For me, the color highly differentiated the poor from the rich. The rich are colorful, bright and vibrant. While the poor consists of mostly brown and gray colors. I mean it's not like you can't determine it easily but i just find it a good detail.
Also, the colors in the rich class felt "chosen". There was an elegance ans precision behind its choice that feels premeditated. By contrast, the poor are more mixed and have to work with what they have.
@@bk1507 so the tldr answer to the question asked in the video title is no. It is not better in black and white, but actually makes it worse off because it eliminates a key element to the film's themes
Some color movies I think are great to watch in black and white are Jaws, Pan's Labyrinth, Doubt..., Black Swan, The Sixth Sense, No Country for Old Men
@@vaderetro264 I am sad that I can't see the movie through ur eyes. What did I miss you know. This is no smash talk. I'm curious how one movie can absolutely inspire me and bore you
It's odd you don't mention the one scene that to me felt like the main reason Bong Joon-ho wanted to make a b&w version in the first place: the nightmare scene of the guy coming out of the basement. In b&w that scene seemed straight out of a Murnau film!
That scene was so terrifying! I watched the movie for the first time (colour), I was genuinely scared. My family could not understand my fear and the scene didn’t leave an impact on them. Reading this makes me not want to see that in b&w.
When the maid ran into the hidden basement calling her husband I was freaking out. The whole time I was thinking, "What is happening? Do I want to know?"
@@ThomasFlight To further elaborate, Bong Joon-ho asked the audience which version they preferred, since most had seen both then. To my surprise it seemed that quite a lot preferred the black and white version. But that could also come down to the amazing cinema experience of a festival. He also referred that he had released an earlier black and white remaster for Mother and wanted to do it again. I wish I made notes of some of the other questions since it did last a little while. Personally, before going in I was worried that for example the impact of the red sauce scene would be lessened by omitting color. But the visual language and acting of the film is so good that it still sold that moment.
There is also a Black&Chrome version of Mad Max: Fury Road, and I think although it doesn't make the movie better, but provides a different experience. I enjoyed B&C version quite a lot because of more defined textures (what is important for a movie in such setting), but I think the colours of the original evoke more emotions. There is also a whole sequence coloured in bluish instead of b&w because it is bluish in the coloured version.
@@ThomasFlight There's also a no dialogue edit floating on the internet which is the true Black & Chrome edition. I watched it countless times and it really adds to the scale of this action epic.
I haven’t seen the black and white version but, judging just from the clips here, it feels like I’m missing a lot from the black and white version: the lush green environs of the Park home (mentioned in the video), the harsh, almost dystopian yellow sodium lighting of the Kim neighborhood (in the 우리 슈퍼 scene), the golden-toned richness of the wall panel covering the entrance to the subterranean bunker, the creepy greenish tinge of the staircase leading down to it. It’s great that we have the black and white version to enjoy but, even if it highlights some aspects of the film such as texture (as mentioned in this video), I suspect it would mostly just make me appreciate the color version even more.
I just realised at the end the day when the Park's are having a garden party - it had been raining pretty heavily the night before if not several nights in a row. During the party however, the grass is dry as dry can be :)
I feel like he actually did blend in better while laying on the floor in the black and white version. It seems like there's more shadows for him to blend in with rather than the blue light which I feel makes him brighter.
Watched both versions and while the B&W version was gorgeous too, it has lost of a lot of visual impact. I think in this movie about rich and poor, the colours play a big part illustrating the two completely different lifestyles and environments. Love your video and great to see you are showing yourself more 😊
The Black and White Version of Parasite is available as part of the Criterion Blu Ray Release: amzn.to/2UAe7yS - (If you pick it up using my affiliate link there, you're also supporting my channel 😀)
Not to mention the montage of getting the nanny fired. The sequence is absolutely amazing and ends with the “bloody” napkin Kim pulls out of the trash can, but in the black and white version it’s not quite as impactful. The bright red ending the scene was such a great inclusion in the color version
Fascinating! I’d love to see you do something similar for George Miller’s Mad Max Fury Road. He originally wanted to make the movie in black and white, but the studio said no. After it was a hit, they let him release a version in black and white (Fury Road: Chrome Edition). It would be fascinating to compare those two, especially since the director’s original vision was for a black and white movie. Thank you for your thoughtful work!
I haven't seen this movie yet. But wow I've never been so moved by such perfection of composition. I'm 26 seconds in, but just knowing this wasn't originally filmed for bnw but it working so well says so much.
Great analysis! I do believe a film or a photo should look equally good in B&W, UNLESS there's a narrative and/or symbolic reason for the color to be there. I mean, not that we need to shoot in B&W if we don't want that specific look, but it is a good test for checking out if the composition and lighting is solid. And also in documentary or street photography - putting a B&W filter on can direct attention towards whatever you're shooting, and not to the group of bright jackets and sreets signs in the background, and so on. Also good for night time photos which can turn out very yellow and not true to color anyways.
Saw it at the new Colorium auditorium in Korea (4K LED panels instead of projection), and it was immaculate as heck. It was my 5th time theatrically, but first time with no subs. I understand Korean, so no issue for me. It may have been 2.39:1 on a 1.85:1 screen with no masking, but the contrast was so insane that you don’t notice a speck of letterbox. It sounds ironic to have seen it in B&W at Colorium, but it was one of the most spotless presentations I have ever seen.
