B&W Films of the 90s
From the 70s onward, with the vast majority of films being shot in color, it has become an artistic and/or stylistic choice to present a film in black and white. More often today it is used to pay homage to films of a begone era and invoke a sense of nostalgia, but it can also be used to help create a stark, emotionless, unforgiving world onscreen. Which of these films made most effective use of its black and white presentation?
Discuss here.
Discuss here.
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- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsLiam NeesonRalph FiennesBen KingsleyIn German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppMartin LandauSarah Jessica ParkerAmbitious but troubled movie director Edward D. Wood Jr. tries his best to fulfill his dreams despite his lack of talent.
- DirectorKevin SmithStarsBrian O'HalloranJeff AndersonMarilyn GhigliottiA day in the lives of two convenience clerks named Dante and Randal as they annoy customers, discuss movies, and play hockey on the store roof.
- DirectorJim JarmuschStarsJohnny DeppGary FarmerCrispin GloverOn the run after murdering a man, accountant William Blake encounters a strange Native American man named Nobody who prepares him for his journey into the spiritual world.
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsSean GulletteMark MargolisBen ShenkmanA paranoid mathematician searches for a key number that will unlock the universal patterns found in nature.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsKenneth BranaghJudy DavisLeonardo DiCaprioThe fortunes of a husband and wife differ drastically after they divorce.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenMia FarrowMichael KirbyWith a serial strangler on the loose, a bookkeeper wanders around town searching for the vigilante group intent on catching the killer.
- DirectorAlexandre RockwellStarsSteve BuscemiSeymour CasselJennifer BealsNew Yorker Adolpho Rollo is your classic head-movie auteur. In his mind, he's creating deathless classics of the screen. Back in the real world, he can't pay the rent on the downtown flophouse he calls home.
- DirectorsRémy BelvauxAndré BonzelBenoît PoelvoordeStarsBenoît PoelvoordeJacqueline Poelvoorde-PappaertNelly PappaertA film crew follows a ruthless thief and heartless killer as he goes about his daily routine. But complications set in when the film crew lose their objectivity and begin lending a hand.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsJeremy TheobaldAlex HawLucy RussellA young writer who follows strangers for material meets a thief who takes him under his wing.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsBrendan GleesonAdrian DunbarSean McGinleyThe real-life story of Dublin folk hero and criminal Martin Cahill, who pulled off two daring robberies in Ireland with his team, but attracted unwanted attention from the police, the I.R.A., the U.V.F., and members of his own team.This film was released in theaters in B&W, though the home video version was in color.
- DirectorTom KalinStarsDaniel SchlachetCraig ChesterRon VawterThe true story of gay lovers, Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold Jr. Who kidnapped and murdered a child in the early 1920s for kicks. The plot covers the months before the crime, the investigation, trial and final fate of the two men.
- DirectorE. Elias MerhigeStarsBrian SalzbergDonna DempseyStephen Charles BarryPresented in a surreal, gory and entirely visual manner, Begotten tells of the death of religion, the abuse of nature by Man and a nihilistic outlook on what life ultimately is.
- DirectorGuy MaddinStarsMichael GottliDavid FalkenbergMichael O'SullivanAn amnesiac soldier, seeking his lost love, arrives in Archangel in northern Russia to help the townsfolk in their fight against the Bolsheviks, all quite unaware that the Great War ended three months ago.
- DirectorMichael AlmereydaStarsElina LöwensohnPeter FondaNic RatnerA vampire family deals with their father's death in NYC while being pursued by Van Helsing and his nephew. Love and destruction clash in this modern vampire story.
- DirectorMathieu KassovitzStarsVincent CasselHubert KoundéSaïd Taghmaoui24 hours in the lives of three young men in the French suburbs the day after a violent riot.
- DirectorBéla TarrStarsMihály VigPutyi HorváthLászló feLugossyOn the eve of a large payment, residents of a collapsing collective farm see their plans turn into desolation when they discover that Irimiás, a former co-worker who they thought was dead, is returning to the community.
- DirectorsScott McGeheeDavid SiegelStarsDennis HaysbertMel HarrisSab ShimonoAfter his brother tries to kill him, a man survives only to find himself in another man's body.
- DirectorAki KaurismäkiStarsMatti PellonpääEvelyne DidiAndré WilmsThree struggling artists try to make passable livings in Paris despite setbacks and tragedies.
- DirectorAbel FerraraStarsLili TaylorChristopher WalkenAnnabella SciorraA New York philosophy grad student turns into a vampire after getting bitten by one, and then tries to come to terms with her new lifestyle and frequent craving for human blood.
- DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsMichael MaloneyRichard BriersHetta CharnleyA group of theatre actors plays "Hamlet" in a provincial village, faced with their own temptations, disappointments, and joys.
- DirectorsStephen QuayTimothy QuayWeiser QuayStarsMark RylanceAlice KrigeGottfried JohnA young man goes to a school for servants run by a brother and sister. In the dreamlike and surreal world that he enters, how will his presence impact the people there and possibly even the school itself?
- DirectorPatrice LeconteStarsVanessa ParadisDaniel AuteuilFrédéric PflugerOne night, a fading entertainer intervenes when a woman contemplates suicide, beginning a strange, unpredictable relationship.
- DirectorNikos NikolaidisStarsMeredyth HeroldPanos ThanassoulisMichele ValleyA man searching for his long-lost lover is kidnapped by her killers, an insane, mother-daughter duo, and they force him to commit various sexual atrocities with them.
- DirectorRose TrocheStarsV.S. BrodieGuinevere TurnerT. Wendy McMillanA romantic tale about finding a soulmate. The only difference here is that both partners are women...in Chicago's lesbian community.
