Why is bleak colour 'authentic'?
I'm enjoying this so far but I find the filter system in the cinematography unnecessary and disappointing. For example the colour blue is missing so there is no blue sky or water; the sky looks permanently bleached, this is not authentic folks. I realize that presenting the viewer with bleak scenery is supposed to add the grimness of the story and therefore added atmosphere. But I believe the atmosphere should come from the story and the acting alone - and the acting is very good in this. Of course style of cinematography does produce atmosphere but toning down colour just looks pretentious in this case. Indeed such hate as demonstrated juxtaposed against a beautiful background would give contrast by showing how humans in such wonderful country with so much freedom can be just as crazy as those living in cramped squalid conditions of a filthy city with miserable living conditions.
The greatest colour westerns ever made did not need to do this with the colour; they were perfect without that tampering. Take The Big Country for example - incidentally a story of feuding families - the cinematography was equal to none, simply stunning. In comparison we get this made for tv look in docu/drama style. Was it necessary?
I don't know where modern directors got their schooling from but it looks to me they should study the old masters more. Methinks too many of them have cut their teeth on tv commercials.
This effect is a long running trend now which has become modus operandi for period dramas, as if the world had no colour back then. It has become a cliché.
The land in this story is an entity - another character - the raison d'etre and should have been shown in all its glory.