Black and white version of Parasite would certainly be an exceptional experience of the film. But, I’d still go see the original, colored one, again and again. Maybe because I even consider the colors in the original version as symbolical to its core, that correspond to the prevailing themes/ideas of our time. Anyway, thank you for this one. A new perspective for me. Support! - a viewer from the Philippines.
6:00 when you compare the colour and b&w, i actually think that mr kim is way more difficult to see in the b&w version. i can pick him out really easily in the colour version and i know that when i was watching it in colour i really felt like it was a bit unbelievable that the park's didn't notice him.
I haven't yet watched the video but I'm already commenting that movies in black and white are one of those things that I think will annoy me and definitely stand out when I first start watching it but after a while, when I get engrossed in the story and the characters, I forget that it's in black and white. I almost don't even remember if a movie I watched was in black or white or in colour because halfway through, my mind filled in the blanks and "saw" colour even where there wasn't any.
Speaking completely subjectively I really enjoyed seeing Parasite in BW and felt like it gained a lot in mood. It also made it feel even more of a “classic” movie that will be watched for generations. Just my take. I see what you’re saying though, especially about the pastoral quality of the Park’s home being somewhat lost. As an aside I’ve been thinking about this movie winning all the Oscars as the last really celebratory and exciting thing that happened before we all hunkered down for the pandemic.
This was so interesting! I've never really watched black and white movies and didn't know Parasite was remade in B&W, so it's cool to see the difference between the two versions. You are absolutely right that the texture pops SO much more in B&W, but that version loses a lot of the visual impact from the changes in color and tone, especially with the vibrancy of the Parks' grass and how light and clean everything is in comparison to the Kims' home. Thank you for sharing!
Hey thomas i absolutely love your work and i always have had a very unpopular opinion on BnW, but i also go by saying that the B&W aesthetic is great but its not for me. The reason being for me is i feel color ads such emotion to me, that scene when the family goes down to the basement, the lighting and tone of the basement right from the time they enter into it from the halll has a green tone which immediately gets me in an intense and thriller sort of mood. I believe in color science certain colors are regarded as sophesticated which i thought was so apparent in the familys expensive house. i however definitely agree that there are scenes that appear so much dirtier in B&W than in color, also i am sure alot of places it is apparent that they cracked up contrast because it wasnt shot for monochrome, i think that makes texture stand out more aswell especially in that scene when we see texture on his face in your said example
I remember the black and white version started being projected in my local arthouse cinema as soon as it reopened from the quarantine, I didn't watch for two reasons; I'm still unsure of going to the cinema as long as there's not a vaccine, and because having already seen it in colour I thought it there was no point of seeing a movie a second time but in black and white. Though now knowing it was an intentional release from the director it intrigues as to what was his porpose behind this edit. So thanks for this video and saving me the time and money of doing that task for myself.
Thanks for this comparison video, Thomas! I recently picked up the Criterion edition of Parasite and looking forward to seeing the black and white version and going through the supplements.
Grading is a part of modern movie making, the attempt to make it disappear feels like making a silent movie to avoid sound design - there is something shrill and flashy about the absence and one needs a really good reason to allow that to be part of the movie.
I want to watch a double feature of the black and white versions of fury road and parasite. I know that the original color versions are better but the B&W versions strike a curiosity in me
I personally prefer the black and white versions of Parasite and Mad Max: Fury Road over the color ones. The Mist is also better in black and white, since it makes the CGI look less cheap.
I watched Parasite twice, alone at first then with my friends, and both times were in colour. I knew that Parasite had a black and white version, but I never really saw a point in seeing it - because, well, the only difference is that it's in black and white, and I'm not too much into black and white films. However, after watching this video, I'm definitely going to check out the black and white version. This video was done incredibly well, and I love how insightful everything is.
Good examples of a color movies looking great in black and white are the first two Indiana Jones movies. They lit them in a classical manner so it works. Sure, some things don't fully work all the time but its fun to look at every now and again.
I once heard that Frank Darabont intended The Mist to be in B+W. I couldn't find a B+W version so I watched the color version and set my TV's color saturation all the way down to 0. And yeah, it really transforms the movie - from the mist feeling more tangible, the representation of good vs evil, the way the CGI is more believable and the whole movie has that old timey horror feel. I definitely recommend anyone who's seen it to give it another watch in B+W.
The biggest thing I noticed that you didn't mention is the way that I perceive motion in the b&w one vs color. The b&w version you notice the 24 fps way more. It looks lower and choppier almost in the motion of old timey footage. I think it's just my brain expecting it more but it was definitely surprisingly apparent to me
I was raised with black and white. I was practically raised by the TV, and we didn't get a (used) color TV until I was 23. Until then, I dreamed in black and white (That used to be a thing back then). I never knew that The Wizzard of Oz switched to color when Dorathy opened the door. I appreciate the artistic value of the genre, but give me living color.
YOOOO! I can finally see this one in color. I have a ridiculously rare eye condition called achromatopsia, which results in complete greyscale vision. So, when I turn on my greyscale filter on my phone, I can see what I IMAGINE is color, as I have no reference. Seeing this get turned into a black and white picture is kinda cool. It's funny, as this video is like a reverse review for me.
