When I first saw Rumble Fish by Francis Ford Coppola (1983) I was too young to realize the talent and importance of the director, but I was mesmerized by the blue fish in a black and white picture. Considered by some of the critics one of his best picture ever, the movie has a good story, and it is so well done. The poetic ending is one of the most remarkable endings I have ever seen. The movie unrolls in extreme perfection, providing a great experience.
Now that I spend hours try to do small effect with more advanced software I appreciate that effect more. For those who have not seen it I can only suggest watching it. I tried to recreate the blue fish in black and white image, but it is really hard to reproduce the same quality. It is not only the blue fish effect but also the light and bright of the film. It is as something has been done in order to highlight the contrast with the fish.
The use of black and white and the contrast with the color of the fish has a poetic and aesthetic meaning and the black and with itself has a meaning since the movie changes to color when the mean character experience also a change.
There have been other movies before and after with special effects. Some of them are only special effects, I mean the reason of the movie is the special effect itself while others need the special effects to the purpose of the narrative such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind. However, in the Rumble Fish the use of special effect is basically limited to the color of the fish with the black and with background which makes it more powerful since it is not lost in a number of special effects.