I can’t say enough about the value of quality cinematography in great films. If it were a loaf of bread, cinematography would be the yeast, the catalyst that raises the film from average faire to significantly meaningful.
In a film review earlier this year, I explained that the cinematographer, guided by the director, is the interpreter of the story – their vision becomes our eyes; and the emotions they wish to awaken in us often are born at the very moment they so cleverly intended.
Cinematography is truly an art of impressions -- giving insight to the story through symbols and expressions, while attempting to evoke just the right emotion to make the connection between eye and heart complete and rewarding. Masterful photographers manipulate atmosphere, pace, motion, angle, lighting, distortion, and color to give a sense of meaning to everything we see. Such power. Such responsibility. Under the right hands, and behind a visionary eye, the final product resonates with the viewer long after the final frame fades.
Here are a list of just a few of my most favorite films showcasing outstanding cinematography:
- David Watkin, Out of Africa
- Janusz Kaminski, Schindler's List
- Stuart Dryburgh, The Piano
- Janusz Kaminski, Saving Private Ryan
- John Seale, The English Patient
- Vittorio Storaro, Apocalypse Now
- Chris Menges, The Mission
- Conrad Hall, Road to Perdition
- Zhao Xiaoding, House of Flying Daggers
- Christopher Doyle, Hero
- Pawel Edelman, The Pianist
- Robert Elswit Good Night, And Good Luck
- John Toll, The Thin Red Line
- Richard Greatrex, Shakespeare in Love
- Michael Coulter, Sense and Sensibility
- Dean Semler, Dances with Wolves
- Sven Nykvist, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
- Tony Pierce-Roberts, A Room With a View
- Allen Daviau, The Color Purple
- Miroslav Ondricek, Amadeus
- Sven Nykvist, Fanny and Alexander
- Billy Williams and Ronnie Taylor, Gandhi
- Chris Menges, The Killing Fields
*Check out the list of Oscar winners for this category in Wikipedia.
Speaking of cinematography, I would like to introduce you to the upcoming Brazilian film House of Sand, directed by Andrucha Waddington. Just looking at the magnificent photography in this trailer makes me wonder if it is a possible nominee for this category.
House of Sand, one of this year’s most critically acclaimed films (check out Rotten Tomatoes if you don't believe me), tells the story of Áurea, who, in 1910, is taken along with her mother in 1910 to a far-away desert of Maranhão (northern Brazil) by her husband, and after his passing, is forced to spend the next 59 years of her life hopelessly trying to escape it. The film stars the real-life mother and daughter team: Fernanda Montenegro (best actress nomination for Central Station) and Fernanda Torres.
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