Best Cinematography
An un-ranked list of films that have the best cinematography I have seen.
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- DirectorAlejandro G. IñárrituStarsLeonardo DiCaprioTom HardyWill PoulterA frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.Emmanuel Lubezki at arguably his best. Every single scene is a technical and artistic achievement.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenAlida ValliPulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.For it's time, this film noir shot by Robert Krasker is excellent. The climactic scene in the sewers is brilliant, and the final shot is perfect.
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsDustin HoffmanRobert RedfordJack Warden"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.There was not a single nomination for Gordon Willis' masterclass of cinematography that holds up to to this day. It is as restrained as it is impressive.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanThe aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.A trilogy as highly regarded as F.F. Coppola's cannot have any weak spots, and Willis' cinematography was literally decades ahead of its time.
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsJeff BridgesMatt DamonHailee SteinfeldA stubborn teenager enlists the help of a tough U.S. Marshal to track down her father's murderer.One of Deakins' westerns, every frame is worthy of being hung on a wall. Not a weak or boring shot in the film.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsBrad PittSean PennJessica ChastainThe story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.Lubezki reached new levels with TToL and under the image-oriented direction of Terrence Mallick. It refuses to conform to any established conventions of cinematography, and instead takes the audience on a beautiful journey with some of the best use of Steadicam ever at the time it was made.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.Geoffrey Unsworth, guided by the meticulous Stanley Kubrick, produce images and emotions through very particularly framing, symmetry, and colour choices.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsRalph FiennesF. Murray AbrahamMathieu AmalricA writer encounters the owner of an aging high-class hotel, who tells him of his early years serving as a lobby boy in the hotel's glorious years under an exceptional concierge.Robert Yeoman and Wes Anderson's collaboration may be accused by some for being repetitive, but the fact remains that the visual jokes are enhanced tenfold by Anderson's callback to early cinema like Buster Keaton films, as well as Yeoman's ability to produce strikingly beautiful images within the confines of the frame.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsElijah WoodViggo MortensenIan McKellenGandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.The LotR trilogy, filmed by the late Andrew Lesnie, put epic on a new scale. His ability to capture both the scope and the intimacy of Peter Jackson's vision makes him very deserving of a place in the history books.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsTom HardyKelly AdamsLuing AndrewsA young man who was sentenced to seven years in prison for robbing a post office ends up spending three decades in solitary confinement. During this time, his own personality is supplanted by his alter-ego, Charles Bronson.Stylish, stark, surreal, frightening, beautiful, and intimidating. Larry Smith put everything on the table for Nicolas Winding Refn's striking film.
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsJulianne MooreClive OwenChiwetel EjioforIn 2027, in a chaotic world in which women have somehow become infertile, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea.Nearly a decade before The Revenant, Lubezki was wowing audiences with impossible long takes and jaw-dropping scenes like the famous car sequence or the apartment building shootout in Alfonso Cuaron's "Children of Men".
- DirectorJustin KurzelStarsMichael FassbenderMarion CotillardJack MadiganMacbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.From first-time director Justin Kurzel and DP Adam Arkapaw, likely best known for his work on True Detective, comes this Shakespearean adaptation which boldly visualizes the themes that make the original text so memorable: violence, power, sexuality, and blood. Every decision made by these two is so bold that it could have gone horribly wrong, but it takes that sort of risk to create something truly brilliant. The battle scenes stand out the strongest, steeped in dark red colours, littered with extreme slow-motion and pure grittiness, all taking place in the gorgeous, unforgiving highlands of Scotland. This film is an achievement in every sense.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsHarrison FordRutger HauerSean YoungA blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.A brilliant use of the film noir style in a dystopian sci-fi, this movie looks perfect enough to fit in either the 1940s or the 2010s
- DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsHugh JackmanJake GyllenhaalViola DavisWhen Keller Dover's daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts.
- DirectorDavid LoweryStarsRooney MaraCasey AffleckBen FosterThe tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsChristian BaleHeath LedgerAaron EckhartWhen the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.While hailed for being a 'gritty, realistic' depiction of Batman, it is Wally Pfister's use of extremely stylistic lighting at the times that it is needed most that create the most iconic images in the film. A distinctly neo-noir look pervades the film, and allows for a brilliant blend of realism and comic book styling.
- DirectorAndrew DominikStarsBrad PittCasey AffleckSam ShepardRobert Ford, who has idolized Jesse James since childhood, tries hard to join the resurgent gang of the Missouri outlaw, but gradually becomes resentful of the bandit leader.
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsJoaquin PhoenixPhilip Seymour HoffmanAmy AdamsA Naval veteran arrives home from war unsettled and uncertain of his future - until he is tantalized by the Cause and its charismatic leader.
- DirectorCéline SciammaStarsNoémie MerlantAdèle HaenelLuàna BajramiOn an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.