Friday, February 5, 2016

Top 10 Edward Lachman Films

Famed cinematographer Edward Lachman has been injecting films with his audacious color palettes for decades. He’s one of the most skilled DPs of capturing mood through color. His use of color, along with his penchant for classical compositions, makes his films a marvel to behold. Lachman recently garnered his second Oscar nomination for his breathtaking work on Carol. Here’s a look back at a DP whose work I never tire of looking at.

10. La Soufrière (1977)

In 1977, upon hearing that the island of Guadeloupe had been evacuated due to an impending volcano eruption, German director Werner Herzog did what Werner Herzog does: he went to the island to capture the calm before the storm. Herzog heard that there were a few settlers on the island who refused to leave, and Herzog became obsessed with finding them and telling their stories. Only two people traveled with Herzog to the island, Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein and Edward Lachman, two skilled DPs too young (or brazen, or stupid) to know how much danger they were in. La Soufrière doesn’t feature the immaculate compositions or skilled lighting of Lachman’s later work, but La Soufrière has a still beauty that is undeniable. Plus, any person crazy enough to go to the one place that everyone else has actively left deserves specific praise.

9. Erin Brockovich (2000)

Erin Brockovich was the last Steven Soderbergh film/TV project that Soderbergh did not shoot himself. And if you’re going to assume the role of DP, who better to lead off with than Edward Lachman? Lachman’s palette in Erin Brockovich is reminiscent of Lachman’s own work, but also signals the influence it would have on Soderbergh. The golden, overexposed day scenes are amusingly similar to the corn-soaked color of The Informant!, while Brockovich’s deep and dangerous blues are all over Soderbergh’s work, from Traffic to Magic Mike.

8. Light Sleeper (1992)

In Paul Schrader’s Light Sleeper, we get an early sense of Lachman’s moody blues and lavish greens. I love the way Lachman bathes a room in neon green as a way of inserting feeling into a scene.

7. Life During Wartime (2009)

Todd Solondz’s Life During Wartime contains a highly saturated palette that changes depending on which character is on screen. The film also tends to hold its tortured characters in silhouette, or hide them in shadow, as a way of displacing them from the damaged world they live in. That’s expert cinematography. Composition as mood.

6. Mildred Pierce (2011)

Edward Lachman does his best work with director Todd Haynes. There’s simply no denying it. It’s also no coincidence that the best work they’ve done together are for stories that take place in the past. And part of the reason is because Lachman knows how to seamlessly create the look of a period. Mildred Pierce is the post-Depression ‘30s. The HBO miniseries ran a somewhat laborious five hours, but this beauty was never hard to look at.

5. The Virgin Suicides (1999)

It just feels like a dream, doesn’t it? And that, perhaps, is the best thing I can think to say.

4. The Limey (1999)

There are no rules in The Limey. This is most prevalent in the way the film was cut, with scenes looping around once, twice, three times, lines are repeated, frames are seen multiple times, and so on. The movie plays like an anger-laced fever dream of revenge. But the abandonment of rules applies to the cinematography as well. The film can be curiously far away in one scene, and intensely close the next. It can be deliberately overexposed in flashback, but classically composed in the present. Watching The Limey is like unraveling a puzzle of madness, and I love that Lachman was along for the ride.

3. I’m Not There (2007)

Todd Haynes’ Bob Dylan biopic, I’m Not There, portrays Dylan in a variety of personas, based on how Dylan behaved at that point in his life. The film is an obscure, folk/disco injection of pop culture. But it’s also one of the most confident films I’ve seen in years. I’ll credit much of the film’s poise to Lachman’s style. Each segment in the film has an entirely different visual aesthetic, which makes I’m Not There feel like six different movies that are uniquely one in the same.

2. Carol (2015)

I could see this year’s Oscar for Best Cinematography going to any of the five nominees. The current frontrunner is Emmanuel Lubezki for The Revenant, but because Lubezki has won the past two Oscars for Cinematography, maybe the Academy will spread the wealth. Next up would probably be Roger Deakins, who delivered near career-best work with Sicario (it’s also his thirteenth nomination, with zero wins). But then there’s Edward Lachman’s quiet, still, absolutely flawless work for Carol. Shot on gritty and gorgeous 16mm, Carol, like Lachman and Todd Haynes’ other work, immediately places you in its period setting. Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett were born for Lachman’s colorful compositions.

