Criterion Collection Themes - Technicolor

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Candy-colored, boisterous, lush, lurid—all words that have been used to describe the various effects, moods, and sensations of Technicolor. For the first half of cinema’s first century, the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation had a monopoly on color filmmaking in Hollywood and elsewhere. Requiring three separate negatives, the Technicolor method involved filtering light through a double-prism beam splitter to produce magenta and green, which, when combined with blue and red light, accurately reproduced the full color spectrum, with often dazzlingly rich and sumptuous results. In later years, when Eastman Color developed a single-strip technique that could be used in any 35 mm camera, Technicolor lost its grip on the industry. Though three-strip Technicolor is still used today, it is an anomaly—often a sign of stylish distinction. Technicolor’s full spectrum is famously difficult to reproduce, but at Criterion we aim to get those eye-popping colors as close to their original vibrancy as possible.