Favourite Movie Films

[cliveh]

I was listening to a programme on Radio 4 tonight about best films ever made. I’m sure most photographers have a favourite film or director, but for me it would be “Stalker” by Andrei Tarkovsky and many of his other films for his sense of beautiful composition and poetic timing of frame rate. For any other fans of Tarkovsky, I would recommend they read his book, “Sculpting in Time”. What would other photographers’ site as their favourite film and why?

 

[Kino]

For Color cinematography, "Days of Heaven" (1978) Directed by Terrence Malick and with stunning camera work by Nestor Alemendros and Haskell Wexler.

For B&W, there are simply too many to chose from...

 

[Rick A]

I would have to say, for color, it would be "The Searchers". Then for black and white, it would be "The Third Man". Both for cinematography and the mastery of the medium. Then, if I had to choose between the two, the nod would go to "The Third Man". I also am smitten with the cinematography of some of the modern "Kung Fu" films.

 

[Saganich]

The Third Man

 

[Trail Images]

What I've noticed at times is the visual impact FILM movies have over the antenna airwaves compared to any later stuff. The clarity of the color is rich compared to later stuff under the same type of broadcasting.
Too many movies over the years to pick my favorite but I'll list Shane among those. A few of the John Wayne ones including the Searchers for color would surely make the list.
B&W.....Lifeboat - The Incident - The Ox-Bow Incident

 

[Tel]

Chris Doyle's work with Wong Kar Wai in pre-handover Hong Kong. He favored Fuji films for their saturation and used it well, especially in "Fallen Angels".

 

[Loren Sattler]

Too many for me to choose from but a couple of recent watches would be "Out of Africa" for color and "The Maltese Falcon" for B&W. Both beautifully filmed.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

For color, love the photography of Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas.

For black and white, way too many classics to name them all, but—I mentioned this in another thread—a special place for the movies made by the French director of photography Raoul Coutard for the cinematographers of the Nouvelle Vague, Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut. Some, like Alphaville, were shot on photography film, more specifically, on Ilford HPS, which was Ilford's fast, ASA 800 film. Photography is stunning.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

cliveh, I'm happy you mentioned Tarkovsky. Can't think of a more inspiring cinematographer for photographers. Saw Stalker a long time ago, and I think I was too you to fully grasp it. The Sacrifice, though, has long been on my top 5 "desert island" movies.

 

[AnselMortensen]

"The Third Man"

2nd choice: "Casablanca"