Black & White Gems

Certain major movements in the flow of life has kept me terribly engaged resulting in the neglect of this space. Not that I have stopped my aesthetic pursuits. I continue to swim in the pleasure mixed waters of music, movies and life but haven’t been able to gather that hour of peace in which a man sits down, armed with words to give some shape to his thoughts.

Finally, sipping on the Dreamy Dew, inside the yellow-lit comforts of my home, I’m trying to make a comeback. Its about some Black & White Classics, I managed to watch in the last month and a half. Some, thanks to the film society that I am a part of and some, because the DVD’s that I borrowed from a friend.

The Third Man (1949): A British film noir by Carol Reed, based on the excellent screenplay by Graham Greene. Greene later published a novella of the same name. Brilliant cinematography (for those times), mysteriously beautiful Alida Valli , strange but befitting score on zither by Anton Karas and a superb performance by Orson Welles appearing in the last 40 minutes of the movie are the high points of this classic. In fact, the entry of Welles in the movie is one of the finest I’ve seen.

The Battle of Algiers (1966): This classic Italian docu-drama by the master director, Gillo Pontecorvo is based on the events during the 1954-1962 Algerian War against the French rule. The gripping and disturbing real-life feel with a haunting score by Ennio Morricone and Pontecorvo himself kept me riveted to the TV screen. Anurag Kashyap has taken a few lessons from here for his Black Friday. So have Mira Nair, Steven Soderbergh and Oliver Stone.

The movie has a strong relevance today with Iraq facing a similar situation.

Roman Holiday (1953): Everything is beautiful about this all time great Romantic Comedy by William Wyler. No matter how many times you watch it. Lovely Audrey Hepburn and handsome Gregory Peck riding a Vespa on the streets of Rome. Charmed! (as Princess Ann would have put it)

The Grapes of Wrath (1940): Directed by John Ford, this adaptation of John Steinbeck’s classic of the same name almost does justice to the epic tale of Joad family’s exodus to California from Oklahoma in search of greener pastures during The Great Depression. Great performances by Jane Darwell as Ma Joad and Henry Fonda as Tom Joad mark this American classic.

It’s known that the great Orson Welles used to say that true test of acting skill is in the Black & White medium as colours distract the audience to things other than the actor’s expressions. Using the same logic, one may argue that the converse can also be true. Because colour cinema is a distractive medium, it takes superior acting talent from an actor to keep the audience riveted to his/her performance. Another way of looking at the subject would be to say that it all depends on the actor and his role, irrespective of medium’s shade. Do let me know how you look at it.

ps: That is one of the many excellent shots from 'The Third Man'. The movie got the Academy Award for Cinematography in 1950.