1. Far from Heaven (2002)

I love the look of every Edward Lachman film I’ve seen, but this choice was a no brainer. I say this a lot in these cinematography posts, but you could literally pick damn near any frame from Far from Heaven, and it would be perfect. It was Todd Haynes’ intention to recreate the melodramatic, Technicolor look of Douglas Sirk’s work, and the result is one of the finest looking homages I’ve ever seen. Lachman’s use of color in Far from Heaven is astounding. It’s sexy and dangerous, evocative and beautiful. This is a film I never tire of putting on, because it is simply such a marvel to look at.

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20 comments:

  1. After watching Far From Heaven, I was stunned when I found out Lachman didn't win Best Cinematography. Yikes. He is an absolute genius, though.

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    1. It's a tough call there. Conrad L. Hall's work in Road to Perdition is incredible (and he had just passed away). So, at the time, given all that, I probably would've voted for Hall too. But I do think Far from Heaven is the better looking film.

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  2. This dude is so good, and I didn't even know his name until I saw Carol. Having said that, this list features so many great films. I had no clue he did The Virgin Suicides, but I love the "dreaminess" of his work there. Such a great movie. I love his work in Far From Heaven, and I like that as a top pick here. Good work, man!

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    1. Thanks Kevin! I forgot he shot The Virgin Suicides as well. Such a dream, that film. Glad you're a fan of his work!

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  3. The Virgin Suicides, that is high-quality photography. Love Edward Lachman's work as I still haven't seen Carol which I hope to see later in the year. He is a master photographer as I think he also shot Less Than Zero which definitely looked great because of him.

    I do need to see that Herzog film. There's so many of his work from the 70s and the 80s that I want to see.

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    1. His work was definitely one of the best aspects of Less Than Zero. He gave it the bleakness and darkness that the screenplay needed.

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  4. I just went through his Imdb and noticed that i actually haven't seen all that many of the films he has worked on. I have seen S1m0ne though and while the movie itself was pretty bad, i do remember thinking the cinematography looked great. I really should check out some more of his work. I want to watch Carol before the Oscars at least.

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    1. That's what's so cool about his work - even if the film is a dud, if Lachman shot it, it's always going to look great.

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  5. Ed Lachman, what a master. My favourites would have to be his films with Todd Haynes, cinematography doesn't get any better. Every single frame is perfect.

    I would never have thought that the DP responsible for the dreaminess of The Virgin Suicides was also behind the exquisite palette of Far From Heaven. I truly hope he wins for his dazzling work for Carol.

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    1. I know right?! He's so versatile, all while maintaining a singular vision. I wouldn't complain at all if he won for Carol.

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  6. I really need to watch I'm Not There. I have the DVD and still haven't gotten to it.

    Virgin Suicides, Mildred Pierce, and Carol were all shot so beautifully.

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    1. I'm Not There is a tough film to love, but it's so damn unique. Be curious to hear what you think!

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  7. His work on Far From Heaven is some of the best I've ever seen...ever. Stunning, absolutely stunning work.

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  8. Brilliant list! My top 5 would be the same, though I might flip The Limey and The Virgin Suicides. I really need to revisit Far From Heaven. I've already seen Carol more times than it! :/

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    1. Thanks! So happy you're a fan. I loved rewatching Far From Heaven recently. So, so good.

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  9. I remembered how much I loved Far From Heaven's photography, but I didn't know about the DP. What a brilliant surprise to find out he's responsible for the work on another of my favorite good-looking films, The Virgin Suicides. I loved the work of Lance Acord, probably my favorite DP with Lubezki, with Coppola on Lost in Translation, but I never looked onto who did the work on her debut. I also loved Lachman's use of black and white and the shades of blue on I'm not there, specially on the Heath Ledger-Charlotte Gainsbourg part. And I didn't know about it, but Soderbergh does the cinematography work by himself now? Then it's really impressive,'cause I'm in love with several stunning shots from Side Effects and The Knick. I always learn something from your posts, Alex.

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    1. That makes me so happy! I love that you're such a DP buff :)

      And if you're interested, here's a similar post on did for Soderbergh's work as a DP:
      http://www.andsoitbeginsfilms.com/2014/09/top-10-peter-andrews-films.html

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  10. The Limey is quite the mind trip in several technical departments. The snippets from "Poor Cow" spliced in during flashbacks was very creative, in my opinion.

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    1. Very, very creative. I don't know if I've ever seen that before.

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