With its ability to represent and enhance emotions and motifs, color is an often overlooked but extremely powerful visual tool in film. This spring, the Dartmouth Film Society presents a color-splashed series that will showcase the variety of coloring methods used in film. The series, "Color by Numbers," will show in the Hopkins Center principally on Sundays and Wednesdays.
"Color By Numbers" kicked off Monday night with an original Technicolor screening of the 1952 classic "Singin' in the Rain" (1952).
Technicolor, known for its high saturation of hues, was the most widely used color film process in Hollywood from the 1920s through the 1950s. Directed and choreographed by Stanley and Kelly Donen, the light-hearted and vivacious musical "Singin' in the Rain" stars Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds.
The DFS chose several other mainstream classics to follow "Singin' in the Rain," including "The Last of the Mohicans" (1992), showing Wednesday, "Pinocchio" (1940) on April 26, and "The Shining" (1980) on May 24.
"Color by Numbers" will feature a number of recent titles as well, beginning this Friday with Danny Boyle's highly praised "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008). The indie sensation received a tremendous amount of acclaim at award ceremonies earlier this year, including Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director.
"Slumdog" transports the audience to Mumbai, where an 18-year-old boy from the slums explains his success on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" through several flashbacks. The film's dizzying and sharp color composition not only accentuates the theme of the series, but also complements the vibrancy of the fairy tale story.
Also on the list is David Fincher's lengthy blockbuster "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (2008).
A mysterious and romantic fable told with stunning visual effects, the film focuses on the love story between Benjamin (Brad Pitt), who is born an old man but ages backwards to youth, and Daisy (Cate Blanchett), who ages in the usual direction. This loose adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story uses a strategically subdued color palette to match its ill-fated and slow-paced plot. Together with the innovative use of highly complex computer imaging, the colors in "Button" juxtapose nicely with the energy and brightness of "Slumdog," its contemporary.
The series also includes double features with specific themes. The first double feature, called "French Kisses," will bring "Moulin Rouge" (1952) and "Moulin Rouge!" (2001) to the screen.
The former is about the life of painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, the crippled artist famous for the posters he created for the real life Moulin Rouge cabaret.
The latter is the more familiar film starring Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman. Director Baz Luhrmann ("Romeo + Juliet") drenches the musical in spectacular color and entertains viewers with medleys of popular love songs.
"Color by Numbers" will end on May 31 with "Watchmen" (2009), the film version of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' graphic novel from the 1980s. Zack Snyder, best known for directing "300" (2006), faithfully adapted the film in his signature, action-packed style. The film's imagery remains explicit, like that of the original artwork, with characters that visually pop -- Doctor Manhattan glows in his blue skin, while Silk Spectre stands out in her yellow suit. A critic called "Watchmen" a "visceral" film, one that evokes the feel of a graphic novel with its images.
"Color By Numbers" includes 21 other films, all of which use color in exceptional and, in many cases, innovative ways.
