Not for the first time, i'll second wvq- in support of b&w, and some excellent examples given (eg Dreyer and Mizoguchi). Watching the impeccable subtlety in the shades of white, cream, grey, exceptional lighting (and compositions) in Ordet again recently was an awe-inspiring experience. As Angelopoulos said of it, how can such perfection exist? 

Would Raging Bull and Manhattan have been as good in colour? Doubtful. 

Tarkovsky made superb use of a mixture of colour and b&w (and desaturation..)- i'm surprised that relatively few directors have followed his example. 

Of course, i love the use of colour, too, by directors like Godard and Rohmer- glorious primaries. Kobayashi's Kwaidan, and Mizoguchi's Tales of the Taira Clan are also wonderful to behold. Surely there's room for all the possibilities of cinema being explored, nothing excluded. 