saw that film 2 years ago on the big screen… astounding! i think both Coppola and Scorsese were involved in getting this little-seen film to a wider audience in the 90s. it totally blew me away. the swimming pool shot is insane.
Chris Doyle’s work is consistently gorgeous (Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love, Happy Together, Fallen Angels etc…)
Ok ok so shoot me – the last time I said “wow, great cinematography” was when I watched Ratatoille on 42" HDTV, through an upscaling DVD player. So it’s all digitally created .. but MAN every FRAME is perfectly composed, perfectly lit, DOF just so, background filled in with just the right amount of bits and pieces in just the right pallette of colors…. It must be fantastic to be able to sit down with a blank screen and create everything from scratch like that – and make it look THAT good.
Angel Heart, see the uncensored version, there are some scenes in there where the lighting is just, well amazing.
Also, it is hard to beat Michael Mann, both Miami Vice and Heat and a few others, no matter what you think of the plots of the movies, have lighting to die for.
Children of Men. Not just for the incredibly long takes that had to be choreographed perfectly, but there are a couple of shots where the color and lighting are brilliant. One of the best movies I have seen in the last 10 years.
Bignose – for some reason, every time I watch Ratatoille, I find myself thinking of the last scene in The Departed. To quote Ralphie from the Simpsons, “The rat signifies obviousness!”
My faves, their signature is on everything they touch — often working with the same genius over and over:
Ron Fricke (Baraka – currently in production on the continuation, "Samsara") — Fricke built his 70mm camera!! — master of movt!
Rodrigo Prieto – (Babel, Frida, 21 grams) — a master of color and stillness
César Charlone – (Ciudad de Deus) — Beutifully shot favela scenes were done 200ft at a time on the venerable Aaton A-Minima s16mm (stellar camera).
Matthew Libatique – Aronofsky films — Exceptionally complex movts.
Guillermo Navarro – (Pan’s Labrynth) — need I say more
Robert Elswit – PT Anderson films — Certainly influenced by Kubrick, loves the excruciating long take and complex movt.
Darius Khondji – (La Cité des enfants perdus) — speaks for itself, I think!
to name a few….
So much more to take into account than the just composition in the frame, mis-en scene, the orchestration of camera movt in concerts with actor and space, the film speed, pov, color palette, it is everything when it comes together. Control is key….
Maybe not a classic, but the other day I watched Meerkat Manor on (HD) Animal Planet with my son, and was amazed by the framing and lighting they had in every shot. They were not only nailing the “filler” transitional scenes (grand landscape stuff of the Kalahari), but the action sequences as well. I kept thinking “wow, I’d love to capture single frames that good”, and they’re tracking mobs of squirrel-sized critters….
In my opinion it’s hard to beat Film Noir for it’s Cinematography.
The list is endless. Has anyone seen Man Bites Dog? Crazy film but the Cinematography is amazing.
Le Haine is pretty good too. I also like Roman Polanski’s Bitter Moon. There all worth seeing if you like Cinematography, violence, bondage, sado-masochism, urolangia and plain old craziness.
Here are links to Man Bites Dog, Le Haine, and bitter moon.
boris kauffman who shot vigo’s l’atalante and ‘on the waterfront’.henri alekan,who shot jean cocteaus films and wim wenders ‘wings of desire.robby muller obviously,’paris,texas’ and whoever david lean and sam peckinpah used.plus an honourable mention for nic roeg,who directed,shot and edited his films,inc ‘performance’,‘the man who fell to earth’ and ‘walkabout’
Con I suggest you read this part of YouTubes T&C’s
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NOTE The words Commercial Use. It’s always in the small print. You just need to read it.
Ron Fricke- Baraka
Robert Frank- Cocksucker blues,Pull my Daisy.
Nick Gomez- Laws of Gravity
Coppola- Apocalypse now.
Aronofsky- Pi, Requiem for a dream.
Wings of Desire – Directed by Wim Wenders – Cinematography by Henri Alekan
Trois couleurs: Bleu – Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski – Cinematography by Slawomir Idziak
Buffalo ’66 – Directed by Vincent Gallo – Cinematography by Lance Acord
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – Directed by Andrew Dominik – Cinematography by Roger Deakins
Control – Directed by Anton Corbijn – Cinematography by Martin Ruhe
8½ – Directed by Federico Fellini – Cinematography by Gianni Di Venanzo
Pretty much anything by Kubrick really, but there are scenes in Barry Lyndon, such as where he’s gambling with a count, that are shot all available with only candlelight. It’s beautiful stuff.
