OVP: Best Cinematography (2002)
The Nominees Were...
Dion Beebe, Chicago
Edward Lachman, Far from Heaven
Michael Ballhaus, Gangs of New York
Pawel Edelman, The Pianist
Conrad L. Hall, Road to Perdition
My Thoughts: We move on to my favorite tech categories (I know you're not supposed to play favorites, but it's reality) Best Cinematography. Unlike some of our other tech categories, while this is very focused on Best Picture contenders, it doesn't entirely go with that lineup, bringing us two new names. This was also the final nomination for legendary cinematographer Conrad L. Hall, who died before the ceremony and who was behind films as diverse as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and American Beauty. We'll start with his Road to Perdition, because if you're going to go out, go out on the top.
Road to Perdition is a gorgeously-shot movie, and one that isn't quite as remembered today as it was then, despite it having a rather buzzy cast. This was the start of the "Tom Hanks can't get another nomination" time frame that would stretch until 2019, and was also Paul Newman's last major role. The cinematography here is beautiful though. It takes place frequently under cloud or at night, so there's lots of great contrasts with the color scheme, and it looks gorgeous. It's rare that night cinematography looks this elegant without feeling like you aren't actually shooting at night, and Hall employs terrific use of medium shots throughout the film to highlight his movie star-laden cast.
Gangs of New York has been quite frequently borrowed from in the decades since, so I want to give it credit for the way that it uses this machismo oil painting vibe as a backdrop before I point out that I'm just not all that intrigued. This is a case of a movie where I don't hate it (I wouldn't say a bad word about the cinematography generally), but when it goes up for an Oscar I have to pick apart that a lot of the indoor scenes are uninspired, and really this is getting nominations for the expansive shots outdoors during some of the crowd marching sequences. It's not the worst of this lineup, but it's definitely a nomination that feels like it got in solely because they were nominating it everywhere else.
That's not the case for Far from Heaven, alongside Road to Perdition in the "I got here on my own" club (i.e. they aren't Best Picture nominees). This movie is ravishing, and kind of in its own world in terms of being devoted to its subject matter. Lachman clearly did his homework watching the Douglas Sirk movies that this is inspired by, over-saturating every corner of the film, both the hyper crisp golds & reds of autumn to the evening scenes, where everything is flush with indigo & moonlight. This is a movie that feels like it was made in part because of a cinematographer with a dream, and there's no shot of the movie that doesn't feel deliberate, but given the movie's motif, that stylized work really adds to the human drama onscreen.
The Pianist is the best of the three Best Picture nominees, largely because of the scope of Edelman's camera. The movie does a really fascinating compare-and-contrast when it comes to claustrophobia, frequently doing wide shots...to underline the closed-in nature of the ghettos & buildings. Think of the way it feels like a long shot as Adrien Brody scales up that tall building, eventually finding refuge in the rafters-that obviously has multiple editing points, but it still feels like it's continual. Edelman places that in multiple scenes, giving us more of our protagonist's perspective, as he tries to encounter this world for the first time along with the audience. It's cinematography as story-building.
Which brings us to Chicago. I know I'm in the minority here, but for a movie I generally like, I have never enjoyed Chicago's cinematography. Yes, the dance sequences (at least "All That Jazz" and "Cell Block Tango") are iconic (even though they're borrowing lock-stock-and-barrel from Cabaret), but the rest of the movie is so dull. The vaudeville-act way the musical numbers are filmed gets tired after a while, and there's nothing interesting in the way that the movie is filmed when they aren't taking us out of the picture to show Roxie's fantasies of a life onstage. Add in the fact that the movie is frequently too darkly-lit (this is something Dion Beebe regularly does), and you've got the big flop of this lineup.
Other Precursor Contenders: The American Society of Cinematographers picked Road to Perdition as their winner, beating out almost the entire Oscar lineup-the only new title was Frida (instead of Chicago). BAFTA went with a near carbon copy of the Oscar lineup as well, with The Two Towers going in for Far from Heaven (they also picked Road to Perdition). Frida and The Two Towers may feel like copouts to pick as the probable contenders for sixth place, but other than maybe The Hours there's no logical options here for the fifth nomination. I'm going to guess Frida because it over-performed the tech categories and had Miramax behind it.
Films I Would Have Nominated: The Academy was weird about The Two Towers, in my opinion the best of the Peter Jackson Middle Earth movies, skipping it repeatedly in categories the other two films dominated. Nowhere does that feel weirder than here, where the movie uses a variety of backdrops perfectly and has some genuinely iconic battle sequences in Helm's Deep.
Oscar's Choice: It feels weird to say in our "only movie stars matter" Oscars era but it was a genuinely big deal that Conrad L. Hall was winning a posthumous award in 2002, and it felt inevitable that he'd take it on sentimental reasons in addition to qualitative ones, in this case probably over Beebe & Edelman.
Oscar's Choice: It feels weird to say in our "only movie stars matter" Oscars era but it was a genuinely big deal that Conrad L. Hall was winning a posthumous award in 2002, and it felt inevitable that he'd take it on sentimental reasons in addition to qualitative ones, in this case probably over Beebe & Edelman.
My Choice: I like Hall & think this is a super classy Oscar win, but I will put him just behind Lachman, who I think does more to enhance his film's aesthetic. The Pianist, Gangs of New York, and Chicago follow behind.
Those are my thoughts-how about yours? Are you with me for Far from Heaven, or are you staying with Road to Perdition? Am I the only person who thinks Chicago's weakest element is its cinematography? And who was in sixth place-Frida, The Hours, or The Two Towers? Share your thoughts below!
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