Feels like "Here's the film I might have made, had I not made the film that I did make." Or more honestly, "Here's the black-and-white film I would NOT ave made, had a wanted to make this film in black-and-white."
I've barely watched any movie in black and white and I don't miss it at all. With colour, you have all the chromatic spectrum to create atmosphere, emotion, contrast, texture, etc. You can even go monochrome for some parts if you want. An example would be Blade Runner 2049, in which many shots feel grey and lifeless in contrast with those with warm light or saturated colours. Another example is Sin City. It is B&W for the most part, and creates reminiscence to old movies but also comic books. but then, it uses colours as an accent to certain elements. Also, I feel black and white movies look dull because usually they have the same tone of grey overall. But in reality, grey always has some hint of colour (warm or cold grey, for instance). B&W was a constrain in the past, and they filmed taking it into account. As you mentioned, illumination was key and they knew it. But nowadays, at least for me, it feels forced and artificial. In some cases, even pretentious.
What if the B&W version get a manual post processing that will arrange the textures & lights much better? Basically to give a better results & cutting off some of the downsides. For example: I am pretty sure with simple editing, the vibrant green colors can be altered to be a much bright lighter tones for the B&W version. So instead of typical B&W filter, the editors cam go creative & makes things much more appropriate for the scenes. I believe Sin City is the good example of this & I think Mad Max Fury Road kinda did it conservatively. Also, B&W photography did this kind of things all the time too tbh.
Don't like a tendency to film in black and white and rarely find such a decision worth it. Especially, when the movie is already filmed in color. One of the few movies I've seen lately in b&w that I enjoyed is "the lighthouse". But I still think it may look better in color.
I actually much prefer it in b&w, but i do agree that missing some of those lush greens does it a bit of a disservice, as does the striking reds on the bloody tissue. I do like the idea of recontextualizing films using b&w. I once saw a clip of Groundhog Day in black and white and can't stop thinking how much it would benefit it. It would be like It's a Wonderful Life or something
I'm curious on your thoughts about the black and white trailer for the Snyder Cut? Personally I thought the style the film is going for doesn't justify a black and white version.
Man, have you watched Justice League in black and white? It's marvelous. I think the black and white doesn't have anything to do with classic. It's more as you said at the beginning. Our eyes don't get distracted with colors. We go straight to the object, the textures of the human expressions. I photograph some stuff and I noticed we tend to get distracted to color stimulation. We dilute our attention.
I didn't like B&W too much until I watched one of my all time favorites, Fury Road Black & Chrome edition. I didn't think the movie could be improved, let alone by removing the vibrant color palette. Watching it though, I probably noticed a dozen new things in a movie I've seen 30+ times. It seems like the color, as good as it is, only distracts from certain aspects. In B&W, you can really focus on the action.
I think a fascinating video you can do would be to talk about the incident in the 1980s where Ted Turner attempted to color in old black and white films he brought from the MGM library, and everyone freaked out since they felt he was ruining someone else's creation for profit gain, and towards the end of the video, you could take a noir film Turner coloured like "The Maltese Falcon" and compare it to how it looked in black and white to see just how much Turner's tinting affected the movie. I know it's hypocritical since I color videos myself, but I too think Turner did horrible, and I love to see any kind of video on the subject matter
Hey Thomas! I want you to review this film next: Jallikattu. Its an Indian film which was recently announced as India's official selection to the Oscars and this work of art is gritty and spectacular which you have never seen before! Check it out-a film by Lijo Jose Pellishery
Came back to this one after a few years because this past winter’s Godzilla -1.0 -Color was incredible to me, but while watching it I kept the talking points of this video in mind while critiquing the new presentation. I feel it mostly works, it definitely adds a lot to the experience and the immersion/emotion of the film. But I’d love to hear what you think about the film, both with and without color. It would be a very entertaining video
It was a good film I enjoyed it a lot but I watched Train to Busan afterwards and honestly had a much better experience with it and thought about it more afterwards. The father and daughter have some real acting chops near the end.
Color is sensed only by a small area in the center of the retina. A black and white scene is sensed by the whole retina. It fills the eye and appears to have more quantity. Regards.
As an extension of this discussion, you really should consider the black and white version of Mother that Bong Joon Ho made earlier. Having seen both films in B&W, I would argue that Mother gained significantly more from the process than Parasite due to its genre, but also especially as *SPOILER WARNING* the ending of that film shifts back into colour, tying the use of colour heavily into that movie's themes and central character arc. *SPOILER END* I believe that there was a dedicated limited release of the B&W version of Mother on Blu Ray, but aside from finding it in secondhand markets I don't know how else you can access that version of the film anymore. (I was lucky enough to see a screening of it at a film festival.) Definitely worth examining though.
You don't 'lose' anything when watching this film in B&W.... you need to have the perspective that different things are emphasized/more noticeable when watched in B&W. The intention was never to have one viewing experience be better than another, they are supposed to be taken in tandem. Also disappointed at the lack of discussion on lines in the film (which is much more prevalent in the B&W version) and how they represent power dynamics where characters stand within those power dynamics in different scenes.
