Search The Archive
The premise of this wonderfully engaging documentary is simple: sit some of the world's best cinematographers in front of the camera for a change, have them talk about their work on some of the enduring classics of cinema, excerpt over 125 clips to illustrate what they are talking about and ask them to cite their influences. What results is completely hypnotic, especially for anyone who knows anything about the movies.
Nestor Almendros, Lazslo Kovacs, Haskell Wexler, Sven Nykvist, Vittorio Storaro, to name just a few, talk about their craft and the work they admire — from Billy Bitzer's Birth of a Nation, to Murnau, to Gregg Toland's Citizen Kane, through to The Godfather Part III, shot by Gordon Willis (called the 'Prince of Darkness' by Conrad Hall). The clips employed create an instant appetite to go out and reacquaint oneself with the joys of The Conformist, Days of Heaven, Chinatown, Easy Rider and a host of others.
The filmmakers are also determined to give equal time to the early days of cinema. We hear how back then the technology was in the hands of the practitioners; they ground lenses to suit the project, inventing what they needed to translate the mind's eye to the screen; they designed and built cameras to suit the creative demands of their directors; and they worked in unison with the likes of Garbo and Harlow and Dietrich. All these reminiscences and revelations take place amidst the spinning of marvellous translucent images of the greatest stars of the silver screen, those eternal, glowing icons.
From beautiful closeups, to sweeping and exhilarating crane shots, this documentary will leave you wishing it was twice as long!