Welcome to The Queue — your daily distraction of curated video content sourced from across the web. Today, we’re watching a video essay that explores the thematic use of colors in the filmography of Park Chan-Wook.
If you’ve frequented Film Twitter (god help you), you may have encountered a cynical joke that basically amounts to: “Hey did you know that they still make movies in color?”
It’s a shit-eating comment at the expense of modern films that follow a decidedly un-fun trend in modern filmmaking. Namely: an apparent allergic reaction to much of the color spectrum. And while it can certainly feel like a gray, de-saturated tidal wave has robbed us of the rainbow, the trend (which is real) is only one piece of a much larger puzzle. It doesn’t always feel like it, but modern filmmaking is full of color. Obviously. And there’s no better way to lurch yourself out of a fatalistic spiral about the rise of “intangible sludge” than a good ole’ fashioned montage about the vibrant hues of Park Chan-Wook.
From early noughties classics like Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance to the South Korean director’s latest banger Decision to Leave, Park Chan-Wook has always been exacting and intentional about embracing the color spectrum. So without further ado (or doom and gloom about the aesthetics of modern cinema), here’s a video essay that spotlights the vibrant visual storytelling on display in Park Chan Wook’s filmography.
Watch “The Colours Of Park Chan-Wook”
Who made this?
This video on the color theory behind the films of Park Chan-wook is hosted by the folks at Little White Lies, a film-obsessed magazine based in the United Kingdom. Luís Azevedo directed this video. You can follow Little White Lies on Twitter here. And you can check out their official website here. You can subscribe to their YouTube account here.
More videos like this
- Here’s another video essay from Little White Lies and Luís Azevedo: how the design and dramatic potential of kitchens figures in the films of Pedro Almodóvar.
- And here’s another director soundscape breakdown on everyone’s favorite Baron of Blood: David Cronenberg.
- And finally: here’s a video essay that explores sound design in the films of Bergman Island director Mia Hansen-Løve.
- From Spikima Movies, here’s a look at how Decision to Leave weaponizes misdirection to keep the viewer on their toes.
- And another from Spikima Movies, here’s a look at how color is the key to understanding Bong Joon-ho‘s Memories of Murder.