Vic Sarin's film takes quite a different approach to the rather dry 'Cinematographer Style' or the more historical 'Visions of Light', which is also an excellent film. He concentrates on the lives and careers of a few of the greatest cinematographers of our time, rather than trying to provide an overview of the subject as a whole. For me, this really works. We get to know a little about their backgrounds as well as their views on filmmaking. There's some analysis of their most influential work, which is interesting but much of it will be familiar to anyone who's interested in film. However, there's some great anecdotes that were new to me, and some great clips. It's an attractive film. Nicely put together. Well paced, a good length. I can't really think of anything bad to say about it, except that it's rather male and rather white. But that reflects the history of the industry and is not really the filmmakers fault. Hopefully when someone revisits this subject in a few decades that will have changed.
2 Reviews
A bit too self-celebratory; not as good as "Visions of Light"
210west29 May 2023
For anyone who loves movies, documentaries like this are irresistible. You get to see brief clips of favorite movies (or movies you've always wondered about), glimpses of their creators, and, if you're very lucky, behind-the-scenes footage that gives you a sense of how some stunts that bowled you over were done.
The problem with this tribute to some legendary cinematographers, while it provides all the above pleasures, is that it's somewhat too hagiographic, and its interview subjects were perhaps encouraged to be -- or at least allowed to be -- too pompous, at times, about their respective aesthetic philosophies and artistic aims. I wish it had focused more on their movies and less on them.
That's why, if you enjoyed this (as I did), I hope you can see what I think is an even better, less pretentious documentary on the same subject, "Visions of Light."
The problem with this tribute to some legendary cinematographers, while it provides all the above pleasures, is that it's somewhat too hagiographic, and its interview subjects were perhaps encouraged to be -- or at least allowed to be -- too pompous, at times, about their respective aesthetic philosophies and artistic aims. I wish it had focused more on their movies and less on them.
That's why, if you enjoyed this (as I did), I hope you can see what I think is an even better, less pretentious documentary on the same subject, "Visions of Light."
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