I have yet to see Nebraska, but outside of Inside Llewyn Davis it’s the closest thing coming out this year to a sure favorite for me. Alexander Payne taps into something deep within me that I can’t explain. I’m sure most everyone has a director who just ‘does it’ for them. Beginning with About Schmidt and continuing through Sideways and The Descendants, Payne has become one of those must-see indie directors.
Nebraska follows Bruce Dern and Will Forte as a father and son traveling from Montana to Nebraska, and has received numerous accolades, notably Dern’s acting award at the Cannes Film Festival.
[zergpaid]Black-and-white movies made today opt for the monochromatic look for various reasons. In the case of Nebraska, it emphasizes the poetry of the Midwestern landscapes, according to Payne. In other movies, it emphasizes a surreal quality, differentiating what we’re seeing on screen from the polychromatic real world. This is one of the reasons that pre-color films seem to otherworldly to us today. They often harnessed this unrealistic technological hindrance and made movies that highlighted the fantastic and the unlikely, heightening romance and contrivance over the more hyperrealistic style movies aim for today.
When filmmakers shoot black-and-white now, it’s a deliberate choice to remove something from the image, instead of the only available option as it once was. The simple act of signaling one’s deliberation in establishing the visual aesthetic of a movie therefore tends to pique a viewer’s curiosity? Why use black-and-white? You’ll have to watch these movies to truly assess appreciate the decision.