Did you know that "Parasite in Black and White" are song lyrics? Yes, they can be heard in Michael Jackson's 'Tabloid Junkie' from the HIStory album, 1995. th-cam.com/video/8pU4q-Gcpms/w-d-xo.html
He could definitely shoot the next movie in black and white though. Maybe something belonging to a genre that is usually not shot in b/w, for example fantasy.
Black and white was a different era combined with silent movies .. the reason why those films are still around and widely watched is mainly because of its larger than life movie stars who had the aura which is sadly missing these days .times have changed technology and techniques changed so colour is the word !!!
I remember talking to a Cuban at a party and he mentioned how for him the ”true” version of that movie was in black and white as that's how it was shown in theatres in Cuba in the 80s. He later watched a colour version in western theatres but found it jarring and strongly prefers the black and white version. Personally I'd be curious about actually watching Blade Runner in black and white myself.
This felt like you taking 12min to convey something that would take less than 4min; more of an attempt to milk Parasite yet again than trying to shed light (!) on something new. Films shot on color that translated pretty well to B&W such as The Mist, Fury Road and Logan would be a good counterpoint to Parasite, which undoubtedly loses a lot of its punching power in black and white simply because the movie is built on the contrast of spaces - handled first by production design and then by cinematography. Its narrative and thematic duality cannot be articulated simply by converting the movie to B&W (although it’d be very poetic if it worked out). As for the timeless quality you mentioned, I also think it is much more present in the color version than in the B&W version, because of how coordinated and measured every visual decision was - much like what happens with Se7en which, if a person who had never heard about it, nor had ever seen Freeman, Pitt or any of the cast before, would absolutely believe that it was made last year, save for the shots where technology is present. The Mist, on the other hand, works perfectly both in color and in B&W (I have yet to decide which version I prefer).
I’ve only seen the B&W version in cinema. Later, I’ve obtained a color copy just to compare and the first thing I though is that it’s way too bright for the movie’s mood, color sets a different tone. I would go as far as saying I cannot watch the color version.
Tbh I saw the B&W version on accident and I like it more, but I'm not sure if that's because I wasn't as hardcore into the visual thematics described in the vid and comments here. I think it accents the classist divide more as the film itself doesn't view the families with some morally gray perspective, but in a strict black and white sense. Maybe I'm just looking too deep into it
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For me, the color highly differentiated the poor from the rich. The rich are colorful, bright and vibrant. While the poor consists of mostly brown and gray colors. I mean it's not like you can't determine it easily but i just find it a good detail.
where i live, rich people wear sophisticated neutral colors, while poor people wear cheap bright colored clothes :D
@@marko7552 I think, in the film, it is more about the saturation of them and their environment than the clothes they wear
@@marko7552 The film’s difference in saturation has nothing to do with their clothing. The future is bright for the rich while bleak for the poor.
Also, the colors in the rich class felt "chosen". There was an elegance ans precision behind its choice that feels premeditated. By contrast, the poor are more mixed and have to work with what they have.
@@catherinekim2127 @Joe A.
i know, i was not commenting about the film, i said where i live :)
Kills me looking at some of these shots how obvious it is that they weren't conceived in monochrome. A bunch of detail becomes a gray monolith.
Jermy Hopkisn definitely
Yeah a key part of the movie is the juxtaposition between the 2 family's economic circumstances which is less stark in monochrome.
@@bk1507 so the tldr answer to the question asked in the video title is no. It is not better in black and white, but actually makes it worse off because it eliminates a key element to the film's themes
Some color movies I think are great to watch in black and white are Jaws, Pan's Labyrinth, Doubt..., Black Swan, The Sixth Sense, No Country for Old Men
Parasite is an absolute blessing to this earth
I'm glad it won best picture.
Facts, but thomas flight is also a blessing, and das a fact cuh
It's an ok film, nothing special.
It is a very good movie but imk it's not a blessing
@@vaderetro264 I am sad that I can't see the movie through ur eyes. What did I miss you know. This is no smash talk. I'm curious how one movie can absolutely inspire me and bore you
It's odd you don't mention the one scene that to me felt like the main reason Bong Joon-ho wanted to make a b&w version in the first place: the nightmare scene of the guy coming out of the basement. In b&w that scene seemed straight out of a Murnau film!
That scene was so terrifying! I watched the movie for the first time (colour), I was genuinely scared. My family could not understand my fear and the scene didn’t leave an impact on them. Reading this makes me not want to see that in b&w.
is there a link to this particular scene in black and white? i watched this movie in colour so long ago
When the maid ran into the hidden basement calling her husband I was freaking out. The whole time I was thinking, "What is happening? Do I want to know?"
I will never forget the feeling I got seeing that scene for the first time. Suddenly the entire story was taking a sharp, dizzying turn.
That scene really scared the shit out of me
I saw the premiere of this with a director Q&A, definitely one of my favorite memories!
I wish I could have caught this version in theaters! Sounds like a great experience.
@@ThomasFlight To further elaborate, Bong Joon-ho asked the audience which version they preferred, since most had seen both then. To my surprise it seemed that quite a lot preferred the black and white version. But that could also come down to the amazing cinema experience of a festival.
