Watch the video:
Note: I’ve not seen every movie, but neither has anybody else who’s ever been alive. This is my list, what I’ve been inspired by, and is at best a starting place for you to explore this great art.
There are only two criteria for films to be on this list:
- From beginning to end, they must be a powerhouse of cinematography. It can’t be just one shot or scene, but the whole must inspire awe at every passing moment.
- You can’t have too much visual effects. This is why movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Metropolis or The Matrix can’t be on this list, but would still be high up on any list.
10. M
Cinematographer: Fritz Arno Wagner
The world of M is so painstakingly created and lit you could pass it off as a modern film. One of the signs of great cinematography is it shouldn’t be outdated.
If you think The Third Man is the height of film noir you missed the train by about 17 years. There have been films before M that have extreme light and shadow, what they call the “expressionistic” phase of cinema.
But none are as gorgeous, or as put together. You don’t feel any of it isn’t real. You could almost smell the streets, the feeling of being there is so powerful it adds to the detective story that inspired Hitchcock, and you can work all the way down to Fincher’s Seven if you want.
But M stands for ultimate.
9. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Cinematography: Charles Rosher and Karl Struss
This is the film most readers will have not heard of. Watch the visuals, shot in 1927. You’ll never forget it again.
Even in its simplest scenes the attention to detail is breathtaking. That huge and crappy camera was positioned exactly where it is on purpose. The lighting equipment was intolerable by today’s standards. The story of its making is legendary.
The only film that can come close to this in terms of world-building is Metropolis, also released in 1927. But it relied a lot on matte paintings, this one has real sets. Large sets made for essentially a love story.
8. El Topo
Cinematographer: Rafael Corkidi
This must have been a tough film to shoot, for so many reasons. It’s controversial, but is Jodorowsky’s masterpiece for the ages.
El Topo was shot mostly in exteriors, with not a lot of lighting. But it made for that with composition and camera technique that shows profound mastery of the medium. I’ve analyzed El Topo in another video:
7. Rashomon
Cinematographer: Kazuo Miyagawa
It’s the first film in which the camera was pointed at the sun. But to me that’s not important.
Miyagawa used large mirrors to bounce sunlight through the trees to get exposure and the claustrophobic feeling of dense foliage all around. The forest is a maze you can’t get out of completely.
Even the woodcutter gets drawn into this vortex, even though he’s a regular. Let’s also not forget the black rain that made it appear on camera. Kurosawa emptied oceans of water for this scene, but the rain stays on screen to this day.
6. Stalker
Cinematography: Aleksandr Knyazhinskiy, Georgi Rerberg and Leonid Kalashnikov
El Topo was shot in the desert and Rashomon was shot in the forest. Stalker was shot in an abandoned plant that might have killed its director.
You could literally use the phrase “every frame a painting” to Stalker. It’s just filled with gorgeous visuals, even when it’s showing rot and decay. Stalker shows what you can achieve with interesting locations. To others it’s dead, but to a genius it’s a universe of new ideas.
Stalker also used two toned coloring to separate the real world from the Zone. Interestingly, the Zone looks prettier and more serene than the real world.
5. Night of the Hunter
Cinematographer: Stanley Cortez
The Night of the Hunter has such breathtaking visuals you wonder how they did it, even today. To me it is the epitome of the expressionistic lighting style, also called film noir. The film is one great shadow play. Every time you think you’ve seen a shot that’s great, out comes another even more daring shot. And it goes on all the way to the end credits.
The Night of the Hunter has the finest use of silhouettes I’ve seen, which is not for the mere sake of adding visual variety. They actually form a visual signature, giving the film a frightening rhythm that keeps you on your toes. Will evil triumph?
Nope. Cinematography did. Spoiler alert!
4. Barry Lyndon
Cinematographer: John Alcott
For most people it’s all about the candles and the Zeiss f/0.95 lens. To me, the most arresting elements were actually the beauty of the day scenes.
How did they expose correctly? Why are the colors so beautiful? I don’t know. It just looks like one of the great paintings came to life to tell its own story. The challenges of lighting interior sets to make it look natural was by itself tough to do with the technology they had back then.
The world of Barry Lyndon is so rich with detail and texture. Every change in weather is felt, every interior space tells a story with light, and of course, you need to give out an Oscar just for executing Stanley Kubrick’s nerve wracking zoom shots.
What Barry Lyndon taught me is you don’t need fancy tricks and color grading. If you know how to light and nail the basics, the result will naturally be stunning.
3. Blade Runner
Cinematographer: Jordan Cronenweth
You might have noticed a trend with this list. Most of them have amazing production design. It’s no wonder that successful cinematographers rely a lot on the production designer or art director to accomplish their cinematic vision.
The set and designs of Blade Runner are so real because they’re close to real life. They really sweated the details, and you feel you’re walking in that world along with Deckard.
If you’re looking for a reason why film still holds relevance today, then Blade Runner is your best bet. The way film negative reacts to multi-colored lighting, the skin tones, the grains and highlight textures are all so unique to film you’ll never get this look with digital. With most movies you might not be able to tell the difference, but with Blade Runner you can. They pushed the lighting and cinematography to such extremes it shows film in its best light.
We’re still just at number three. What can beat Blade Runner and Barry Lyndon? Only two movies, according to me.
2. Seven Samurai
Cinematographer: Asakazu Nakai
I can’t believe they did this in 1954. I can’t believe they did this, period. The phrase “every frame a painting” comes from Seven Samurai and belongs to Seven Samurai. The Night of the Hunter is close, but was shot on studio.
Seven Samurai was shot on location, sometimes in the rain, sometimes with wind machines; with multiple cameras and lots of action and unpredictable horses.
And it looks like perfection.
The camera work, the movement, the compositions, the lighting, you don’t know where one aspect of cinematography starts and the other ends. If someone asks me what the perfect movie looks like, I ask them to watch Seven Samurai.
What can beat a perfect movie?
Only the father of the perfect movie can beat the perfect movie.
1. Citizen Kane
Cinematographer: Gregg Toland
Gregg Toland really took cinematography to heights people never knew it could go. He practically taught the world this through Citizen Kane.
By sheer count, the number of cinematography techniques perfected in Citizen Kane is only rivalled by the number of techniques displayed in The Birth of a Nation.
Not every frame is a painting in Citizen Kane. But every frame was almost impossible to pull off. It looks effortless, but it’s not. Whisper deep focus to most cinematographers ears and they will wet their pants. Then tell them they have to do that with long complicated takes and they’ll give you a million reasons why this can’t be done.
But it was done, with far modest equipment, through sheer will and craftsmanship. Not only is Citizen Kane the epitome of great cinematography, but it’s the finest example of a filmmaking masterclass if there ever was one.
I hope you found this useful. Let me know your favorite films in the comments below.
5 replies on “10 Great Films to Watch for Cinematography”
Great list. I would add ‘Jalsaghar’ shot by Subroto Mitra for Satyajit Ray. Gorgeous imagery.
Great list. Check out Visions of Light on YouTube, nearly all of these films get a mention. Need to see Il Conformista and Vittorio Storaro on this list as well as In Cold Blood shot by Conrad Hall.
Thank you!
Great list – Thanks there are a few I haven’t seen yet…!
You’re welcome!