The Discovery of Black & White

I’m no film buff. Let that be known.

The DVD collection in my room probably exceeds no more than 25 in number and the majority of these are live music DVDs, not ‘proper’ films. Sure, I have my favourite films and go to the cinema on a regular basis but my knowledge of this vast world is pretty restricted. When we go to the cinema (usually on a Friday evening), my friends and I are never in the mood for anything too heavy-going, meaning we usually end up seeing something that’s not all that memorable and only good for a bit of light entertainment.

Now, black and white has always been a no-go zone for me. Why watch them? They’re old, boring and the kind of rubbish that TV channels use to fill up any leftover daytime slots with, knowing that only the retired or unemployed will be watching. Right? Well, it turns out I was wrong.

As explained yesterday, I began to make preparations for any potential university interviews by buying a few French films on DVD from throughout the last 50 or so years. Now, I’ve not got through them all just yet but the two I have watched were made in the early 50s and directed by a Henri-Georges Clouzot. Knowing almost nothing about French cinema, I decided to go for a couple that had won some awards and could provide me with a good starting point. The two films in question, Les Diaboliques and Le Salaire de la peur both turned out to be worth their weight in 1950s cinema awards. The former is a bit of a mystery with a completely unexpected twist at the end and the latter is more of an action-packed thriller that has more than a few moments that remind me of the final scene of ‘The Italian Job’.

Anyway, all that these films have taught me is that I shouldn’t ignore any films simply because they’re older than me or are shot in black and white; I now look forward to getting my hands on a few more films from outside the post-2000 bracket. What that will result in, I have no idea.