He also referred that he had released an earlier black and white remaster for Mother and wanted to do it again. I wish I made notes of some of the other questions since it did last a little while.
Personally, before going in I was worried that for example the impact of the red sauce scene would be lessened by omitting color. But the visual language and acting of the film is so good that it still sold that moment.
I was there too! I still prefer the original version though
No, The color scheme is really important to this film.
wake up honey, new Thomas Flight Parasite video
How many parasite related videos do u wanna make ?
Thomas flight: YES
seeing this in b/w made me pay attention to to motion on the screen, instead of pretty visuals i was always focused on characters and their actions.
There is also a Black&Chrome version of Mad Max: Fury Road, and I think although it doesn't make the movie better, but provides a different experience. I enjoyed B&C version quite a lot because of more defined textures (what is important for a movie in such setting), but I think the colours of the original evoke more emotions. There is also a whole sequence coloured in bluish instead of b&w because it is bluish in the coloured version.
Been meaning to pick up a copy of this for a while!
@@ThomasFlight There's also a no dialogue edit floating on the internet which is the true Black & Chrome edition. I watched it countless times and it really adds to the scale of this action epic.
Logan too
I haven’t seen the black and white version but, judging just from the clips here, it feels like I’m missing a lot from the black and white version: the lush green environs of the Park home (mentioned in the video), the harsh, almost dystopian yellow sodium lighting of the Kim neighborhood (in the 우리 슈퍼 scene), the golden-toned richness of the wall panel covering the entrance to the subterranean bunker, the creepy greenish tinge of the staircase leading down to it. It’s great that we have the black and white version to enjoy but, even if it highlights some aspects of the film such as texture (as mentioned in this video), I suspect it would mostly just make me appreciate the color version even more.
I just realised at the end the day when the Park's are having a garden party - it had been raining pretty heavily the night before if not several nights in a row. During the party however, the grass is dry as dry can be :)
Wealthy home garden. Good drainage. Like a golf course.
drrrraaiiiinaageee Vindawg boi. Drained dry, i am sorry.
@@seaque. No amount of drainage would make that wet soil dry enough for a party in 6 hours. No milkshake for you.
@@alliejr Self-drying soil too?
Where did they show that the grass was dry, probably only at the party which was in the afternoon, and 9-10 hrs are enough for grass to dry ig
I feel like he actually did blend in better while laying on the floor in the black and white version. It seems like there's more shadows for him to blend in with rather than the blue light which I feel makes him brighter.
Get yourself a man who loves you like how Thomas Flight loves Parasite
Watched both versions and while the B&W version was gorgeous too, it has lost of a lot of visual impact. I think in this movie about rich and poor, the colours play a big part illustrating the two completely different lifestyles and environments. Love your video and great to see you are showing yourself more 😊
Honestly, I loved the use of color and style in Parasite. I'd prefer to watch the film in color.
The Black and White Version of Parasite is available as part of the Criterion Blu Ray Release: amzn.to/2UAe7yS - (If you pick it up using my affiliate link there, you're also supporting my channel 😀)
One of best use of black & white in a Korean film is Lady Vengeance by Park Chan Wook
Not to mention the montage of getting the nanny fired. The sequence is absolutely amazing and ends with the “bloody” napkin Kim pulls out of the trash can, but in the black and white version it’s not quite as impactful. The bright red ending the scene was such a great inclusion in the color version
i love how every film/essay channels are talking about parasite and analysing it frame by frame..Bong Joon-ho is a genius
Fascinating! I’d love to see you do something similar for George Miller’s Mad Max Fury Road. He originally wanted to make the movie in black and white, but the studio said no. After it was a hit, they let him release a version in black and white (Fury Road: Chrome Edition). It would be fascinating to compare those two, especially since the director’s original vision was for a black and white movie. Thank you for your thoughtful work!
Woah can't believe they actually released the Bong cut!
I haven't seen this movie yet. But wow I've never been so moved by such perfection of composition. I'm 26 seconds in, but just knowing this wasn't originally filmed for bnw but it working so well says so much.
Great analysis! I do believe a film or a photo should look equally good in B&W, UNLESS there's a narrative and/or symbolic reason for the color to be there. I mean, not that we need to shoot in B&W if we don't want that specific look, but it is a good test for checking out if the composition and lighting is solid.
And also in documentary or street photography - putting a B&W filter on can direct attention towards whatever you're shooting, and not to the group of bright jackets and sreets signs in the background, and so on. Also good for night time photos which can turn out very yellow and not true to color anyways.
Saw it at the new Colorium auditorium in Korea (4K LED panels instead of projection), and it was immaculate as heck. It was my 5th time theatrically, but first time with no subs. I understand Korean, so no issue for me.
It may have been 2.39:1 on a 1.85:1 screen with no masking, but the contrast was so insane that you don’t notice a speck of letterbox. It sounds ironic to have seen it in B&W at Colorium, but it was one of the most spotless presentations I have ever seen.
I will never get tired of a Thomas Flight Parasite video. EVER.
Black and white version of Parasite would certainly be an exceptional experience of the film. But, I’d still go see the original, colored one, again and again. Maybe because I even consider the colors in the original version as symbolical to its core, that correspond to the prevailing themes/ideas of our time.
