gorgeous

B

Bruce Watson

Veteran
What films do you think are the most visually gorgeous? I need something for my Netflix queue that will both take my mind off things and inspire me at the same time. ;-) I'm talking about tone, line, color, light and shadow,... just a visual feast for the eyes.

It's been a couple of decades, but I still remember Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon as being just beautifully photographed. I just couldn't tell you anything else about it. Another example for me is Yimou Zhang's Raise the Red Lantern. Another favorite is Carol Reed's The Third Man. Just beautiful.

Please add to the list.
 
2046 (Wong Kar-wai, Korean flick) simply... blew... me... away. Framing, lighting, color.... massively inspiring. Jesus, I need to see it again. There are lots of amazing cinematographers out there, but the way the frames were composed in this showed an attention to visual space that was rare. Anyone interested in directing and cinematography should check it out.

I just saw Gaspar Noe's "Enter the Void"... strange but kinda cool. Lots & lots of nudity, you've been warned.
 
I thought Hanna was really interesting visually. Almost surreal.

The Criterion Collection Blu-ray restoration of Jacques Tati's Playtime is pure visual story telling as fine (modern) art. Worth buying IMO. Took him 3 years to shoot in 70mm. Not a single shallow DOF shot in the entire film.
 
Michael Carter said:
2046 (Wong Kar-wai, Korean flick) simply... blew... me... away. Framing, lighting, color.... massively inspiring. Jesus, I need to see it again.
Click to expand...
Wong Kar-Wai is from Hong Kong, not Korea. All of his films have a very distinct visual style. Also Millennieum Mambo by Hsiao-Hsien Hou, shot by Mark "Ping Bin" Lee ( who lensed In the Mood for Love after Chris Doyle Left ) is pretty great.
 
If you can get your hands on the old yet epic 1962 movie; Lawrence of Arabia. That one combines being visually epic and beautiful, where you can see parts of the story going on in every part of the frame. May have been related to the fact it is filmed with 65mm film.
 
two of my contemporary favorites,

No country for Old men, and There will be blood.

Deakins vs Elswitt......

battle for the ages...


ALSO: Birth. Just haunting to look at.
 
Touch of Evil: To me, I personally like this movie more than Kane. The cinematography by Russell Metty is one of the reasons. First you have the amazing opening shot in the beginning, which really sets the tone for the film. This is a Welles film, so there's a lot of wide-angle in it and it has some beautiful low-key lighting. Just look at this still:
http://filmsnoir.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/touchofevil2.jpg
Dark, moody and with some great backlight. I had the chance to see the restored version on the big screen. It was a dream, where the contrasts really were allowed to shine.

2001: A Space Odyssey: With Kubrick one can expect great visuals, but to me this is his strongest. Made in glorious 65mm the whole film is stunning. It's really one of those where I just say that one has to see for themselves instead of trying to explain it. And of course, kudos to Douglas Trumbull and the effects.

Apocalypse Now: I recently saw this in a 70mm print on the big screen. While it was somewhat faded, it was still mind-blowing. Storaro's cinematography is purely amazing, managing to go from the vast beaches of Kilgore's attack to extreme chiaroscuro at the ending with Brando. My personal favorite of the scenes cinematography-wise though is when they see the playboy show. It's full of lights, color and with depth. The whole sequence also has some beautiful streaking that would make JJ Abrahams

Bram Stoker's Dracula: Another Coppola, this time the DoP is Michael Ballhaus. This movie I first have to say deserves more love. I think it's great. It's campy, but it's intentional. And while people might look down on Keanu Reeves, the movie more than makes up for it with Gary Oldman, Tom Waits and especially Anthony Hopkins. Plus it's a nice tribute to Coppola's beginnings with Corman. But anyway, what makes the cinematography work here is the sets and the costumes, who are stunning. Ballhaus really lets these shine and the whole film really plays up the color red with most scenes doing everything to enhance that color (which by the way, looks stunning here). Combine that with some really cool, Evil Dead like camera work (at times) and this is a winner.

Halloween: And by that I mean the original (was there even a new version?) and the work of my all time favorite DP: Dean Cundey. This movie to me is my most personal choice, as it's the one that got me into cinematography in the first place. I always liked to tell stories visually, but after watching Halloween, I realized that what I wanted to be was not a Director, but a Director of Photography. It stands today as my favorite film cinematoraphy-wise! While it didn't cost much, Carpenter decided to spend most of the budget to shoot it anamorphically in Panavision to hide it. This really works, giving the whole film a very nice, big look. Combine that with fantastic low-key lighting and of course the steadicam shots. To me, the cinematography really makes this movie shine.
A stand out part is this here:
http://classic-horror.com/index.php?q=img_assist/popup/12759
Originally the doorway is unexposed, but they use a very small light with a dimmer to give light on Michael (to simulate our eyes getting used to the darkness). I can't find my favorite shot, that of a silhouetted Michael running down the stairs.
 
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