OVP: Best Cinematography (2015)
The Nominees Were...
Edward Lachman, Carol
Robert Richardson, The Hateful Eight
John Seale Mad Max: Fury Road
Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant
Roger Deakins, Sicario
Robert Richardson, The Hateful Eight
John Seale Mad Max: Fury Road
Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant
Roger Deakins, Sicario
My Thoughts: This is usually my favorite Oscar category that doesn't involve women acting. Year after year, I am struck by how thoughtful the Cinematography branch is compared to other areas of the Academy that might just favor the Best Picture frontrunners and ignore great work within their actual field (cough, Editing, cough). The nominees this year once again reach those heights, and though it's not quite as stupendous as the 2007 race we recently profiled (see below for links to past OVP ballots for Cinematography), it's still darn impressive and there's really not a bad nomination in this bunch.
If you've been following along with past contests, you'll know that I love Roger Deakins. His work as a DP makes him arguably my favorite cinematographer currently working, and he's already won three of these Oscar Viewing Projects. Sicario is once again one of those movies where he finds so much magic on the screen, particularly in larger wide shots like the one above. I've heard criticism of Deakins being that he only cares about the shots he really cares about, and while I can see that in some other work, Sicario is not a picture it's easy to cast such criticism toward. Think of the border control sequence and the way that, even if he's not lovingly framing it because there isn't a desert nearby, he finds ways to improve the tension through eye-level shots of Emily Blunt realizing how over-her-head she is in this pursuit. It's fine work from a man who consistently cranks out some of the most beautiful movies in the business.
Edward Lachman is another DP that desperately needs an Oscar, as his work in Carol was splendid, and a worthy sequel to the stupendous heights he reached with Far From Heaven. Carol looks like you're pawing through an old photo box, complete with postcards and hidden moments you didn't remember someone watching. I love the cool, clean outdoors shots, the way that he always keeps his lovers at the center of the frame-it aids the plot, and it shows the immediacy of this interaction, and its danger. The movie occasionally borrows from Douglas Sirk a bit too heartily, but even then it's so beautiful you can hardly complain (think of that great shot of Rooney Mara turning around under a street lamp). The film moves elegantly and is haunting, and Lachman is aided so vividly by the story itself (we don't know when we are leaving these characters for the last time because the central love story remains so uncertain until the final moments) that this is a triumph. The sort of nomination you can't guarantee because the movie inexplicably didn't do well with Oscar, but man is it worthy.
Another movie whose nomination isn't obvious, but is so jaw-dropping it demanded to be included was Mad Max: Fury Road. John Seale was pulled out of retirement by George Miller, and proves that "if you rest, you rust," isn't a maxim that has to be true. The shots in this movie are staggering. Look at the way that the wall of color shoots across the Namibian Desert, or the powerful moments of green and water that are made more vivid through the heat. Seale knows a thing or two about shooting desert shots (The English Patient, after all) but here he doesn't rely upon the sex appeal of sloping sand, but instead on the hot, arid heat that juxtaposes against supermodels and gorgons alike. It's a towering achievement, one that needed to be reached in order for Miller's picture to graduate from action film to timeless. Job well done.
Emmanuel Lubezki surely had his work cut-out-for-him when it came to The Revenant. Coming off of well-earned back-to-back Oscars he had to find ways to create a sort of opal glow over Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's violent nature epic. The scene with Judy the Bear probably earned him this nomination alone, as well as his ability to quickly capture natural light, giving the film's early moments a fleeting characteristic, since they're shot at dusk. This shows in the picture, as its cinematography is perhaps the only nomination it's impossible to dismiss (I didn't like the movie, but I'm not blind). I love the way that he shoots the rivers, finding the bitter cold against still running water, and the way he frames shots to make the isolation of America at this point-in-time seem so great. It's an ambitious work, and proof that Lubezki may be the finest DP currently working.
The final nomination was the one that most Oscar watchers complained about, as Robert Richardson seems to always make the cut for Quentin Tarantino films. However, it's not because Richardson doesn't find good work here. Some of the outdoors scenes, where he's showing his characters march through an avalanche of snow, are terrific, particularly accompanied by Ennio Morricone's enigmatic score. If you click the link above where I review this film, I eviscerate it at as one of the worst movies of 2015, but the cinematography isn't bad, it's just that once it goes indoor it's not that special. We see all of Tarantino's tropes on full-display, but with a limited space he can't quite impress the way he can in, say, Kill Bill.
If you've been following along with past contests, you'll know that I love Roger Deakins. His work as a DP makes him arguably my favorite cinematographer currently working, and he's already won three of these Oscar Viewing Projects. Sicario is once again one of those movies where he finds so much magic on the screen, particularly in larger wide shots like the one above. I've heard criticism of Deakins being that he only cares about the shots he really cares about, and while I can see that in some other work, Sicario is not a picture it's easy to cast such criticism toward. Think of the border control sequence and the way that, even if he's not lovingly framing it because there isn't a desert nearby, he finds ways to improve the tension through eye-level shots of Emily Blunt realizing how over-her-head she is in this pursuit. It's fine work from a man who consistently cranks out some of the most beautiful movies in the business.
