The Concept of Color, a Labyrinth Without End

According to the correspondent of the Iran Book News Agency (IBNA), the unveiling ceremony of the book ‘Cinema and Color’ was held with the presence of Babak Karimi, the book’s translator, Soheil Chivayi, cinema expert, Milad Kamyabian, director of Khaneh Publishers, and enthusiasts of cinema.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Soheil Chivayi, a cinema expert, said: ”Cinema and Color’ is a book that follows a trajectory. Its first part talks about the theme of color, moving towards technology and the visual style of color. Then color theory begins, and the next chapter delves into Bryson, which recalls one of the chapters of the book ‘Thinking in the Dark.’ We then reach the most important chapter of this book, where the filmmaker acts as a color theorist. A strange thing happens there, where we see several figures and filmmakers discussing an abstract concept in relation to the history of thought. Concepts prevalent in the history of philosophy.’

He added: ‘They talk about color. The filmmaker, as a creator, expresses his viewpoint in confronting the world; he speaks as an individual who thinks within his medium. This is one of the most difficult chapters, both in terms of reading and conceptual density. The last part of the book takes a descending form and, like the book ‘Cinema and Painting,’ moves from the theoretical discussions in these three chapters to examples. It presents strange examples, and in this session, we are going to talk about Antonioni’s film ‘Red Desert.’

Chivayi continued about the book’s position: ‘This book will be in the form of theoretical discussions for a filmmaker, cinematographer, etc., and it also discusses the chemistry of color. The compilers of this book are aware of the term and concept they are addressing, a concept that is elusive, and nowhere else in the history of thought and art has this concept managed to fit into a single vessel. Here, it addresses the economic aspect of that concept and also deals with aesthetics. This book is commendable because its compilers seem fundamentally aware that if we want to talk about such a concept, we have entered a labyrinth with no end.’