Anyway, thank you for this one. A new perspective for me. Support! - a viewer from the Philippines.
6:00 when you compare the colour and b&w, i actually think that mr kim is way more difficult to see in the b&w version. i can pick him out really easily in the colour version and i know that when i was watching it in colour i really felt like it was a bit unbelievable that the park's didn't notice him.
Really interesting; I've never considered the difference in texture etc, but it's very much there now that you point it out
I haven't yet watched the video but I'm already commenting that movies in black and white are one of those things that I think will annoy me and definitely stand out when I first start watching it but after a while, when I get engrossed in the story and the characters, I forget that it's in black and white. I almost don't even remember if a movie I watched was in black or white or in colour because halfway through, my mind filled in the blanks and "saw" colour even where there wasn't any.
Yo, Ida & Cold War by Pawlikowski are also black & white, both great movies.
Pawlikowski and his cinematographers Łukasz Żal and Ryszard Lenczewski are geniuses.
Speaking completely subjectively I really enjoyed seeing Parasite in BW and felt like it gained a lot in mood. It also made it feel even more of a “classic” movie that will be watched for generations. Just my take. I see what you’re saying though, especially about the pastoral quality of the Park’s home being somewhat lost. As an aside I’ve been thinking about this movie winning all the Oscars as the last really celebratory and exciting thing that happened before we all hunkered down for the pandemic.
This was so interesting! I've never really watched black and white movies and didn't know Parasite was remade in B&W, so it's cool to see the difference between the two versions. You are absolutely right that the texture pops SO much more in B&W, but that version loses a lot of the visual impact from the changes in color and tone, especially with the vibrancy of the Parks' grass and how light and clean everything is in comparison to the Kims' home. Thank you for sharing!
It's been already a year or so since this movie came out and Thomas STILL makes a video about it. You know it's damn good. And we're here too.
Great breakdown, I just picked up the Criterion edition and was wondering what to expect in the B&W version. Thanks for this!
The lighting looks gorgeus în b&w
Thomas flight is a well spoken and very charismatic guy
Hey thomas i absolutely love your work and i always have had a very unpopular opinion on BnW, but i also go by saying that the B&W aesthetic is great but its not for me.
The reason being for me is i feel color ads such emotion to me, that scene when the family goes down to the basement, the lighting and tone of the basement right from the time they enter into it from the halll has a green tone which immediately gets me in an intense and thriller sort of mood.
I believe in color science certain colors are regarded as sophesticated which i thought was so apparent in the familys expensive house.
i however definitely agree that there are scenes that appear so much dirtier in B&W than in color, also i am sure alot of places it is apparent that they cracked up contrast because it wasnt shot for monochrome, i think that makes texture stand out more aswell especially in that scene when we see texture on his face in your said example
I remember the black and white version started being projected in my local arthouse cinema as soon as it reopened from the quarantine, I didn't watch for two reasons; I'm still unsure of going to the cinema as long as there's not a vaccine, and because having already seen it in colour I thought it there was no point of seeing a movie a second time but in black and white.
Though now knowing it was an intentional release from the director it intrigues as to what was his porpose behind this edit. So thanks for this video and saving me the time and money of doing that task for myself.
Thanks for this comparison video, Thomas! I recently picked up the Criterion edition of Parasite and looking forward to seeing the black and white version and going through the supplements.
Grading is a part of modern movie making, the attempt to make it disappear feels like making a silent movie to avoid sound design - there is something shrill and flashy about the absence and one needs a really good reason to allow that to be part of the movie.
I want to watch a double feature of the black and white versions of fury road and parasite. I know that the original color versions are better but the B&W versions strike a curiosity in me
Brilliant video, I had only watched the film in colour. I was aware of the noir version however am yet to see it.
I'm so happy you uploaded another video on Parasite! I love it!
I love B&W when done well. Will definitely give this version a watch.
Are there any color films that you prefer in black and white? For me, The Mist is vastly superior in black and white.
Because Darabont wanted to do it in black and white.
I personally prefer the black and white versions of Parasite and Mad Max: Fury Road over the color ones. The Mist is also better in black and white, since it makes the CGI look less cheap.
I’ve been waiting for a video essay on this omg
Your videos are so very excellent. Your manner is very reassuringly articulate. I love your work.
I watched Parasite twice, alone at first then with my friends, and both times were in colour. I knew that Parasite had a black and white version, but I never really saw a point in seeing it - because, well, the only difference is that it's in black and white, and I'm not too much into black and white films. However, after watching this video, I'm definitely going to check out the black and white version. This video was done incredibly well, and I love how insightful everything is.
My favourite modern example of B&W is 'A Girl that Walks Home Alone At Night'.
Good examples of a color movies looking great in black and white are the first two Indiana Jones movies. They lit them in a classical manner so it works. Sure, some things don't fully work all the time but its fun to look at every now and again.
I once heard that Frank Darabont intended The Mist to be in B+W. I couldn't find a B+W version so I watched the color version and set my TV's color saturation all the way down to 0. And yeah, it really transforms the movie - from the mist feeling more tangible, the representation of good vs evil, the way the CGI is more believable and the whole movie has that old timey horror feel. I definitely recommend anyone who's seen it to give it another watch in B+W.
