Collider recently reported on a Reddit top ten list of films with the best cinematography, posted in r/movies. Being a girl who was raised on her father’s extensive classic film collection (on homemade VHS tapes), I was intrigued, if a little perplexed, by Redditors’ selections, particularly the omissions.
10. The Shining (1980): The cinematography in The Shining, handled by John Alcott, is one of the most striking elements of the movie. There’s a lot of symmetry and deliberate framing, evocative lighting, beautiful aerial shots, and a ton of camera movement. Alcott makes great use of the then newly-invented Steadicam, for example, in the eerie tracing shots of Danny (Danny Lloyd) pedaling his tricycle around the hotel.
9. Skyfall (2012): Skyfall might be the most visually pleasing of the Bond films. This is thanks to legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins. On top of being simply gorgeous, a lot of the cinematography in Skyfall was technically complex. The Underground train crash sequence, for instance, was notoriously challenging to shoot and required 11 cameras.
8. Panic Room (2002): Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart star in this David Fincher thriller as a mother and daughter who find themselves trapped in a state-of-the-art panic room within their new home. Conrad W. Hall and Darius Khondji deftly use camera angles and dynamic tracking shots to intensify the oppressive atmosphere within the confined space.
7. Days of Heaven (1978): This period drama, directed by Terrence Malick, centers on lovers Bill (Richard Gere) and Abby (Brooke Adams). The cinematography by Nestor Almendros and Haskell Wexler draws inspiration from silent films and the work of artists such as Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth. Days of Heaven won that year’s Academy for Best Cinematography and is now widely regarded as having some of the greatest cinematography of all time.
6. Barry Lyndon (1975): Barry Lyndon is Stanley Kubrick’s period drama about an ambitious social climber in 18th-century Europe. Alcott helmed the cinematography here as well, which almost exclusively relied upon natural light and candles. This was no small feat, requiring the use of three special super-fast 50mm lenses that had been created for NASA’s Apollo Moon mission.
5. Punch-Drunk Love (2002): Adam Sandler leads this romantic comedy-drama by Paul Thomas Anderson. Cinematographer Robert Elswit uses vibrant colors and dynamic camera movements to give the film a heightened sense of energy and surrealism. The cinematography also captures the protagonist’s isolation and vulnerability, especially with the close-ups.
4. Prisoners (2013): Denis Villeneuve directed this thriller starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. It revolves around the abduction of two young girls on Thanksgiving Day. It’s another one of Deakins’s cinematic gems. His photography is dark, atmospheric, and foreboding, turning ordinary suburban landscapes into something from a nightmare.
3. The Thing (1982): The imagery in The Thing is simultaneously beautiful and unsettling, from the mountains and snowy expanses to the gloomy confines of the research station. Director of Photography Dean Cundey uses muted colors and negative space to make even the uneventful shots look tense. “We wanted to create an unsettling mood even before anything bad happens,” Cundey has said.
2. Gosford Park (2001): Gosford Park is Robert Altman’s black comedy about a wealthy British family and their servants on a sprawling country estate. The film’s warm color palette, reminiscent of vintage photographs, adds a sense of nostalgia and authenticity. Cinematographer Andrew Dunn used two cameras for most scenes, which were constantly moving, meaning that the actors didn’t always know when the cameras were focused on them.
1. Drowning by Numbers (1988): Drowning by Numbers follows three interconnected stories of drowning, each involving a woman named Cissie, played by Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson, and Joely Richardson, respectively. It’s a very strange movie, but certainly a beautiful one. The film’s visual style is characterized by precise camera movements and carefully arranged tableaux. Cinematographer Sacha Vierny composes each frame like a work of art, with an emphasis on complementary colors and rich textures.
This list is kind of bananas! On the one hand, there are films on this list that I’m excited to go back and look at specifically for the camera work. At the same time, some of these picks seem out of place for a top ten. To have Roger Deakins on there twice, but neither one be 1917–where it was filmed to appear as one continuous shot? And similarly, John Alcott usually lands on these lists but for a different Stanley Kubrick collaboration, 2001: A Space Odyssey. By contrast, the American Society of Cinematographers released their own 100 Best list, and their top ten included Citizen Kane and Lawrence of Arabia, both deservedly so (note: their list was limited to 20th century films). I know this is generational, and frankly there are just so many movies that whittling them down to ten is a bit ridiculous.
I know I know but I have seen countless movies. I have been to cinemas all over. The new Indian Jones “Indian Jones and the dial of destiny” is in my top ten for cinematography. The movie is nothing but cinematography. The lights, the camera placement, the colors, and the framing. It was a movie with a lot of tricks. That’s rare now. It showed rain wonderfully. It was a great imax movie.
They indeed seem random movies.
I thought Fargo should be on the list.
Good call! I love that about Fargo. I also never get tired of the Shining. I’ve probably seen it a hundred times but you really do catch new things. I love book too but the imagery film is its own thing.
Days of Heaven is so beautiful. The camera work that captures scenes in either daylight or moonlight was mesmerizing. Malick is one of my all time faves! He can achieve “quiet beauty” from stillness like no one else.
Mrs Smith: Days of Heaven is a gorgeous film. I joke that I could watch it with the sound turned off and enjoy it just as much. Stunning use of the golden hour light.
I think What Dreams May Come should be on the list Camera work was amazing and beautiful.
I know it was a wild ride but I always loved the movie Brazil. Think it’s just visually stunning but that may just be me. lol