Blade Runner – Ridley Scott, Director. Sumptuous lighting and photography.
Lost Highway – David Lynch, mesmeric film making. Brooding and entirely frightening and mostly because of the photography. Seamless editing.
The Big Blue – Luc Besson’s gorgeous film (the Europan version)
Manhunter – Michael Mann. Mind you, if you really pay attention, you can see a microphone dip into the frame at one point. But in terms of composition it’s a masterstroke.
The Thirteenth Floor – Josef Rusnak. Strange little movie but so beautiful to look at.
Lawrence of Arabia – David Lean. This film is just extraordinary to look at. You could climb into it.
Three Colours: Red – Krzysztof Kieślowski.
Three Colours: Blue – As above.
Pan’s Labyrinth – Guillermo del Toro. Beyond words. Mind boggling photography.
A couple dozen replies and no mention of Sven Nykvist or Gunnar Fischer. The Silence? The Seventh Seal? Winter Light? May Death challenge you all to a game of chess!
Dans la ville blanche, Alain Tanner is visually stunning
Landscape in the mist has some unforgettable scenes
hear, hear for the 7th Seal
Zentropa
Ararat, a fascinating way to deal with history and historiography
Blade Runner as a documentary of modern life
Brazil to complement what is left out of Bladerunner
La Strada
dare I say Citizen Kane?
Sans Soleil/La Jetee- Chris Marker, William Klein, Cannot recall dp
Ivan’s Childhood- Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
O Brother Where Art Thou?- Coen Bros.
Anything Robert Yeoman, works on Wes Anderson’s pictures
The Scent of Green Papaya, (Vietnam in the 1950’s) cinematography by Benoit Delhomme & Laurence Tremolet, directed by Tran Anh Hung (if you like his work, also see, not as strong but still beautiful, The Vertical Ray of the Sun (Vietnam)) and also a feast for the eyes, though many think it’s crap as a film, The Lover, which takes place in French colonial Vietnam..I find it to be stunning on many levels and it was nominated for the Academy Award in cinematography.
No doubt: True Romance!
Great cast, excellent actors, wonderful story. Tarantino wrote the damn thing.
Best scene ever shot, imho:
Apart from this flick:
All Tarantino movies
Der Himmel uber Berlin: Wim Wenders (city of angels?)
Another vote for Lost Highway (Rammstein music and a scary movie!)
The Crow (gothic classic)
Silence of the Lambs (gotta love Lecter)
Taxi Driver, Heat,… Too much…
Rent it, turn off the sound (because the acting sucks and Ryan O’Neil can’t do an Irish accent to save his life) and enjoy the greatest three hour slide show ever made.
YO, WHATABOUTCYCLO????….and Vertical aint as beautiful as scent?. …Sister Erica, we got some serious talking to do when i come down!
ALL:
HOWTHEHELLDID I MISSTHISPOST….my head’s totally fucked with films…(before i got married, the diet was: 2 books, 3 films, 3 bottles of wine/week……i dont know where to begin….lots of others above, have hit my favs..(i think in terms of filmmakers, more than specific films)…and Christopher Doyle, well, he’s drunkenly kissed my son ;)))…..(ok, no more name dropping ;)) )….
where would i be without films….ok…that’s enough from me…
Lance/Erica: let’s talk films when i come in August…
Depardon, Raymond. Captive du Désert, Paris (starring Luc Delahaye, no less), New York, N.Y., Afriques: Comment ça va avec la douleur? Well, anything by him is masterful. And of course a photographer with no parallel.
Klein, William. Specifically Hollywood, California: A Loser’s Opera and Muhammad Ali, the Greatest.
