5. “Arrival” – Bradford Young
“If you don’t see yourself in the story, if the story is not a reflection of a world that you want to create, then it’s probably not a story worth telling” is a piece of advice dispensed by cinematographer Bradford Young to aspiring filmmakers, but it’s equally a manifesto that explains the peculiar intimacy and intelligence of his work on Denis Villeneuve‘s outstanding sci-fi epic “Arrival.” Young, who until 2014 was best known for his work on some of the most important recent landmarks in black independent cinema, including Dee Rees‘ “Pariah” and Ava DuVernay‘s “Middle of Nowhere,” had a 2014 that really raised his profile to another level when, after proving his lyrical eye on David Lowery‘s blustery, dreamy 2013 title “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” he worked on three period pictures in a row: Ed Zwick‘s 1970s-set “Pawn Sacrifice,” J.C. Chandor‘s 1980s-set “A Most Violent Year” and most importantly, reteamed with DuVernay on her stunning 1960s-set “Selma.” “Arrival” marks another interesting choice from Young, and his visual interpretation of the film’s different time periods (there’s the crisp, desaturated, stopped-down “now,” and a brighter, woozier, more impressionistic “then” often tiresomely accused of aping Malick) is key to the fluid storytelling. But most of it unfolds in the “now,” and it’s the rich yet mournful cast that Young’s sensitive camerawork brings to these sections that is especially remarkable: as unshowy and understated as Amy Adams‘ lovely central performance, it also feels, crucially, just as human.
4. “Embrace Of The Serpent” – David Gallego
“I have to say that I have never seen anyone work so hard. He was just unbeatable. We would all be destroyed by the middle of the day’s shoot, but he would be there whenever I’d ask him to do something difficult. He was like the enemy in ‘Terminator 2’.” That’s director Ciro Guerra dishing praise on the ‘relentless’ David Gallego while talking about his experience on shooting the Oscar-nominated “Embrace Of The Serpent.” The year’s best film in terms of raw mysticism, man’s connection with nature and terrible loss of a vanquished people, ‘Serpent’ is especially striking for Gallego’s sumptuous black-and-white 35mm photography. Shot on location in the Amazon, under extremely difficult and humid conditions, it’s pretty clear why the director of photography for this film had to have T-1000-like sensibilities. In the case of Gallego, though, whatever doesn’t kill you makes you shoot stronger, as the images he renders tell the soul-squelching story of Karamakate (Nilbio Torres and Antonio Bolivar) with breathtaking style, matching the greatest jungle movies in spiritual finesse and immersive atmosphere. Through his portrayal of majestic Colombian landscapes and gloriously textured forests, and through the purposeful framing of Torres and Bolivar, a buried, vanished past is unearthed through Gallego’s camera, and is destined to shine forever on film.
3. “American Honey” – Robbie Ryan
Cinematographer Robbie Ryan, who also shot Ken Loach’s Cannes winner “I, Daniel Blake” this year, as well as the under-the radar 16 mm masterpiece “I Am Not A Serial Killer,” was kept on his toes by director Andrea Arnold’s on-the-go approach to capturing the American dream as seen through the experiences of a young mag crew tearing around the Southern and Midwestern states. Like “Moonlight,” “American Honey,” which netted Arnold her second Jury Prize, was shot on the Arri Alexa, which allows for long, continuous takes, perfect for working with younger, less experienced actors, and is especially attuned to the run-and-gun style of a film that drifts, sprints, and whirls through the vast open spaces of Arnold’s vision of youthful Americana. There are some similarities between the cinematography of the two Cannes films, in that both take the audience on a visceral, physical journey with the protagonists. But “American Honey” has a kind of tumbling-in-the-grass immediacy, in which moments where Ryan’s camera backs up or hits the ground along with Star (Sasha Lane) and Jake (Shia LaBoeuf), are so intoxicating and energetic that it can be hard to remember this is a movie and not an eperience we’re living, too — that’s how immersive it is. You can feel the wind whipping through your hair, you’re made dizzy by the drunken spins, you can practically smell the freshly cut grass and the musty motel rooms of this little odyssey. It’s a uniquely outsider perspective on America, but it plunges fearlessly right into the belly of the beast.
