Black and White Visuals in ‘Ripley,’ ‘Feud’ and ‘Sugar’ Create ‘Otherworldly’ Settings Perfect for Gritty Murders and Glitzy Balls

variety.com:

Hunter Ingram In Netflix’s “Ripley,” characters repeatedly call attention to the colors of the world around them. The blue hue of a painting; the purple paisley pattern of a robe.

These vibrant details that might be passing remarks in any other show ring like a bell in “Ripley” simply because the show is shot entirely in black and white.

Speaking these colors out loud intentionally acknowledges what’s missing from the frame: both the visual vibrancy and the moral character of its main character, author Patricia Highsmith’s legendary conman Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott).

Black and white serves this narrative purpose well as Tom’s desire for the life of rich playboy Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn) becomes more twisted and violent — and that’s exactly what writer/director Steven Zaillian and cinematographer Robert Elswit intended. “Steven was very clear that the lighting in ‘Ripley’ was going to reflect a part of who Tom is and the world he lives in that was not just monochromatic, but very contrasted,” Elswit tells Variety. “That the black- and-white photography would give the audience a feeling of anxiety and tension and mystery and all this other stuff we are left over with from the history of black-and-white images all the way back to forever.” Removing color to mine character and emotion from each shot suits the 1960s Italy-set “Ripley,” but it isn’t the only show to do it this season — just the only one to do it from start to finish.