ERICA :))))…for me, Cyclo is his best: one of the most important films from SEAsia in the last 20 years…and for me, one of the finest films about spiritual/artistic grief/suffering/life i know…we’ll discuss in August :))
DON: :)))…that’s a great list too :)))…by the way, Big Daddy’s Vid Store just got in a DVD of all Klein’s early films: they are huge :))…i love them so much
LANCE: ok, amigo…a list…remember, i’ve been drowning in films since i was 17…and i’d always wanted to be a filmmaker (i’ve made 2 short digital films a few years ago), and films were one of the reasons i switched from painting to photography…anyway, here goes…it makes more sense for me if list the directors via countries…
Russia: Tarkovsky (all), Paradjanov (all, even his last 3 deleriums), Alexander Dovzhenko (must), Alexander Podovkin (must, especially mother), Eisenstein, Mikhail Kalatozov (cranes are flying), Kalatozov (as mentioned by Lance), Larisa Shepitko (wife of Elem Klimov: especially her masterpiece ASSENT), Elem Klimov (all, but especially COMEANDSEE IS A MUST: for me, 1 of 3 greatest war films EVER, PERIOD), Zarkhi (Anna Karenina), Grigori Chukhrai, Kira Muratova, Sokurov (thought i thought Father and Son was god awful), Sergei Bondarchuk (maybe you’ve seen his war and peace?), Alexei Balabanov (i like Of Freaks and Men the best, not so much Brothers),
German: Fassbinder (love), Wenders (early, for me nothing after Angels over Berlin), Leni Riefenstahl, Margarethe von Trotta, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Murnau, Pabst, Fritz Lang, von Sternberg (american stuff too great!), Volker Schlöndorff (early stuff), Werner Herzog, Jean-Marie Straub
TAIWAN: EDWARD Yang, Hous Hsiao-Hsien, Tsai Ming-Liang
HONGKONG: Wong Kar-wei, Christopher Doyle (he also made a short film and is a photographer, and i’ve met him), Stephen Chow (i love this hilarious guy!!), Tsui Hark, Stanely Kwan, John Woo (before hollywood), Anna Hui,
CHINA: Jia Zhangke (my favorite contemp chinese filmmaker), Lou Ye (my 2nd favorite chinese filmmaker: a must), Zhang Yimou (before he became silly, early films), Tian Zhuangzhuang, KOREA: KIM KI-DUK, Park Chan-wook, Kim Ji-woon
ENGLAND/AMERICAN: Lindsey Anderson, Kuprick, Sally Potter, Lynne Ramsey, David Lean, WILDER, alderich, Welles (anything!), Jarman, Greenaway, Roeg, Russel, Temple, Mike Leigh, Forsyth, Gilliam, Boorman (early), Losey, Reisz, Chaplin, Keaton (anyone see his film with Beckett?: brilliant), Hitchock, Powell, Terrence Davies (i love him!), Reed, Frears, Winterbottom (he’s become wonderful!), Altman, Allen (only early!), Scorcese, Malick (!!!!), Lynch!!!, Coppola, Cohen brothers, Ford, Capa, Griffith, Ashby, Browning, Van Sandt, King Vidor, Todd Solonz, Burton, Bogdonavich (early), Frankenheimer, Michael mann (yea, i love him1), Nicolas Ray, Stevens, Cukor, Cassevettes (!!!!), Waters, Soderburgh, Spike (early, especially) Lee, Fincher, Jarmusch, Demille (he was Holly wood ;)) ), Griffith, Hawks, Peckinpah, Tarrantino (i actually dont dig his films, but….), sturges, Lucas, etc…
POLISH: Wadja (!!!), Kieslowski, Tadeusz Konwicki, Polanski (only the polish stuff and of course rosemary’s baby), Jerzy Skolimowski, Krzysztof Zanussi,
CZECH: Věra Chytilová (i met her when i lived in Praque: brilliant), Miloš Forman, Jaromil Jireš, Jiří Menzel, Jan Němec (i love him!), Karel Reisz, Czech-born British director
HUNGARIAN/GREEK: Bella Tarr, Theo Angelopoulos,Szabó (early), Ildikó Enyedi
SCANDANAVIA: Bergman, Von Trier, Dryer, Aki Kaurismäki, Mootersyon, Anderson,
ITALY: Antonioni, Fellini, Di Sicca, Passolini, Visconti, Rossalini,
MISCE: Tran Anh Hung, Godfrey Reggio, Ray (india), Weir (australia), lawrence (australia), miller (aussie), jane campion (NZ), Beresdford (Aussie),
ok, i am exhausted…and i havent even touched on American, British, Misc. category (like S America, African)…. ANIMATION: MIYAZAKI, Triplets of Belleville, Jan Trinka, Jan Švankmajer, Disney, etc…
and i havent even touched experimental filmmakers like Mike Hoolboom (a friend), my hero Christopher Marker, …etc etc etc…
exhausted…
that’s it…and yea, believe it or not, i’ve seen all these guys/gals…some of them all their flicks…i once was an addict….and once i was a warrior ;)))
I recently saw “Killer of the Sheep” which I thought had some great compositions.
