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Movies for photographers


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My other half is away visiting family for a week, so I have the evenings to myself. Any suggestions on movies, from a photography viewpoint?

 

I'm not thinking of movies about photographers, on that topic, the internet is very helpful, but rather, movies that you have enjoyed or found relevant as photographers, on this, the internet is drawing a blank.

 

To get things started, I submit Dr Strangelove (or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb). You could probably pick anything by Kubrick, but I think this is a masterpiece of lighting, so simple and yet so effective.

 

So, suggestions?

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The Fugitive, John Ford.

The Searchers, John Ford.

Night of the Hunter, Charles Laughton

Written on the Wind, Douglas Sirk

M, Fritz Lang

The Danish Girl, Tom Hooper

In A Lonely Place, Nicholas Ray

Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock

Badlands, Terence Malick

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"You talkin' to me?"

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The 2018 film Cold War isn't about photography but its in black and white, is well shot, imagined, and directed- it is just... lush. Its cool soundtrack just adds to the film's allure.I actually heard about here first! FWIWCold War got an Oscar Nomination for best foreign film it didn't win- Alfonso Cuaron's Roma won- another excellent B&W film from 2018. I personally liked Cold War better, but hey- what do I know.
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The 2018 film Cold War isn't about photography but its in black and white, is well shot, imagined, and directed- it is just... lush. Its cool soundtrack just adds to the film's allure.I actually heard about here first! FWIWCold War got an Oscar Nomination for best foreign film it didn't win- Alfonso Cuaron's Roma won- another excellent B&W film from 2018. I personally liked Cold War better, but hey- what do I know.

Absolutely.

 

Also Roma which is bw and came out last year as well. It’s on Netflix.

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Totally agree with Phil S: one of the most cliche recommendations would be "Blade Runner", which everyone has seen a dozen times already. But most have not seen the under-appreciated 2017 sequel "Balde Runner 2049", which was much better than expected, esp the cinematography by Roger Deakins which easily matches Jordan Cronenweth's work in the first film. An early scene with Ryan Gosling on a rooftop with his hologram assistant was alone worth the price of admission, and the movie is chock-a-block with such beautiful shots .Some other random possibilities:

 

Color:

 

Don't Look Now (1973) - Venice never looked so beautiful or eerie

Pennies From heaven (1981) - super stylized Depression era

Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown (1988) - Almodovar's signature pop art visuals

Samourai Trilogy (1950's) - Hiroshi Inagaka's magnum opus, Japanese tonal palette

 

B&W:

 

Eraserhead (1977) - David Lynch bizarre, but incredible cinematography (restored finally)

Beauty And The Beast (1946) - Jean Cocteau

Last Year At Marienbad (1961) - utterly pretentious, but gorgeous to watch

Laura (1944) - the film noir poster child

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To me, things that allude to photography in movies include strong use of perspective, contrast made with light, framing that connects the foreground with the background, close-ups, abstract shots and things like that. Some of the Indian film-makers have great elements of photography in their movies (Ritwik Ghatak, Satyajit Ray, even commercial directors like Bimal Roy), but Western audience may not be familiar with them. Satyajit Ray’s movies can be seen on YouTube though.

 

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho has strong use of perspective and dramatic lighting, be it the intimate scene at the beginning, or the more dramatic scenes in the middle and end. Particular mentions are the shot of Anthony Perkins with the taxidermy on the background wall and the detective walking down the stairs when he is attcked.

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