Color On The Walls

Gary Weis’ documentary, 80 Blocks from Tiffany’s (1979), follows several different gangs, former gang members, and police officers to discover what it is to live in the Bronx in the late seventies.  In the first few scenes of the film, color doesn’t make itself extremely noticable.  The camera sweeping over New York City, with frames and frames of deep space, are what first catch your eye.  But after the grand opening, things become more personal.  During the interviews with a few different gang members is when you first notice color.  When your eye catches the deep red-orange t-shirt one gang leader is wearing, you then realize there had been a lack of color in the previous scenes.  The city is bland and made up of mostly greys, blacks, whites, and washed out blues.  This gives the location and area a mood and the film a particular tone.  The area is rough, poor, in distress, and living at the bottom of the social-class system in NYC.  The lack of color helps represent this.  As a result, when colors do show up the contrast can’t be missed.  In one particular scene, every gang member is wearing either black or white, while the president of the gang is in red.  This draws your eye to him, makes him stand out among the others, and also adds to his intimidating domineer.  Color becomes even more prevalent as the film goes on.  The colors show up primarily in the gangs’ hideouts.  There is a bright blue colored wall, covered with vibrant posters.  The posters, painting, and art contain bright yellows, reds, greens, and blues.  With men sitting in black and white in front of these walls, the colors fill up the room.  Graffiti on the the plain brick walls outside also create an amazing and beautiful contrast.  It symbolizing the gangs of the city, which adds irony to its allure and artistry.  The colors become an important part of the film because they represent the culture and liveliness of the gangs.  Their presence is well known in the city and it becomes recognizable in the film due to these contrasts in color.  The color not only distinguishes the gangs from the other elements in the documentary, but sets a specific tone for each different location shown.  The culture and style of the world of the gangs are brought to life by the colors and help the audience to better understand their story.