Consuming like the fog itself

Rating: 9/10 (11 May 2012)

This is my first viewing of Frank Darabont's The Mist in about five years and the first time I have watched it in black and white. If there's anyway to watch the film, it's to sit down, deep in the night, and watch it completely drained of color. Seeing it in theaters, the idea was creepy, but adding black and white to it makes it an entirely different experience. The film opens with a three minute introduction with Darabont himself explaining how he has had people say that it would be "cool" if The Mist could be made in a colorless fashion, to replicate and pay subtle homage to the classic Universal monster films that inspired it. As anyone would believe, marketing a black and white horror film, in a day and age where special effects and bright, vivid colorization is the norm, the idea would flounder with audiences, likely wouldn't resonate too well, and probably wind up doing middling numbers. Just before the film begins, Darabont states that this is the version he recommends you see. The colored version helps illustrate the ideas and events in a more compelling and plausible way, where as the black and white version seems to be more concerned with atmosphere and implausibility. It knows it's a campy, downright outrageous monster flick, but in the mean-time, it almost feels like we're watching two different films; one concerned with realism and monsters and the other concerned with intelligence and depth.
Seeing both, I believe I could write two separate and very different reviews on each, but I refuse. I can sum up my ideas coherently into one. Stephen King's novel "The Mist" remains my favorite by him for its simplicity, its depth, and its exploration of characters pushed to the limit. It's a "what would you do?" kind of picture that is equal parts claustrophobic horror and psychological thriller.
The film is centered around David Drayton (Jane), a movie poster painter with a wife and young child named Billy (Gamble). After a wild, rambunctious storm blows through their town in the Stephen King locale of Maine, David is forced to confront his neighbor Brent (Braugher) whom he's had a contentious relationship with over the years. The three of them head out to the grocery store, hoping to pick up some food and supplies since they are in the mix of a power outage. Their shopping trip is unexpectedly interrupted when a man runs in screaming with blood running down his face that something is in the mist that is currently blowing in. The scene where the mist flows quietly into the area, before consuming the supermarket in its entirety is masterful, sort of noir-istic in its black and white form, yet far too short. A trip to the storage room, the workers and David discover that something really is in the mist. Something with six large tentacles, among a wide variety of other undefinable beasts that seem to be composed of parts taken from other familiar insects. Whatever the hell they are, they are creepy, mysterious, yet intriguing and limitless.
The remainder of the film takes place in the store, as the townspeople try to comprehend the fact that unrecognized beings are preying on them from the outside and the fact that they are trapped in a store full of people they don't truly know. One of the most annoying characters is Marcia Gay Harden's Mrs. Carmody, the ultra-religious, god-fearing fanatic who preaches how "we the people" asked for this with our constant disrespect for God and his teachings. While I hated her character back then, and in black and white she's still a distasteful witch, Harden plays her in an undeniably brilliant fashion. It isn't easy to bring so much passion and soul to a character so unlikable, but it works because of the gifted material and script given to her. Thomas Jane, a rather under-used actor, plays his role as the main protagonist well, and handles the stressful situation with realism and integrity. One character that seems to get the unfortunate cold shoulder is Toby Jones' Ollie, as one of the store's employees. Sometimes, when he is on screen, he invites a strongly ominous presents almost as gripping as the thick fog outside.
What Darabont knows how to do is to trap his characters not only geographically, but mentally, and always bring up the ideas of hope and fear by structuring substantial teams with the characters. I was constantly reminded of how The Shawshank Redemption (almost every director has their own masterpiece and that is Darabont's) portrayed the drastically different characters and their unique views on life and how they handled being confined to four walls and cynicism. There were teams in the prison, and there are teams in The Mist. The civilians turned radicals, as well as the collective group of people who just want to try and remain civil and try to keep everyone else in a state of calmness. Unfortunately, that rarely works out, especially during a riveting third act.
The ending, I must say, whether seen in color or black and white is one of the saddest in any horror film in the last decade. One would think the absence of color would drown the value of emotions, but frankly, it could be argued that it intensifies them by making them seem bleaker, more abstract, and even more joyless. I'd like to hear what color Darabont believes has greater effect on the ending.
The Mist is a strong piece of film, frightening to comprehend, sometimes maddeningly explicit in its monologues, and incorruptibly entertaining throughout. If there's one thing we should've learned by now, it's that Maine is not a safe state to inhabit.
Starring: Thomas Jane, Nathan Gamble, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher, Toby Jones, and Melissa McBride. Directed by: Frank Darabont.