SIREN CALL

Cinema's most enduring symbol of power and transformation.

- ARISSA HA

Growing up, I often watched my mother as she prepared to step out into the world. There was a small ritual she followed, one that seemed almost sacred in its repetition: a quick dab of perfume on her wrists and behind her ears, and a careful stroke of red lipstick across her lips. Each time she applied that lipstick, something shifted. Her posture straightened, her gaze sharpened—an almost perceivable change that happened before my eyes, even as a child. That little tube held a kind of magic, giving her an unmistakable aura of confidence.

In the early days of black and white films, red lipstick was not just a cosmetic choice but a necessary tool for expression. Silent films, devoid of dialogue, relied heavily on visual cues to convey emotion and narrative. Actors’ faces had to be expressive enough to communicate without words, and red lipstick played a crucial role. The stark, dark lips against a monochrome backdrop were essential for making expressions visible to audiences. The technology of the time rendered these lipsticks almost black against pale skin, a striking contrast that helped to convey subtle nuances of the characters’ emotions. This necessity turned red lipstick into an iconic aspect of film makeup, a tradition that would carry into the era of colour films and beyond.