Coen Brothers - "You Know, For Kids!" the movies of the Coen brothers

Since the release of the movie back in 2001 there have been persistent rumours of a colour version. The movie was shot in colour and then transfered to black and white at the insistence of USA Films who wanted the option to release the movie in colour in some European countries. I never thought this colour version would see the light of day, however...

I don't know when but a special collector's edition DVD was released in France, among other countries, which contained 3 discs. One with the original black-and-white version, one with the usual array of extra materials and the third, with the phantom colour version! After much hassle (which I won't go in to) I finally managed to lay my hands on this 3 disc version (it is now freely available after a relaunch at amazon.fr).

What I will say is that I was expecting a gaudy, horrible, colourised version like you may have seen in the past when the studios see fit to tamper with an old black-and-white classic, but this is not the case. The colour version is simply beautiful, perhaps not as beautiful as the original version we know and love but still, beautiful. The colours are muted, so much so some of the scenes still appear to be monochromatic. Anyhow, you should pick up this version and check it out for yourself.

Below you will find comparison screen grabs from both versions and limited comment by moi. Enjoy.

This is obviously the title screen. The blue and red of the barber pole look quite gaudy and starts you off thinking that's how things will continue but it is not...

Inside of Guzzi's. The colour shot could almost be a screen grab from O Brother, Where Art Thou? with the sepia appearance. This is a more accurate representation of how the colour version looks- muted, almost pastel tones.

Ah, the lovely Doris. Again more of the sepia tone is in evidence.

You will notice the presence of red in this and many of the following images. I suspect it was a good colour to use in regard to shooting in black-and-white.

The Pansy, Creighton Tolliver, wearing, surprise surprise, a red tie.

Birdy amazing Ed with her piano playing for the first time.

This image was used in a lot of the printed advertising here in the UK. The flesh tones in the colour version are quite lush.

Hey! I thought blue-berries were blue! Seems red really is a good colour to use when shooting in black-and-white. Lots and lots of red in this shot. I feel for Frank's tummy!

Now this is an interesting shot. In the colour version the shot seems to be completely black-and-white right until Ed opens the car door illuminating the interior. A perfect example of the muted colours.

Tony Soprano, er, I mean Big Dave puts the squeeze on Ed. Lots of browns and sepia look.

I always wondered if there was any blood on the blade at all. I thought maybe it was "wiped" clean on the way out of Dave's neck, but the colour shot shows clearly that there IS blood on it.

Lots of claret.

Freddy, what a lovely RED tie!

Poor Frank during his slide into alcoholism. Again you will notice the use, or overuse, of reds.

The Life logo restored the way we're used to seeing it, in red.

The perfect image of domestic bliss. Could they get any further apart on that small sofa? Red dress, red shoes, red lamps, red, red.

Heavens to Betsy, Birdy, look what you did to Ed! Bruises more evident in colour.

The swimming hole and poor, wrongy-accused Creighton. The water always did look murky but I never suspected it to be a gorgeous blue-green.

Ed's men's magazines awash with colour (again mostly red!). I love the headline- "I discovered I am an escaped lunatic."

This is another of the almost black and white shots in the colour version. The only thing seperating it is the blue of the lens flare.