“Lust Caution”
“Paris Texas”, “Tokyo-Ga” – anything by Wim Wenders
“Eyes Wide Shut”
‘kuprick’ ;)))).has to go down as one of best idiosyncratic spellings ever.
from a photographers point of view ’rosemary’s baby’ is a good call.the scene where the japanese guy takes a picture of the baby,now that would be the biggest scoop since they put jesus on the cross :)))
i was typing so fast and getting exhausted that, well, who knows who else i invented ;))))…
J_F :)))…wow, very cool…i love Gance soooo much….in university saw the “re-stored” version (i think Coppola helped it out) with the color and tri-screens…amazing genius :))))…
ANTHONY: love Killer of Sheep…here in Toronto last year, they had a retro of Burnett’s work…i’d read so long about the flick and was so happy to finally see it…love love all the sequences with the sheep and the children…and the scene where he goes t the drug house/apartment and then has to drive away….i loved that film :))))…
i was typing so fast and getting exhausted that, well, who knows who else i invented ;))))…
oh, AND OF COURSE I FORGOT: Emir Kusturica.!!!!…(and im sure i forgot more…Time of the Gypsies, BlackCAt/WhiteCat, Underground, When Father Was Away on business and Arizona Dreas are all brilliant, made, gorgeous….but as we’ve talked about, I AINTTHATBIG ON HISPOLITICS or what appear to be an apologist approach to milosovich et al…and i didnt really dig his flick Life is a Miracle ;)))..but, his early films are de rigeur…:))….and
J_F :)))…wow, very cool…i love Gance soooo much….in university saw the “re-stored” version (i think Coppola helped it out) with the color and tri-screens…amazing genius :))))…
ANTHONY: love Killer of Sheep…here in Toronto last year, they had a retro of Burnett’s work…i’d read so long about the flick and was so happy to finally see it…love love all the sequences with the sheep and the children…and the scene where he goes t the drug house/apartment and then has to drive away….i loved that film :))))…
After the ommision of Kusturica, i realized i’d forgotten some of my other favorities: all musts :))
Dusan Makavejev (especially SweetMovie and WR), Darren Aronofsky (american), Apichatpong Weerasethakul (thailand), Maya Deren (avant garde), Stank Brakhage, Ken Anger, Harry Smith, Jonas Mekas, Michael Snow, Guy Madain,
Charles Burnett’s films are something special. In killer of sheep only the two main characters(the wife and husband) were considered professional actors, the rest were individuals from that neighborhood.
Couple more, Milos forman, can never remember the dps.
Give some credit to De Niro on A Bronx Tale and City by the Sea.
Hayao Miyazaki- Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle, Narcissa
Guy Ritchie throws in some random speed adjustments, slowing it down, speeding it up, great emphasis on mood
John Ford- The Grapes of Wrath, The Quiet Man
Isao Takahata- Grave of the Fireflies, This is a must see if you missed out.
Hiroyuki Okiura- Jin Roh : The Wolf Brigade
by the way Lance, you should see the siberian mammoth, the making of Soy Cuba. Fascinating interviews with the makers, actors, cubans who were on set… If you can’t find it you can come over and see it next time you’re in my neck of the woods!
And killer of Sheep is indeed amazing, such an interesting history too…Burnett made it sporadically while he was still a student and after. The music rights made it too expensive to release. His work is extraordinary, a poetry that transcends time place.
In no particular order…
“House of Flying Daggers” (green, bamboo, green, yeahhhh!), “Sin CIty” (wicked neo-film noir action), “BBC Planet Earth” (whoaaaa, HD nature action, wow), “Heat” (the way the nighttime city is drawn in this film, wow, incredible, like a outer-rim colony viewed from a spaceship or something, incredible…)
and, something I saw just the other day that BLEW me away… seriously…
“No Country for Old Men”, from the legendery Cohen Bro’s. A few scenes in particular including the truck parked on the ridge at night (you’ll know it when you see it) and the LANDSCAPES!!!! Wow, talk about drawing an open country in incredible colour…. gotta see it.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned the HD nature doc “Blue Planet”.
It one thing to frame and light a perfect shot in the studio. The BBC crews captured stunning scenes, in natural light, often on the fly .. with breathtaking results.
Ditto Koyaanisqatsi
Two others: “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” bamboo fight scene, and the “ode to joy” scene in Gary Oldman 1994 Beethovan bioflick “Immortal Beloved” (rest of the movie kinda sucked…) here:
I’m surprised no one has mentioned the HD nature doc “Blue Planet”.
It one thing to frame and light a perfect shot in the studio. The BBC crews captured stunning scenes, in natural light, often on the fly .. with breathtaking results.
Ditto Koyaanisqatsi
Two others: “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” bamboo fight scene, and the “ode to joy” scene in Gary Oldman 1994 Beethovan bioflick “Immortal Beloved” (rest of the movie kinda sucked…).
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