Re: Best Cinematography 1974
Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 3:14 pm
I certainly agree that The Godfather Part II, with amber-lit flashback sequences of almost heavenly beauty, and Badlands, the first of Malick's many dreamlike portraits of the American landscape, should have placed. I would also throw out The Conversation as another strong option.
OH MY GOD EARTHQUAKE! LOOK HOW MUCH THE CAMERA IS SHAKING! AND STUFF IS FALLING ALL OVER THE PLACE! CINEMATOGRAPHY!!!!!!!!!!!
OH MY GOD THE TOWERING INFERNO! LOOK AT ALL THAT FIRE! THERE IS SMOKE EVERYWHERE! CINEMATOGRAPHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Murder on the Orient Express is a nomination that's just okay for me. I don't think it looks hideous or anything, but I'm not sure why exactly it would be cited here either. There isn't a ton of imagination or variety in terms of shooting within that mostly claustrophobic train set, and the general quality of the images just doesn't feel frothy enough for what is essentially a lark of a whodunit.
The remaining two nominees are both first rate. I recounted my first experience with Lenny in the Best Picture thread -- I watched it preparing to dutifully check off a Best Picture nominee, without having heard much about it, and was dazzled by the filmmaking on display. And the cinematography was perhaps the element that contributed most to this feeling -- the shadowy black-and-white captures the dank underbelly of American life in a striking manner, and I like the way the movie finds a visual style that combines both gritty kitchen sink realism with stylized theatricality, the perfect match for a character like Lenny Bruce.
But I have to join the consensus here, because the sheer visual beauty of Chinatown puts it over the top for me. Chinatown obviously didn't invent neo-noir, but its photographic achievement is a key factor in the film's reputation as a classic of the genre -- it manages to capture the shadows, stark compositions, and elegant camera moves of classic films noirs, while adding color in a manner that makes the entire film look like a faded photograph, a fitting visual strategy for the film's themes. I think one also has to give the cinematographer credit for lighting the film in such a way that makes 1930's Los Angeles feel like a real place, despite being shot in those environs decades later. (In contrast, Earthquake couldn't even make mid-70's LA feel real.) Its loss in this category is one of the most outrageous of the modern era, maybe ever.
OH MY GOD EARTHQUAKE! LOOK HOW MUCH THE CAMERA IS SHAKING! AND STUFF IS FALLING ALL OVER THE PLACE! CINEMATOGRAPHY!!!!!!!!!!!
OH MY GOD THE TOWERING INFERNO! LOOK AT ALL THAT FIRE! THERE IS SMOKE EVERYWHERE! CINEMATOGRAPHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Murder on the Orient Express is a nomination that's just okay for me. I don't think it looks hideous or anything, but I'm not sure why exactly it would be cited here either. There isn't a ton of imagination or variety in terms of shooting within that mostly claustrophobic train set, and the general quality of the images just doesn't feel frothy enough for what is essentially a lark of a whodunit.
The remaining two nominees are both first rate. I recounted my first experience with Lenny in the Best Picture thread -- I watched it preparing to dutifully check off a Best Picture nominee, without having heard much about it, and was dazzled by the filmmaking on display. And the cinematography was perhaps the element that contributed most to this feeling -- the shadowy black-and-white captures the dank underbelly of American life in a striking manner, and I like the way the movie finds a visual style that combines both gritty kitchen sink realism with stylized theatricality, the perfect match for a character like Lenny Bruce.
But I have to join the consensus here, because the sheer visual beauty of Chinatown puts it over the top for me. Chinatown obviously didn't invent neo-noir, but its photographic achievement is a key factor in the film's reputation as a classic of the genre -- it manages to capture the shadows, stark compositions, and elegant camera moves of classic films noirs, while adding color in a manner that makes the entire film look like a faded photograph, a fitting visual strategy for the film's themes. I think one also has to give the cinematographer credit for lighting the film in such a way that makes 1930's Los Angeles feel like a real place, despite being shot in those environs decades later. (In contrast, Earthquake couldn't even make mid-70's LA feel real.) Its loss in this category is one of the most outrageous of the modern era, maybe ever.