Alright everyone, it's time to calm down: Turns out, The Giver is actually in black and white. Fans of the classic Dystopian novel had a scare when the trailer was released a few weeks ago in color. Part of what makes the book so great is that it does start out in black and white, and slowly Jonah realizes he's different than anyone else because he can see color.
But when the trailer seemed to overlook that major point and instead focused on creating a Divergent -like action film, die-hard Giver fans were understandably upset. But a new featurette shows that the director didn't actually completely screw up, portions of the film are indeed black and white. In fact, this short clip goes so far as to make nearly everything black and white, even their interview with author Lois Lowry.
Lois Lowry's interview can also give fans the peace of mind knowing that she seems to have endorsed the film version, and she wouldn't do that if it were really terrible, right? And Jeff Bridges once commented on the issue of the color images saying, “We’re definitely dealing with that. But I don’t want to give it away.”
One theory I have? It's that the film will start in color, and then the viewer's experience will be manipulated and we'll realize that the film is actually in black and white for every other actor, but we're seeing it through Jonah's eyes. I don't know — I just hope that whatever it is, it helps make up for the seemingly action-filled sci-fi version of this quiet, thoughtful book that the trailer promised. Watch the black and white featurette below.
Image: The Weinstein Company
