At the risk of being bombarded by hate-mail, I am doing another movie list! This is a list of the ten greatest cinematographic masterpieces. While many of these cinematographers have created more than one brilliant film, I have only included one each. Be sure to name your own favorites in the comments.
10. American Beauty 1999, Conrad L. Hall Amazon
Lester and Carolyn Burnham are on the outside, a perfect husband and wife, in a perfect house, in a perfect neighborhood. But inside, Lester is slipping deeper and deeper into a hopeless depression. He finally snaps when he becomes infatuated with one of his daughters friends. Meanwhile, his daughter Jane is developing a happy friendship with a shy boy-next-door named Ricky who lives with a homophobic father.
9. Memoirs of a Geisha 2005, Dion Beebe Amazon
In 1929 an impoverished nine-year-old named Chiyo from a fishing village is sold to a geisha house in Kyoto’s Gion district and subjected to cruel treatment from the owners and the head geisha Hatsumomo. Her stunning beauty attracts the vindictive jealousy of Hatsumomo, until she is rescued by and taken under the wing of Hatsumomo’s bitter rival, Mameha. Under Mameha’s mentorship, Chiyo becomes the geisha named Sayuri, trained in all the artistic and social skills a geisha must master in order to survive in her society. As a renowned geisha she enters a society of wealth, privilege, and political intrigue. As World War II looms Japan and the geisha’s world are forever changed by the onslaught of history.
8. The Godfather 1972, Gordon Willis Amazon
Vito Corleone is the aging don (head) of the Corleone Mafia Family. His youngest son Michael has returned from WWII just in time to see the wedding of Connie Corleone (Michael’s sister) to Carlo Rizzi. All of Michael’s family is involved with the Mafia, but Michael just wants to live a normal life. Drug dealer Virgil Sollozzo is looking for Mafia Families to offer him protection in exchange for a profit of the drug money. He approaches Don Corleone about it, but, much against the advice of the Don’s lawyer Tom Hagen, the Don is morally against the use of drugs, and turns down the offer. This does not please Sollozzo, who has the Don shot down by some of his hit men. The Don barely survives, which leads his son Michael to begin a violent mob war against Sollozzo and tears the Corleone family apart.
7. Morte a Venezia 1971, Pasqualino De Santis Amazon
In this adaptation of the Thomas Mann novel, Death in Venice, avant-garde composer Gustave Aschenbach (loosely based on Gustav Mahler) travels to a Venetian seaside resort in search of repose after a period of artistic and personal stress. But he finds no peace there, for he soon develops a troubling attraction to an adolescent boy, Tadzio, on vacation with his family. The boy embodies an ideal of beauty that Aschenbach has long sought and he becomes infatuated. However, the onset of a deadly pestilence threatens them both physically and represents the corruption that compromises and threatens all ideals. The closing scene is, in my opinion, one of the greatest and most tragic caught on film.
6. Barry Lyndon 1975, John Alcott Amazon
Barry Lyndon, directed by Stanley Kubrick, recounts the exploits of an unscrupulous 18th century Irish adventurer (Barry Lyndon né Redmond Barry), particularly his rise and fall within English society. Ryan O’Neal stars as the title character. The Photographer, Alcott, used three f/0.70 lenses developed by Zeiss for NASA for use in the Apollo moon landings, which Kubrick discovered in his search for a lens that could film in low-light situations. The super-fast lens allowed him to shoot scenes lit with actual candlelight with an average lighting volume of only three candlepower. In fact, the film features the largest lens aperture in film history. Alcott won an oscar for his work on this film.
5. Ben-Hur 1959, Robert Surtees Amazon
When Prince Judah Ben-Hur hears that his childhood friend Messala has been named to command the Roman garrison of Jerusalem, he is thrilled. He soon finds however that his friend has changed and has become an arrogant conqueror, full of the grandeur of Rome. When Judah refuses to divulge the names of Jews who oppose Roman rule, Messala decides to make an example of him and sends him off as a galley slave. Through fate and good fortune, Judah survives the galleys and manages to return to Jerusalem in the hopes of finding his mother and sister, who were also imprisoned, and to seek revenge against his one-time friend.
