I am constantly amazed by how much a well-written story can captivate me. The beautifully written characters with intricate backstories that give them a certain depth and complexity and make their motives confounding to the audience, and dialogue infused with genuine emotion sans melodrama and intelligent humour devoid of innuendoes and sarcasm. How can you not love the oldies?

And I appreciate them more now because almost all good cinema today is scaled by how big the stars, the high-definition prints, the mind-numbing special effects, and the countless zeroes tagging at the end of the overall budget. I’m not generalising them all. But I’ve seen films really sell when they’re absolutely hollow if you take away all the computer magic. Like Prometheus (2012) and 2012 (2009). Great examples of films I wish I’d never watched. All effects and no substance. You want a great science fiction movie? Watch Forbidden Planet. It was made in 1956. Yes, the special effects are laughable, but it’s not what carries the film.

Ditto with thrillers. Blood and gore and guns seems to be the way to go with a modern bone-chiller with not much thought given to the plot. You can make all those very real eerie noises and shoot graphic murders, but I cannot think of any mysteries that have me at the edge of my seat the way Hitchcock movies do. Nor do any of the one-eyed murderers with unconvincing motives on screen send a chill down my spine half as effective as the ones given by Edgar Allan Poe’s works on paper.

Pick any genre – humour, romance, suspense, science fiction - and I’ll give you a film without effects that’s better than all the contemporary films out there with them. Well, except horror. Because I don’t watch horror. Reasons for that could fill another post, and I am going to keep them with me for now.

I am writing this post because, there are many people in my life who cringe every time I mention a black and white movie as a ‘must watch’.  They reject it purely on the basis of the fact that it is, well, old. I urge you to broaden your minds, and pick one (or several) from the list below and watch. You will not be disappointed. Well, unless you have poor taste.

(I know not all of these movies are black and white. I just picked these off the top of my head. Most of the old ones don’t need effects. The newer one’s are listed because though the special effects are crappy, they’re still really good films. I’m sure I’ve missed quite a few. Also, there’s a long list of movies I’m yet to watch myself. Feel free to add your own to the list.)

• 12 Angry Men (1957)
• An affair to remember (1957)
• Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
• Casablanca (1942)
• Forbidden Planet (1956)
• Ghostbusters (1984)
• Gone with the wind (1939)
• It’s a wonderful life (1947)
• It happened one night (1934)
• Miracle on 34^th street (1947)
• My Fair Lady (1964)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
• Rear Window (1954)
• Rebecca (1940)
• Roman holiday (1953)
• Sabrina (1954)
• Strangers on a train (1951)
• Star Wars (Episode 4 and 6) – (1977,1983)
• The Graduate (1967)
• The shop around the corner (1940)
• The sound of music (1965)
• The Sting (1973)
• To kill a mockingbird (1962)

Edit: Thanks to my good friend Aparna who adds Apur sansar (1959), One flew over the cuckoo's nest (1975) and The Bridges of Madison County (1995) to the list. I haven't watched the first one, but I can vouch for it  owing to her excellent taste of the other two films, which are also among my personal favourites.