Movies & Series

Red Films

Probably the most striking film colour: love, passion, alarm and excitement

What is not associated with the colour red? Red stands for love, for passion and eroticism, as well as for anger and rage, for example when something is a red rag for someone. Red also stands for blood and thus generally for life, energy and warmth. In China, the colour stands for happiness and joy, for summer and the south. As a distinct signal colour, red has had a special significance in cinema since the beginning of colour films. Nicholas Ray virtually reveled in red ("Johnny Guitar"), Stanley Kubrick loved the colour no less and set a monument to it with Lolita's red lips, the red "eye" of board computer HAL 9000, the terror and horror in "Clockwork Orange" and "The Shining". Almost always and everywhere, red in film makes a striking statement, sometimes as an outcry, sometimes as a warning, even as a driving ban in front of traffic lights or as a "red card" that can be shown to you in cinematic stories, just like in football. The colour red creates emotional and affective associations and effects - making it perfect for its use in cinematic imagery as well as expressive colour dramaturgy. The films in our collection also rely on red in these or other narrative contexts.

What is not associated with the colour red? Red stands for love, for passion and eroticism, as well as for anger and rage, for example when something is a red rag for someone. Red also stands for blood and thus generally for life, energy and warmth. In China, the colour stands for happiness and joy, for summer and the south. As a distinct signal colour, red has had a special significance in cinema since the beginning of colour films. Nicholas Ray virtually reveled in red ("Johnny Guitar"), Stanley Kubrick loved the colour no less and set a monument to it with Lolita's red lips, the red "eye" of board computer HAL 9000, the terror and horror in "Clockwork Orange" and "The Shining". Almost always and everywhere, red in film makes a striking statement, sometimes as an outcry, sometimes as a warning, even as a driving ban in front of traffic lights or as a "red card" that can be shown to you in cinematic stories, just like in football. The colour red creates emotional and affective associations and effects - making it perfect for its use in cinematic imagery as well as expressive colour dramaturgy. The films in our collection also rely on red in these or other narrative contexts.

What is not associated with the colour red? Red stands for love, for passion and eroticism, as well as for anger and rage, for example when something is a red rag for someone. Red also stands for blood and thus generally for life, energy and warmth. In China, the colour stands for happiness and joy, for summer and the south. As a distinct signal colour, red has had a special significance in cinema since the beginning of colour films. Nicholas Ray virtually reveled in red ("Johnny Guitar"), Stanley Kubrick loved the colour no less and set a monument to it with Lolita's red lips, the red "eye" of board computer HAL 9000, the terror and horror in "Clockwork Orange" and "The Shining". Almost always and everywhere, red in film makes a striking statement, sometimes as an outcry, sometimes as a warning, even as a driving ban in front of traffic lights or as a "red card" that can be shown to you in cinematic stories, just like in football.

The colour red creates emotional and affective associations and effects - making it perfect for its use in cinematic imagery as well as expressive colour dramaturgy. The films in our collection also rely on red in these or other narrative contexts.