2. “La La Land” – Linus Sandgren
Swedish-born cinematographer Linus Sandgren only has a few Hollywood credits to his name so far, but does seem to have already evolved a distinctive style. After Gus Van Sant‘s “Promised Land,” and David O. Russell‘s “American Hustle” followed by “Joy,” he’s been pursuing an increasingly stylized-yet-real-world aesthetic, and that trajectory reaches its apex in Damien Chazelle‘s modern-day but old-fashioned, modish-but-throwback musical. Of course, a lot of what makes “La La Land” so visually distinctive is down to mise-en-scène — from the primary-colored costumes to the never-never-land backdrops to the fizzy set design of the interiors — but amongst so many potentially busy, competing elements, Sandgren’s camera glides and swirls and steadies with an elegant simplicity of its own. It looks effortless, but that’s pretty deceptive considering the frame has to take in static two-shots, massive wides, glamor close-ups and riotous ensemble choreography, often all within the very same sequence (just watch the party scene again to see how casually he deploys nearly all of these techniques across a single scene). But Sandgren seems to have an uncanny intuition for when we, with his camera as our eyes, would rather be standing back to take in an intricate set piece with a hundred moving parts, or gazing calmy into Emma Stone‘s liquid eyes, or, when we just can’t help ourselves, interpolating in and out and around the central couple, so it feels like we’re waltzing swoonily right along with them.
1. “Moonlight” – James Laxton
Though cinematographer James Laxton has 40 DP credits on his IMDb page, “Moonlight” will undoubtedly be his breakout project, made with a buddy from film school at Florida State, director Barry Jenkins. Shot on the Arri Alexa in anamorphic format, the story of “Moonlight” is inextricably intertwined with the style of cinematography, achieving that synthesis to create pure cinema. Starting from the very genesis of the film, which is adapted from Tarell McCraney’s play “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue,” Jenkins and Laxton often brought a literal approach to that in title, utilizing the blues of the Miami sky, ocean, night sky to evoke McCraney’s work. Both Jenkins and McCraney grew up in Liberty City, Miami, and “Moonlight” captures the tropical beauty of the place, contrasted against the painful and dark moments of the story. It’s a gritty, tough world for Chiron to experience, but an undeniably gorgeous one too. Take note of Chiron’s mother (Naomie Harris), screaming in a hallway, bathed in a fuschia light. The camera picks out small specific moments to focus on, and immersed the viewer into an almost dreamlike state with snatches of memory steeped in sensual experiences both beautiful and traumatic, floating in the ocean, fistfuls of cold sand at night, a song, a puff of smoke, a punch. “Moonlight”’s effectiveness in storytelling comes from the way the camera guides us into this specific experience on a molecular level, letting the saltwater — sweat and tears and the sea — of Chiron’s life wash over us.
As ever, there are plenty of beauteous and cleverly shot films released in 2016 that were seriously considered and debated for this category. Missing the list by a whisker were Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s deeply atmospheric coming-of-age fable “Evolution,” shot by Manuel Dacosse, and Anna Biller’s “The Love Witch,” shot by M. David Mullen with a flair-y throwback to Technicolor. DPs Yorick Le Saux and Kyung-pyo Hong impressed us heavily with “A Bigger Splash” and “The Wailing,” respectively, and the venerable Roger Deakins showed us that even when he’s not at his very best, he’s still a master, with the Coen Brothers’ delirious “Hail, Caesar!”
Laurie Rose’s eye-catching work on “High-Rise,” as well as Larkin Seiple’s on the wacky great-looking “Swiss Army Man,” were also pondered extensively. Sergio Armstrong’s cinematography is nothing to sneeze at, as seen in two of Pablo Larraín’s other films released in the US this year, “Neruda” and “The Club;” and Paul Atkins’ work on Terrence Malick’s cosmic-doc “Voyage Of Time” elicited more than a few gasps of awe.
Other films we would strongly advise you to check out for their visual prettiness alone — and add more to the argument that 2016 has been full of beauty (at least on the big screens) — are: “Café Society” (shot by legendary Vittorio Storaro), “Live By Night” (Robert Richardson), “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” (John Toll), “Nocturnal Animals” (Seamus McGarvey), “The Birth of a Nation” (Elliot Davis), “Too Late” (Bill Fernandez), “Kate Plays Christine” (Sean Price Williams) and “A Monster Calls” (Oscar Faura). Finally, try not to sleep on the little-seen arthouse flick starring Juliette Binoche, “The Wait.” Shot by Francesco Di Giacomo on location in beautiful Sicily, the stunning landscapes make up for what the story lacks in character and depth.
Tell us what irks you, dear readers, or if you just want to shower us with praise on our choices for 2016’s greatest examples of cinematography — we’d be okay with that, too. And be sure to freshen up on our entire 2016 coverage before you get too wasted on eggnog.
— With Katie Walsh and Rodrigo Perez