Monthly Archives: December 2011

Oldies But Goodies: Looking Back to Black & White Films

29 Thursday Dec 2011

Posted by in Cinema, Inspiration, stuff I like

≈ Leave a Comment

I like having theme weeks. Yes, you heard me right. I enjoy watching a few Hitchcocks once in a while one after the other. Or Bergmans. Same applies to an Italiano week. Sometimes a nice Frenchie. Feels good to watch a couple of Grace Kellys if you stay in the weekend. Or watch biographies of musicians, painters and writers. These last couple of days, I’ve been in a mood to watch some oldies but goodies. I randomly felt like watching Manhattan this past Saturday, which made me take a look at the great black & white movies I’ve watched – and would like to watch over and over again.

Black & white movies leave much more room for emotions and thoughts. It seems so natural to me as if it wasn’t acting. I don’t get wowed by clothes or jewelry or grand set ups.. but rather about the script, personalities and the analogue music. There are no special effects, no computerized backgrounds. Everything is as it seems. 

If you haven’t truly enjoyed a black and white movie till today.. give it another chance. Below are the ones I watch over and over again - without getting tired, and as excited as the first time. There’s lots to discover in there. If you don’t like romance, try thriller. If you don’t enjoy Godard, try Woody Allen. If Fellini is too slow, try Scorsese. If you don’t enjoy Manhattan, try Paris – or even a deserted volcanic island in the Mediterranean. You will enjoy the company of Monica Vitti, Claudette Colbert, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Humphrey Bogart and many more. And when you do – please let me know.

Un Homme et Une Femme by Claude Lelouch 1966 
Casablanca by Michael Curtiz 1942
Dr. Strangelove by Stanley Kubrick 1964
Manhattan by Woody Allen 1979
L’Avventura by Michelangelo Antonioni 1960
À Bout de Souffle by Jean-Luc Godard 1960
Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock 1960
Roman Holiday by William Wyler 1953
The Big Sleep by Howard Hawks 1946
Pi by Darren Aronofsky 1998
Raging Bull by Martin Scorsese 1980
The Philadelphia Story by George Cukor 1940
Temps Modernes by Charlie Chaplin 1936 
Les quatre cents coups by François Truffaut 1959
Persona by Ingmar Bergman 1966
Brief Encounter by David Lean 1945
It Happened One Night by Frank Capra 1934
La Règle du Jeu by Jean Renoir 1939
Spellbound by Alfred Hitchcock 1945