4. Apocalypse Now 1979, Vittorio Storaro Amazon
Vietnam, 1969. Burnt out Special Forces officer Captain Willard is sent into the jungle with top-secret orders to find and kill renegade Colonel Kurtz who has set up his own army within the jungle. As Willard descends into the jungle, he is slowly over taken by the jungle’s mesmerizing powers and battles the insanity which surrounds him. His boat crew succumbs to drugs and is slowly killed off one by one. As Willard continues his journey he becomes more and more like the man he was sent to kill.
3. Wo Hu Cang Long 2000, Peter Pau Amazon
This film is also known as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Li is a great warrior, famous throughout QING China for his adventurus life. He decides to give his powerful, ancient sword as a gift to an old friend of his, but soon the sword is stolen by a mysterious master of the martial arts. Now, it’s up to Li to uncover the thief and return the sword to its rightful owner.
2. Schindler’s List 1993, Janusz Kaminski Amazon
“Schindler’s List” is the based-on-truth story of Nazi Czech business man Oskar Schindler, who uses Jewish labor to start a factory in occupied Poland. As World War II progresses, and the fate of the Jews becomes more and more clear, Schindler’s motivations switch from profit to human sympathy and he is able to save over 1100 Jews from death in the gas chambers.
1. Shichinin No Samurai 1954, Asakazu Nakai Amazon
A veteran samurai, who has fallen on hard times, answers a village’s request for protection from bandits. He gathers 6 other samurai to help him, and they teach the townspeople how to defend themselves, and they supply the samurai with three small meals a day. The film culminates in a giant battle when 40 bandits attack the village.
Notable Omissions: The Passion of Joan of Arc, 2001: A Space Odyssey
Technorati Tags: entertainment, movies
I suck at trying to pick out good cinematography. But a great list of movies nonetheless.
There’s something wrong with the still of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.. the guy has a super-imposed head instead of Chow Yuen Fatt. Just thought I’d let you know
requiem for a dream? Matthew Libatique? no?
Bill: I love Requiem for a Dream – it is one of my all time favorite films – I just don’t think it can be ranked in the top 10 for cinematography. I am thinking of doing a top 10 drug movies – it will certainly be ranking high there
thats it! you should rename the list to:
My! Top 10 Cinematographic Masterpieces!
raven: thanks – corrected.
Juggz: The interesting thing I found in doing the research for this article, was that most of the films that won awards in this category are films that I have always loved but never really knew why. That is probably a good start
No 2001?
C’mon man.
And no reference to the groundbreaking work of Christopher Doyle either?
For shame.
American Beauty and Apocalypse Now was a great films. I will need to see the rest on your list though.
JT: Yes – 2001 was brilliant – I agree. But as a photographer, Unsworth really only had the one hit. As for Doyle, rest assured he is respected here – I included Mou gaan dou on the top gangster movies.
Andre: Start with Death in Venice – it is astounding. True art in film form.
jfrater: I think it’s unfair to say that he only had one hit. Tess? Zardoz? Cabaret? And anyway, the list title is ‘cinematographic masterpieces’ not ‘cinematographers’.
JT: okay – I concede – I will put him on the notables list
nice list.
some other notables:
THE HUSTLER(eugen schufftan)
-one of my all time favorites. the shadowing, the long shots, the wide angle distance shots, the close ups of minnisota fats’ hands, paul newman’s swagger around the pool table… this film is beautiful.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST(tonino delli colli)
-in combination with the score(ennio morricone) and the dialogue(mickey knox), tonino delli colli’s cinematography, makes ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST legendary. from the sweat on henry fonda’s face to the stoic glare of charles bronson, this cinematographic masterpiece is the opus of facial close ups. colli also was the cinematographer for the THE GOOD THE BAD & THE UGLY AND SALO.
