Movies in the Dark, An Exasperating Challenge to the Mentally Awake -- A Candle, Anyone?

 from out of the past ...

Can you guess the movie?  If you can get to the end of this post with your vision intact, there you will find the answer. 

LIGHTS OUT! Suicidally dark.  Idiotically dark.  Insanely dark.  The "Darkest Movie Ever" award, if there is to be one at the next Academy Awards, should go to the just released, The Batman.  "It's so shadowy," reports the Wall Street Journal, "the trick was making sure people could still see what's on the screen."  And how terribly thoughtful of them.

Add to this bloody blackout blockbuster a new mediocre entry from darker Disney called Encanto, meant, I think, for the kiddies.  I felt stuck inside swaths of shadowy gloom,  and I wanted to scream, WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE TURN THE DAMN LIGHTS  BACK ON!  It may prepare the Little Ones, already challenged  by diminished perceptions behind masks,  how to navigate their way through movie houses turning ever murkier --- where flashlights should be handed out upon entering, and where groping patrons may opt for brail apps. Welcome to the new dark ages at the bijou

From 2020.  By tragic accident, I put in for Arkansas on Netflix, believing the movie had been nominated for some big Academy Awards, or maybe by overhearing a talking voice on radio or TV raving it up.  Big  Big mistake. That I had to wait a long time to see it only added to my misconception of ground-breaking cinema. Those words should be banned for ten years.  So, I received the film in my mail box  today with high expectations.  At least here, in the room where I watched it, the lights were on.  I have this inconvenient fetish for movies I can actually see.

A few minutes after running it, I wanted to run from it.  Like  too many modern films,  this dog wallows in darkness.  These films should come with a medical alert: Some scenes in extended darkness may strain weak eyes, consult with your optometrist.  Another barely visible challenge that left my eyes groping was a Netflix series,  Better Call Saul.  Again, darkness prevailed. An no, my vision with glasses is perfectly fine.  One of the main characters is an older man who spends a lot of time not speaking, just maybe flexing a few wrinkles, real cool like. The closeup was meant, I charitably assumed, to convey the heavy heart, weary of it all and about ready to call it a life.  In that morosely dark set, I would have. 

 

See the figure lower right? That's Warren Beatty as Howard Hughes, I think, in Rules Don't Apply.  I would have opted for light bulbs in the 150 watt range.

The old classic film noir in black and white had lots of shadows, but the single contrast between the two colors made them much easier to watch. In color, today's imitators  swamp themselves into abject gloom, making me want to scream: TURN THE DAMN LIGHTS ON, YOU IDIOTS!

Losing patience, I headed to Rotten Apples, hoping to find some bad reviews, and then to feel not so impetuous about shutting down this  dreary valentine to Arkansas.  47% !  The state should sue.  Didn't Nellie Forbush in South Pacific hail from Little Rock?

I don't get it.  And I don't much care.  If filmmakers can't afford to pay for good lighting, the Hollywood censors should add another warning code: BAF: Bring a flashlight. 

The photo above.  Not sure which actor -- the film, J.Edgar, terrific to my eyes, but not to most of the critics. Maybe their flashlights blew a fuse, and they gave up.

9.20.2020 / 3.14.22