Editor's note: Welcome to the fifth of a 33-part series dissecting the 83rd Academy Awards, brought to you by the Large Association of Movie Blogs and its assorted members. Every day leading up to the Oscars, a new post written by a different LAMB will be published, each covering a different category of the Oscars. To read any other posts regarding this event, please click the tag following the post. Thank you, and enjoy!
by James of
Cinema SightsBeing the fine connoisseur of film images that I am, I’m often willing to look past a lot of a film’s flaws if it looks pretty. Being the refined film snob that I am, I generally look down at the Academy Awards picks for best cinematography as they are almost always best picture winners and not actually some of the films that did more compelling, daring and exciting things with their images. This year, there was a mix of both drearily conventional and excitingly different picks for best cinematography.
Black Swan was certainly one of the most visually tantalizing films of the year. A combination of the grounded, low tech look of
The Wrestler and the hyperkinetic, aggressive images of
Requiem for a Dream, cinematographer Matthew Libatique bridged an interesting transition in style director Aronofsky has been progressing towards in his last few films. This is Libatique’s first nomination and he’s easily in the running for winning this as
Black Swan is a film greatly informed by its images.
Wally Pfister’s nomination for
Inception is not unexpected, but his work isn’t nearly as exciting at some of his previous films. Yes,
Inception looks amazing, but almost always when in conjunction with a huge action spectacle. When it’s not a big action set-piece, I felt that the camerawork was conventional, by the books, Hollywood style cinematography. Still, Inception is a film that frame by frame remains fascinating to look at without overindulging in the images and is easily one of the finest looking films of the year.
Chances are you haven’t even heard of Danny Cohen, British cinematographer responsible for the images in
The King’s Speech. Part of me wonders why a film that is almost purely based around story and performances would even get a nomination for Cinematography. However, a larger part of me has to admit that
The King’s Speech was far more interesting to look at than I expected it to be. Not the flashy, apparent work of most of these nominations, and the least likely to win, but still a solid looking picture.
I’m not conflicted about Jeff Cronenweth getting nominated for
The Social Network. It’s a film about performances and writing, and a lot outside of that simply doesn’t do much for me. Cronenweth used a bunch of orange and green filters (which seem all the rage, lately), but most of the film is shot in the typical 30 degree rule or shot reverse shot conversation style. Watch
Citizen Kane and you’ll see how a simple conversation can change in tone when it is shot from various camera angles and employs depth of field effects. Cronenweth does nothing interesting or noteworthy with the camera work and doesn’t deserve the nomination.
Roger Deakins is the man. He’s the most well-known and loved cinematographer among film buffs. He has 9 nominations and no wins. Heck, in 2007 he was nominated for two different films and still lost! I could see this being a gimmie after all the time’s he’s been snubbed. Well, that and
True Grit is one of the best looking films of the year. The atmosphere Deakins builds with his image perfectly complements the world-weary cynicism of the Coen Brothers’ western remake.
In terms of who will take the prize,
The King’s Speech is the dark horse and the chances of it winning are close to nil.
The Social Network has no business being on the list, but it could win based on pure popularity. Inception is a strong possibility as it has both the great images and the impressive visual spectacle.
Black Swan could also take it, but I’ve a feeling it’s a bit too surreal for Academy voters. If I had to predict a winner, I’d pick Deakins. Not only is his work that good, but it’s also his time to win.
