OVP: Best Cinematography (2019)
The Nominees Were...
Rodrigo Prieto, The Irishman
Lawrence Sher, Joker
Jarin Blaschke, The Lighthouse
Roger Deakins, 1917
Robert Richardson, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
My Thoughts: We move on to the Cinematography branch this week as we start to wrap up the "visual" categories at the 2019 Oscars. Like so many of this year's nominees, the films cited here were largely from the repetitive Best Picture category-2019, as I've mentioned before, was a double-edged sword in terms of the shortened season. Moving up the Oscars for inexplicable reasons allowed them to actually happen-Covid would have tanked the ceremony just two weeks later. But in the process, the Oscars came up with one of their dullest lineups, more so here than anywhere else (as there were definitely better choices to make in the Cinematography branch). In fact, they only got creative with one film, and as I'm always looking for an entry-point, we'll start there.
The Lighthouse received only one nomination in 2019, for Best Cinematography, and you'd be forgiven for thinking this is yet another of the "Oscar loves black-and-white films" nominations, as he does almost always pick one. But The Lighthouse is more than just a moody throwback to the Cinematography branch's favorite crutch-it's also a tense, atmospheric film, one that has to catch the savagery of the sea (where we don't know as the film goes on what will happen), somehow combining beautiful, pristine images with shots of true ugliness, and eventually, macabre. It's a difficult film to love, but it's impossible to deny, and the film is luminous.
The Irishman doesn't have quite that same effect. While Martin Scorsese has made films with gorgeous cinematography (think of the iconic boxing scenes in Raging Bull), The Irishman doesn't really capture that same aesthetic. Coated in blue & brown hues, the movie is always nice to watch (it's a Marty Scorsese film-the man knows how to make the most of his cameraman), but it's not distinctive, and obviously with the issues surrounding the de-aging of the lead actors, the cinematography needs to take off a few points for not properly capturing the director's vision on camera.
The same is true for Robert Richardson with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a movie that is very nice-looking (particularly the scenes on Spahn Ranch), but isn't distinctive, certainly not from a man who made movies as beautiful as Snow Falling on Cedars and The Aviator. Other than the extended sequence at Spahn Ranch, this is pretty rudimentary work for Richardson, an artist amply-rewarded by Oscar, so he hardly needed yet another nomination under his belt, and while Once is more fun than we've had with Quentin in a decade, it's not his most original visual work (the plot twists are easy to see coming).
Joker at least is getting someone their first nomination (Lawrence Sher was probably best-known for his work on The Hangover movies before this). It's just not at all earned. Honestly-other than the dancing on the stairs scene, there's nothing remotely memorable about this movie, and it's so conventional as to be boring. It borrows heavily from previous Batman movies in the way it shoots action sequences, and Sher's work lacks any sort of innovation, not even the kind we saw glimmers of with the costume & makeup work. Of all of Joker's nominations, this is the one that confounds me the most as there's nothing there-it's a conventionally shot movie, and one that isn't even done all-that-well on a sliding scale.
The one movie that approaches Lighthouse for my money is 1917. Roger Deakins has the gimmick of an "unbroken" shot, one he had to rely with the editors & visual effects artists to achieve, but it's mesmerizing. This is some of Deakins' best work, a beautiful blend of light, unrelenting battle, & trickery of the audience to keep us fully-immersed in the movie. Think of the way that the camera peers off to the side, leaving behind characters to die, or the glorious black-and-gold of the night sky as George Mackay flees through the night. It's a tour de force, and inarguably the best aspect of Mendes' war masterpiece.
Other Precursor Contenders: The American Society of Cinematographers goes with just five nominations, so it's frequently similar to Oscar. Here it gave the trophy to 1917, and substituted out The Lighthouse in favor of Ford vs. Ferrari, thus being even more indebted to Oscar's Best Picture lineup. BAFTA also gave it to 1917, with Ford vs. Ferrari getting in, this time over Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I know it feels like a copout to say this considering it's the only other film cited last year, but yeah, I think that Ford vs. Ferrari was the sixth place finisher.
Films I Would Have Nominated: Here's the really sad thing about a lineup this generic-there was some outstanding work last year that would've made this a much better category. Ad Astra is gorgeous (even if it obviously relies upon visual effects to achieve that...though, let's be honest, so does 1917), and is a worthy choice. The same can be said for Transit, so cerebral & full of memory in its shots. I'd have found room for End of the Century, a little-seen movie that also plays with time, and its cinematography underlines that beautifully. And finally, I know this is eye-rolling coming from me, a true Malick Stan, but watch Joker, then watch A Hidden Life, and tell me exactly why the former got the Oscar nomination please.
Oscar's Choice: Deakins gets his second trophy, probably by an even easier margin than his first.
Oscar's Choice: Deakins gets his second trophy, probably by an even easier margin than his first.
My Choice: It's not close-1917 is the greatest achievement of arguably the greatest-living cinematographer, and so Deakins gets his fourth OVP trophy (click below if you want to find the other three). I'll go with Lighthouse in second, followed by Hollywood, Irishman, and Joker.
Those are my thoughts-how about yours? Does anyone dare want to defy 1917 in this lineup, and if so, with what? Why do you think Ford vs. Ferrari missed (which, for the record, I'd have put third here if it'd made it as those sunset shots & car chases are well done)? And is this the most disappointing Cinematography lineup you've seen in a long while from the Academy's most consistent branch? Share your thoughts below!
Also in 2019: Costume, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup & Hairstyling, Animated Short, Live Action Short, Previously in 2019
No comments:
Post a Comment