OVP: Best Cinematography (2017)
The Nominees Were...
Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049
Bruno Delbonnel, Darkest Hour
Hoyte van Hoytema, Dunkirk
Rachel Morrison, Mudbound
Dan Laustsen, The Shape of Water
My Thoughts: 2017 is a solid year for movies, and honestly it's one of the better Oscar lineups assembled for Best Picture in recent years. Part of that stems from some truly outstanding choices in the Best Cinematography, which invites something that's a little unusual for me...the concept of how to treat streaming at the Oscars with cinematography. More than any other branch, the Cinematography branch truly loses something with streaming, taking images that might have been seen on a giant screen and then compressing them onto a 14" laptop. Obviously in 2020 virtually every film we saw that was nominated for Best Cinematography was seen on a small screen, and of course many older movies I saw on a TV rather than a movie screen, but when it's intentional from the filmmakers (and was very difficult to find on a big-screen, unlike Roma or Cold War), it feels like you need to use a different metric.
This is why I'm not a fan of Mudbound's cinematography nomination, which bums me out given its historic nature. While I attempted for other films in recent years from Netflix & HBO Max to see them on a big screen if I could, Mudbound I made a point of seeing on a small screen because that was what the filmmakers wanted, and it loses almost everything in a confined Netflix shot. The movie is drab, so honestly even on a big-screen it'd have been a bit dull, but it doesn't work. I am on record (an increasingly isolated record) as saying that movies work best when they're given a theatrical run, and are seen on as big of a screen as possible. I'm aware as we move into other years (certainly 2020, where all five of the nominees in this category I saw on smaller screens of various sizes due to the Covid quarantine) that this will be impossible, but given this was the first, I'm knocking a lot of points off here because it just couldn't compete.
The rest of the nominees are much better. The Shape of Water looks incredible, and is Guillermo del Toro's most beautifully-shot film (give or take Pan's Labyrinth). The blues & pinks seem to radiate from the screen, and it always feels like you're falling down a wonderful dream. The best parts of The Shape of Water, in my mind, are the silent ones, where we are just seeing the world as Eliza sees it, totally awash with an observant eye. The scenes toward the end, especially the light-drenched ones depicting Michael Shannon's home life, feel gimmicky, as if they're from a 1990's John Waters movie (not in a good way), but the earlier moments, with Eliza just sort of falling in love...enchanting.
Dunkirk is the film that has the most technically impressive cinematography, the one that isn't just about showing us a pretty picture, but also giving us a bit of "cinematography as character," trying to underscore the scope of this evacuation/battle. It's extraordinary stuff, and I was not one of the people who faulted the filmmakers for giving us battles at sea that literally left you seasick (several of my friends couldn't actually watch Dunkirk for this reason). It feels a bit catty to say this, considering how often Wally Pfister's excellent work has been an aid to Christopher Nolan's movie, but I honestly think Dunkirk might be Nolan's most attractive film experiment.
Blade Runner 2049 is its main rival for the OVP, in my mind (I don't usually telegraph, but I will here-it's down to those two). Much of what makes Blade Runner work is its gorgeous, Roger Deakins-blessed scenes. Deakins is inarguably the star of this movie, and makes shots look so spectacular you're left speechless...but one could argue that it's a potential problem for the movie that it never feels like it lives up to the hype of what Deakins is coming up with. We are left with a movie so meticulously shot as to make us feel it's a bit ludicrous the plot doesn't have more substance. This isn't Deakins' fault, and I'm not going to fault him for it, but it's hard to take away from a nomination like this anything other than Deakins is a "diamond in the rough."
Our final nomination is for Bruno Delbonnel, who is one of the current cinematographers the branch seems to be begging the larger Academy to reward with a statue. Darkest Hour is not a badly-lensed film, by any means-it does more with confined spaces than any of these movies, giving us a sense of the claustrophobia that Churchill is feeling as the world comes crashing in on him. It's just...he's up against some truly amazing competition. There's nothing so standout, not even the final moments in Parliament, in Darkest Hour that can compete with the detailing of Blade Runner, Dunkirk, and The Shape of Water, and when you're up against the best...you need to bring the best.
Other Precursor Contenders: The American Society of Cinematographers went with exactly the same lineup as Oscar, and with that victory gave their trophy to Roger Deakins (unlike Oscar, this was his fourth victory). The BAFTA's skipped the very-American Mudbound for the equally-American Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, but also gave their trophy to Deakins. In terms of sixth place, I am going to favor a different film-the sun-dappled hills of Italy would've made Call Me By Your Name a near miss for this, and honestly I think enough snobbery around Mudbound's position on Netflix probably made it the near miss of this collection.
Films I Would Have Nominated: Definitely Call Me By Your Name, whose 1980's aesthetic combined with a bit of Merchant-Ivory glory made it a vision for film fans. In the same league is Vittorio Storaro's Wonder Wheel. I know in 2017 there was no way that Woody Allen was getting an Oscar nomination for one of his movies (and despite his films always looking great, he generally struggled even in the best of years to get into this category), but Wonder Wheel is just unbelievably beautiful & deserved mention in this category.
Oscar's Choice: At long last, Roger Deakins finally got his long-deserved Oscar. As a HUGE fan of his work, I remember screaming up & jumping up and down when this finally happened.
Oscar's Choice: At long last, Roger Deakins finally got his long-deserved Oscar. As a HUGE fan of his work, I remember screaming up & jumping up and down when this finally happened.
My Choice: The OVP is not about giving out Oscars just because someone hasn't won (that's not part of the experiment), but for the record Deakins already has a couple of statues from me (like I said, I'm a fan). I'm honestly a coin toss between Blade Runner and Dunkirk, and while I started this article leaning to the former, I'm ending with a slight nod to the latter, using the fact that it better employs its glorious cinematography to story aid than Blade Runner does (it's a nail-biter between two true accomplishments). The Shape of Water, Darkest Hour, and Mudbound follow.
Those are my thoughts-how about yours? I am officially off of my longest streak of honoring Oscar's choices, so are you with me over in the Dunkirk camp, or do you stick with Roger & his robots? What do you think is the best way to handle such a visual experience like cinematography when it's confined to your laptop? And in a field that feels pretty settled, who is your sixth place prediction? Share your thoughts below!
Also in 2017: Costume Design, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup & Hairstyling, Previously in 2017
No comments:
Post a Comment