RAGING BULL & TAXI DRIVER(michael chapman)
-you can’t have a cinematographic masterpiece list without having at least one of these classics on it. forget the story telling, these films are pure forms of eye candy. artsy & grimy don’t usually go together, but chapman gives it to you raw and theatrical(view the lamotta/robinson fight sequences in RAGING BULL & the climax in TAXI DRIVER)… the shot of deniro(travis bickle) holding his hand like a gun to his head, is embedded in everyone’s memory after seeing this film.
a couple of contemporary classics that i would place above AMERICAN BEAUTY:
OLDBOY(jeong-hun jeong)
-uncut hallway fight sequence, the lens following a purple laser light to the purple solution box… this film had everybody in the theatre left with an open jaw.
SEVEN(darius khondji)
-the transition from gloomy & rainy to the daylight climax took the average fan at least two viewings to catch.
…i found your site through reddit.com(link to the 20 optical illusions). great *****ing site! i’m lovin’ the historical lists. excellent brain food.
it’s cool that you consider lists from anybody. i will attempt submitting some lists. thanks.
Can’t really disagree with any of the choices. I like American Beauty for other reasons than the way it was shot. Barry Lyndon is an endurance test, but it’s made easier because of the lushness. The Godfather’s orange hues have stood the test of time.
Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet probably deserves some mention here. The Last of the Mohicans was great too. Out of Africa, Psycho, The Last Emperor, Unforgiven, Oh Brother Where Art Thou?, and The Sting could all be on my list. (and about 100 others)
Also – I could never understand why Sin City didn’t win over anybody’s mind on technical matters, I think it was unlike just about anything out there.
Very much enjoyed this list. I will have to see many of those, as I am a huge fan of good cinematography. The ones you do have on the list that I have seen I would definately have to agree with though! I am especially excited to watch 5.
8 1/2 and Lawrence of Arabia?
good call on once upon a time in the west there, thats a good one
Barry Lyndon is the best Cinematographic Masterpiece… ever
I would like to mention Russian Ark because it was filmed in one single 90-minute long shot. It’s set in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, and includes, as the film’s marketing says “2,000 Actors. 300 Years of Russian History. 33 Rooms at the Hermitage Museum. 3 Live Orchestras. 1 Single Continuous Shot.”
It’s kind of weird to watch at first; I realized something was unusual about it but couldn’t figure out what (I am obviously not the most observant person). I think it’s worth watching the DVD just for the special feature on the production of it.
What an odd grouping.
In any case, I see the thought process here. Sort of Wagnerian…maybe not…I mean,,,..what the hell am I saying? a collective of impact, a grandure of a sensualized rush? ah..who knows.
Spread the spectrum out a bit….Ah… But perhaps our seeing faculties are as limited as our creations….No, There is something more….
Seven Samurai…fantastic movie.
I remember watching “One Hour Photo” and liking how it was portrayed, also “What Dreams May Come”.Just wanted to bring these movies up and see what you guys thought, I love the list you made though.
The Godfather was ’72, man.
And Hall’s cinematographic masterpiece is ‘Road to Perdition’.
Other than that, great work. Have you ever seen any of Bergman’s work with Sven Nykvist? Just stunning stuff, I urge you to check it out because his absence here is keenly felt. I also recommend Vilmos Zsigmond, whose outstanding work can be found in ‘McCabe & Mrs. Miller’ (which is a transcendent film for many other reasons besides).
YES! Akira Kurosawa was the man, I love Seven Samurai.
Wow – you guys certainly are film lovers! Thanks for all of the additions and corrections. The wrong date on Godfather was because I replaced another item and forgot to update the date – I will fix it now. I am going to have to try to see all of the films you have mentioned here because they all sound brilliant. Some of them were very close to making the list.
Mathilda: large parts of that film are on youtube – it looks stunning. Thank’s for bringing it to my attention.
I love this list and i wish you would make a list about movies every week at least
I love American Beauty and i was happy to find it there. Why didn’t you include Pulp Fiction or Natural Born Killers? These are great movies just like all Tarantino movies. All in all-awesome list!
I’m somehow missing the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Love it or hate it, every single one of them is definitely a masterpiece, even up to the extreme standard that was set in the novel.
–
J
Reea: I really enjoy doing the film lists so you can be sure there will be more!