"we heard you liked how gorgeous the colorful sets in the movie looks, so we made it black and white"
Simple Contrast + Nostalgia = Of course it was a good idea.
The biggest thing I noticed that you didn't mention is the way that I perceive motion in the b&w one vs color. The b&w version you notice the 24 fps way more. It looks lower and choppier almost in the motion of old timey footage. I think it's just my brain expecting it more but it was definitely surprisingly apparent to me
How many times have you watched Parasite? I mean, you having been breaking this movie down moŕe than any other in the channel.
I've sat down and watched it straight through probably 7-8 times, but that's not counting going over specific scenes while editing a video.
I was raised with black and white. I was practically raised by the TV, and we didn't get a (used) color TV until I was 23. Until then, I dreamed in black and white (That used to be a thing back then). I never knew that The Wizzard of Oz switched to color when Dorathy opened the door. I appreciate the artistic value of the genre, but give me living color.
"A screen you almost always see in color"
*my screen being black and white watching this video
YOOOO! I can finally see this one in color. I have a ridiculously rare eye condition called achromatopsia, which results in complete greyscale vision. So, when I turn on my greyscale filter on my phone, I can see what I IMAGINE is color, as I have no reference. Seeing this get turned into a black and white picture is kinda cool. It's funny, as this video is like a reverse review for me.
Feels like "Here's the film I might have made, had I not made the film that I did make."
Or more honestly, "Here's the black-and-white film I would NOT ave made, had a wanted to make this film in black-and-white."
This is how I watched it for the first time in cinemas had no idea if it was intentional or not.
I've barely watched any movie in black and white and I don't miss it at all. With colour, you have all the chromatic spectrum to create atmosphere, emotion, contrast, texture, etc. You can even go monochrome for some parts if you want. An example would be Blade Runner 2049, in which many shots feel grey and lifeless in contrast with those with warm light or saturated colours. Another example is Sin City. It is B&W for the most part, and creates reminiscence to old movies but also comic books. but then, it uses colours as an accent to certain elements.
Also, I feel black and white movies look dull because usually they have the same tone of grey overall. But in reality, grey always has some hint of colour (warm or cold grey, for instance). B&W was a constrain in the past, and they filmed taking it into account. As you mentioned, illumination was key and they knew it. But nowadays, at least for me, it feels forced and artificial. In some cases, even pretentious.
What if the B&W version get a manual post processing that will arrange the textures & lights much better? Basically to give a better results & cutting off some of the downsides. For example: I am pretty sure with simple editing, the vibrant green colors can be altered to be a much bright lighter tones for the B&W version. So instead of typical B&W filter, the editors cam go creative & makes things much more appropriate for the scenes.
I believe Sin City is the good example of this & I think Mad Max Fury Road kinda did it conservatively. Also, B&W photography did this kind of things all the time too tbh.
Don't like a tendency to film in black and white and rarely find such a decision worth it. Especially, when the movie is already filmed in color. One of the few movies I've seen lately in b&w that I enjoyed is "the lighthouse". But I still think it may look better in color.
Roma I thought was stunning.
I've only seen the movie during its B&W re-issue and...wow, I'm discovering stuff here :D Thx
Zack Snyder's Justice League is going to be released in B&W, dato
I’ve only watched the film once, and it was in black and white. Really interesting experience - will watch it in colour soon
Maybe the house should be in colour, fading in the basement and every time you leave. Did you do Mother (black and white version?)
I actually much prefer it in b&w, but i do agree that missing some of those lush greens does it a bit of a disservice, as does the striking reds on the bloody tissue.
I do like the idea of recontextualizing films using b&w. I once saw a clip of Groundhog Day in black and white and can't stop thinking how much it would benefit it. It would be like It's a Wonderful Life or something
Great analysis, i liked your video very much! Your channel is fantastic!
Another relatively recent film in black and white is "The Cold War"
I'm curious on your thoughts about the black and white trailer for the Snyder Cut? Personally I thought the style the film is going for doesn't justify a black and white version.
Man, have you watched Justice League in black and white? It's marvelous. I think the black and white doesn't have anything to do with classic. It's more as you said at the beginning. Our eyes don't get distracted with colors. We go straight to the object, the textures of the human expressions. I photograph some stuff and I noticed we tend to get distracted to color stimulation. We dilute our attention.
How did you feel about the B&W "Fury Road"?
Haven't watched it yet, but definitely planning to at some point!
No, it doesn't look like a film shot in black and white. It looks like someone turned down the colour on my TV. Big difference
I watched Prometheus in black and white last year, it made it a more engrossing movie too see.
I didn't like B&W too much until I watched one of my all time favorites, Fury Road Black & Chrome edition. I didn't think the movie could be improved, let alone by removing the vibrant color palette. Watching it though, I probably noticed a dozen new things in a movie I've seen 30+ times.
It seems like the color, as good as it is, only distracts from certain aspects. In B&W, you can really focus on the action.
