MovieChat Forums > Bad Timing (1980) Discussion > Bizarre tint change

Bizarre tint change

posted 17 years ago by rlh02e
2 replies | jump to latest

I just watched this for the second time the other night, and noticed something odd at the end of Alex's first scene in the police station, when he goes to pick up cigarettes. (This is the Criterion dvd). Anyway, during the brief exchange between Alex and detective Netusil, either right before or after Alex's line of 'I thought you said I was free to do as I pleased", there is an abrupt shift in the tint of the image starting on the next shot of Netusil's face. It goes from a greenish-blue tint to a warmer, natural tint. I'm not certain, but it seemed intentional. I'm thinking there's some symbolism going on in that moment--as if it represents Alex's and/or the viewer's sudden assertion of the 'reality' of Netusil's possible questionable intentions/ulterior motives, and that what he says can't all be taken at face value, etc--or something along those lines. Did anyone else notice this or know anything about it? I really wish the Criterion dvd had a commentary, for reasons just like this.

[–] david-1056 16 years ago

I just rewatched this masterpeice yesterday, and yes, there is a tint change that definitely looks intentional (Although there are many other tint changes during the film, but most seem to be because of film stock change, whereas in this particular scene, it's only the tint that changes but not the graininess etc.).

Anyway, I just have no explanation on what the deeper meaning could be. And I can't really follow your interpretation... From a more general point of view, I think Roeg is constantly playing on the visual level, trying things out, quite randomly I'd say. It adds another level of "disorder" to the editing. The whole film becomes quite intangible, like the characters in the film.
That's my guess on the meaning of the tint change: I think it's just part of the overall narrative device which makes the whole film totally unforeseeable.

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[–] Sandoz 8 years ago

I noticed this, also. It seemed way too jarring to have been an intentional change of color coming in the middle of a dialogue scene. At least I certainly hope it wasn't because I chalked it up to being a mistake (either a flaw in processing that roll of film, or else a retake done with perhaps a different film stock than the original). If that was not an error by the production and was actually some kind of visual effect Roeg was after, then it was not a good choice on his part because all it did--for me anyway--was to suddenly remind the audience that they were watching a film.

I just watched this for the first time last night on the Criterion release...can anyone who's seen this in the theater confirm this color shift within the scene was present in those prints, too?

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