Jeremy: The Lord of the Rings was excellent – but I think the films above rank higher
I’m sorry but I didn’t like Apocalypse Now at all, only the last half hour of it was interesting to me.
I read Memoirs of a Geisha but wasn’t sure if the movie would do the book justice. I’ll have to check it out though.
I glad to see Asakazu Nakai for Seven Samuri but omitting Lawrence of Arabia is hard to do. Actually, I think one of the best pieces of cinematography is The Natural – every shot is gorgeous.
“Pi” should be on this list
How about Polanski`s Fearless vampyre hunters, or S.Friers`s Draughtman`s contract. Also think P. Vier`s The picnic at Hanging rock or take a pick at A. Hitchock or Jerzy Mencl
Dave: really? I did enjoy Pi a lot but its photography never really stood out to me.
Gaga: Excellent additions – thanks. Polanski is a Brilliant director.
My mistake, Draughtsman`s contract is P.Greenaway`s.
If you are looking at Peter Greenaway and cinematographic masterpieces, then you must put in Prospero’s Books. Very heavy and difficult to watch, but so beautiful and shot on HD video instead of Film so that all of the effects were possible. I believe this is the first film ever to be shot entirely on HD video.
gaga: I like Greenaway a lot – I have a copy of Drowning by Numbers which is a brilliant little film and not without its share of stars!
Scoop: I have heard of, but not seen, Prospero’s Books – it looks like I had better get a copy.
Where do you leave names like Nestor Almendros, Jordan Cronenweth (Blade Runner), Alex Thomson (Excalibur), Conrad Hall, Vilmos Zsigmond……
All these people are exceptional masters!!!
Grabdebulla: Conrad Hall is on the Top 10 Best of the Best in Movies.
Consider also, as a true masterpiece, “Stalker” (1978) directed by Andrey Tarkovski – Russia
Dave: really? I did enjoy Pi a lot but its photography never really stood out to me
Of course, it was brilantly shot.
Iam kinnda biased twards it since its my favorite movie of all time so it should be on every top 10 list.
Top 10 Cinematographic Masterpieces and no Citizen Kane (Orson Welles)?
PLT: Welles is listed on the greatest in movies list, and Citizen Kane is on the Top 15 Amazing Long Takes
I’m surprised Amelie is not on this list. But still great movies, and great list once again.
It looks like you could easily amend this to a top 100 list!
My two cents: for pure cinematography I would recommend Koyaanisqatsi by Godfrey Reggio, and Ran by Kurosawa.
Richard: you strike at my heart strings with Koyaanisqatsi – for the music by Philip Glass whom I love!
That was so interesting about the lenses in Barry Lyndon. I’m exploring the effects of shallow DOF and fast lenses right now in photography. I’ll have to go take a look at that movie.
how come u didn’t add Lord of the Rings, Lawrence of Arabia, Fiddler on the Roof,Brokeback Mountain including many others.
Iknow cinematography is credited by viewer perception but if u had followed the rules of basic picture composition then u would notice that u have left out quite a few names that would easily rank high on the list. By the way Citizen Kane should have been on top of the list
Hero was superb in this respect. Lost in Translation was also beautiful. great list
nice list. also bladerunner, the mosquito coast come to mind…
eric n. I love bladerunner – it is on one of the other lists here – I think it might be the top sci fi movies.
I submit for your approval: Empire of the Sun (specifically when he encounters the plane for the first time as sparks are flying around him.)
You have missed out on Tarkovsky’s, Kurosawa’s Rashoman, Ray’s Pather Panchali and some other cinematic masterpieces.
and Motorcycle diaries, the road to perdition
American Beauty is an excellent film
Empire of the Sun. I’m a grown man and it brings tears every time I watch it.
Cec: it is a brilliant film – I agree.
Seven samurai is such a wicked movie on so many levels. The cinematography’s amazing I was surprised not to see it
lawrence of arabia?
i think you could make the argument that raging bull should be on here or even a wes anderson movie
two words: Sunset Boulevard
Personally, I’m rather upset that Requiem for a Dream isn’t on this list. That was one of the most powerful and touching movies i’ve ever witnessed.