I think a fascinating video you can do would be to talk about the incident in the 1980s where Ted Turner attempted to color in old black and white films he brought from the MGM library, and everyone freaked out since they felt he was ruining someone else's creation for profit gain, and towards the end of the video, you could take a noir film Turner coloured like "The Maltese Falcon" and compare it to how it looked in black and white to see just how much Turner's tinting affected the movie. I know it's hypocritical since I color videos myself, but I too think Turner did horrible, and I love to see any kind of video on the subject matter
There's still stills of Citizen Kane colorised if I'm not wrong. It'll definitely be a good subject for a video.
@@luismarioguerrerosanchez4747 there's only one scene though, and the picture quality is too blurry to look at, so that video probably won't be useful
Mank was the first black and white movie I saw in theaters!
Hey Thomas! I want you to review this film next: Jallikattu. Its an Indian film which was recently announced as India's official selection to the Oscars and this work of art is gritty and spectacular which you have never seen before! Check it out-a film by Lijo Jose Pellishery
Came back to this one after a few years because this past winter’s Godzilla -1.0 -Color was incredible to me, but while watching it I kept the talking points of this video in mind while critiquing the new presentation.
I feel it mostly works, it definitely adds a lot to the experience and the immersion/emotion of the film. But I’d love to hear what you think about the film, both with and without color. It would be a very entertaining video
It was a good film I enjoyed it a lot but I watched Train to Busan afterwards and honestly had a much better experience with it and thought about it more afterwards. The father and daughter have some real acting chops near the end.
Color is sensed only by a small area in the center of the retina. A black and white scene is sensed by the whole retina. It fills the eye and appears to have more quantity. Regards.
As an extension of this discussion, you really should consider the black and white version of Mother that Bong Joon Ho made earlier. Having seen both films in B&W, I would argue that Mother gained significantly more from the process than Parasite due to its genre, but also especially as
*SPOILER WARNING*
the ending of that film shifts back into colour, tying the use of colour heavily into that movie's themes and central character arc.
*SPOILER END*
I believe that there was a dedicated limited release of the B&W version of Mother on Blu Ray, but aside from finding it in secondhand markets I don't know how else you can access that version of the film anymore. (I was lucky enough to see a screening of it at a film festival.) Definitely worth examining though.
You don't 'lose' anything when watching this film in B&W.... you need to have the perspective that different things are emphasized/more noticeable when watched in B&W. The intention was never to have one viewing experience be better than another, they are supposed to be taken in tandem. Also disappointed at the lack of discussion on lines in the film (which is much more prevalent in the B&W version) and how they represent power dynamics where characters stand within those power dynamics in different scenes.
Excellent video. Thanks for sharing
I hope you do this kind of video when Zack Snyder release his B&W Justice League version ^^
Fury road black and chrome ;)
Did you know that "Parasite in Black and White" are song lyrics?
Yes, they can be heard in Michael Jackson's 'Tabloid Junkie' from the HIStory album, 1995.
th-cam.com/video/8pU4q-Gcpms/w-d-xo.html
He could definitely shoot the next movie in black and white though. Maybe something belonging to a genre that is usually not shot in b/w, for example fantasy.
You should do a face reveal
Good idea! Maybe next video!
@@ThomasFlight oh my god u actually replied.... Love your work btw
You see his face is the video though...
@@oliviapete that's the joke
@@oliviapete
That's not him. It's his autistic brother Thomas Crash.
Black and white was a different era combined with silent movies .. the reason why those films are still around and widely watched is mainly because of its larger than life movie stars who had the aura which is sadly missing these days .times have changed technology and techniques changed so colour is the word !!!
I remember talking to a Cuban at a party and he mentioned how for him the ”true” version of that movie was in black and white as that's how it was shown in theatres in Cuba in the 80s. He later watched a colour version in western theatres but found it jarring and strongly prefers the black and white version. Personally I'd be curious about actually watching Blade Runner in black and white myself.
This felt like you taking 12min to convey something that would take less than 4min; more of an attempt to milk Parasite yet again than trying to shed light (!) on something new. Films shot on color that translated pretty well to B&W such as The Mist, Fury Road and Logan would be a good counterpoint to Parasite, which undoubtedly loses a lot of its punching power in black and white simply because the movie is built on the contrast of spaces - handled first by production design and then by cinematography. Its narrative and thematic duality cannot be articulated simply by converting the movie to B&W (although it’d be very poetic if it worked out). As for the timeless quality you mentioned, I also think it is much more present in the color version than in the B&W version, because of how coordinated and measured every visual decision was - much like what happens with Se7en which, if a person who had never heard about it, nor had ever seen Freeman, Pitt or any of the cast before, would absolutely believe that it was made last year, save for the shots where technology is present. The Mist, on the other hand, works perfectly both in color and in B&W (I have yet to decide which version I prefer).
I love this channel ❤️
I’ve only seen the B&W version in cinema. Later, I’ve obtained a color copy just to compare and the first thing I though is that it’s way too bright for the movie’s mood, color sets a different tone. I would go as far as saying I cannot watch the color version.
Tbh I saw the B&W version on accident and I like it more, but I'm not sure if that's because I wasn't as hardcore into the visual thematics described in the vid and comments here. I think it accents the classist divide more as the film itself doesn't view the families with some morally gray perspective, but in a strict black and white sense. Maybe I'm just looking too deep into it
Honestly this film looks stunning in b&w
Nice work!