Edward Lachman is another DP that desperately needs an Oscar, as his work in Carol was splendid, and a worthy sequel to the stupendous heights he reached with Far From Heaven. Carol looks like you're pawing through an old photo box, complete with postcards and hidden moments you didn't remember someone watching. I love the cool, clean outdoors shots, the way that he always keeps his lovers at the center of the frame-it aids the plot, and it shows the immediacy of this interaction, and its danger. The movie occasionally borrows from Douglas Sirk a bit too heartily, but even then it's so beautiful you can hardly complain (think of that great shot of Rooney Mara turning around under a street lamp). The film moves elegantly and is haunting, and Lachman is aided so vividly by the story itself (we don't know when we are leaving these characters for the last time because the central love story remains so uncertain until the final moments) that this is a triumph. The sort of nomination you can't guarantee because the movie inexplicably didn't do well with Oscar, but man is it worthy.
Another movie whose nomination isn't obvious, but is so jaw-dropping it demanded to be included was Mad Max: Fury Road. John Seale was pulled out of retirement by George Miller, and proves that "if you rest, you rust," isn't a maxim that has to be true. The shots in this movie are staggering. Look at the way that the wall of color shoots across the Namibian Desert, or the powerful moments of green and water that are made more vivid through the heat. Seale knows a thing or two about shooting desert shots (The English Patient, after all) but here he doesn't rely upon the sex appeal of sloping sand, but instead on the hot, arid heat that juxtaposes against supermodels and gorgons alike. It's a towering achievement, one that needed to be reached in order for Miller's picture to graduate from action film to timeless. Job well done.
Emmanuel Lubezki surely had his work cut-out-for-him when it came to The Revenant. Coming off of well-earned back-to-back Oscars he had to find ways to create a sort of opal glow over Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's violent nature epic. The scene with Judy the Bear probably earned him this nomination alone, as well as his ability to quickly capture natural light, giving the film's early moments a fleeting characteristic, since they're shot at dusk. This shows in the picture, as its cinematography is perhaps the only nomination it's impossible to dismiss (I didn't like the movie, but I'm not blind). I love the way that he shoots the rivers, finding the bitter cold against still running water, and the way he frames shots to make the isolation of America at this point-in-time seem so great. It's an ambitious work, and proof that Lubezki may be the finest DP currently working.
The final nomination was the one that most Oscar watchers complained about, as Robert Richardson seems to always make the cut for Quentin Tarantino films. However, it's not because Richardson doesn't find good work here. Some of the outdoors scenes, where he's showing his characters march through an avalanche of snow, are terrific, particularly accompanied by Ennio Morricone's enigmatic score. If you click the link above where I review this film, I eviscerate it at as one of the worst movies of 2015, but the cinematography isn't bad, it's just that once it goes indoor it's not that special. We see all of Tarantino's tropes on full-display, but with a limited space he can't quite impress the way he can in, say, Kill Bill.
Other Precursor Contenders: The American Society of Cinematographers didn't go far from the Oscars here, giving the trophy to The Revenant and only throwing out Richardson's nomination in favor of another Academy favorite Janusz Kaminski (for Bridge of Spies). The BAFTA Awards actually copied the ASC nominations and winner verbatim, meaning that Kaminski probably was in sixth place here, and considering it actually did better at the Oscars, one wonders why a two-time Oscar winner couldn't stick the landing over a tepid Tarantino installation. Spielberg fatigue?
Films I Would Have Nominated: Oscar actually got pretty close to what I would have assembled here. The only nomination I would throw out would be Richardson's, and in its place would be Maryse Alberti's great work in Creed (a nomination that would have made her the first woman cited in this category). I wavered between she and Dariusz Wolski (another DP in grand need of an Oscar nomination), but I feel like Creed is more impressive and harder to shoot than Wolski's red landscapes in The Martian. Either way, a truly fine year for Best Cinematography.
Oscar's Choice: I'm guessing this was closer than it appeared as Seale probably was in the realm of a win considering how well Mad Max did elsewhere, but The Revenant made it back-to-back-to-back for Lubezki.
My Choice: I'll work backwards here, with Richardson in fifth, Deakins in fourth, and Lubezki in third. For the win, I'm genuinely torn between Seale and Lachman, both doing fantastic jobs. I had initially given this to Seale in my notes, but Carol is almost dreamlike in how well its camerawork matches the mood of the picture. I'm giving it to Lachman, then, but I'm more than willing to hear arguments in favor of anyone but The Hateful Eight taking this prize.
Those are my thoughts-how about yours? Are you with me that this is a nailbiter between Mad Max and Carol, or do you think I've lost my mind for not picking The Revenant? What is Robert Richardson's hold on the Oscars, and how do you think he bested Kaminski? And when are we finally going to see a woman nominated here? Share your thoughts below!
Also in 2015: Costume, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup & Hairstyling, Documentary Short, Live Action Short, Animated Short, Previously in 2015
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