Cinematography of the Year

2000

(NB I couldn't find an appropriate picture from the winner which would do it justice, so I thought it best not to include one).

Thought I'd start a new thread with a new award - for the best cinematography of the year, starting back in the year 2000 and moving on. And what a year to start with! No easy award this.

First a word on cinemtography in general. I am of the view, and I think my colleague probably is as well, that great cinematography can really make a film. A case in point - last year's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Roger Deakins' memorable photography added an extra layer of beauty and brilliance to what was already an incredibly beautiful and brilliant film and the light and backdrops reflected the film's enclosing claustrophobia and taught mood. Not that good cinematography can make a rubbish film good (last year's appauling, but somehow critically lauded, Stellet Licht (Silent Light) is an excellent case in point) but the fact that it looks great, and that the light, shadow, filtration and backdrop reflect the film's mood and tone, can tip an already very good film over into greatness. For instance, it was partly (though not totally) Deakins' brilliance that - for me - meant that Jesse James won the battle of the J's over Jindabyne and Juno. How a picture looks is arguably as vital a part of its meaning, plot, pace and drive as anything else, including the performances and direction. Controversial perhaps, but, that, for me, is just how important the look of a film can be.

The year 2000 presents a hard choice indeed. Looking over my top 5 for the year, and the other films I've seen from 2000, I struggled to separate some stunning efforts. A good year for films and certainly a good year for cinematography. So who to single out? Peter Pau's oscar-winning, sometimes mindblowing, effort in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon? Edward Lachman for his dreamy, hazy, ethereal wonderland in the underrated Virgin Suicides? Yu Wang's clangy, industrial, mechanic backdrop to the excellent Chinese Noir, Suzhou River? Tim Orr's Americana, pastel-tinged, otherworld in David Gordon Green's beautiful indie debut, George Washington? And there are others - Cast Away looks great, my colleague would not forgive me, I think, for failing to mention Gladiator and I should also give a mention in despatches to Matthew Libatique's dark, distressed and claustrophobic world in Reqiuem for a Dream which perfectly matches the film's mood.

So, after some agonising, I have settled on Steven Soderberg who self-photographed Traffic. Traffic stands as a true testament to the 'auteur' vision (a director having total creative control over a picture) made famous and championed by the likes of Francis Ford Coppola and Terrence Malick in the 1970's. Sure, Soderberg has help - particularly from Steven Mirrione's snappy editing - but Traffic just has that majestic, everyday, look which adds a great tone and shade of reality to its epic, panoramic, scope. From the streets of LA to the Mexican deserts and streets of Tijuana, Traffic just looks great and, as I say, bridges that often impassible gap which means that the audience can sense, touch and breath the reality of the dusty streets and sun-bleached deserts. Stephen Gaghan, who wrote the screenplay, gave a similar lightness to Syriana, which will surely come into contention for similar reasons when I get to 2005. It's a real achievement to Soderberg that Traffic should be singled out in such a strong year. Kudos to him and to all those cinematographers who made 2000 such a vintage year for their incredibly difficult, but vital, artform.