finest painters and being treated to a therapeutic experience that is totally unmatchable. The Godfather, and Parts 2 & 3, directed by Francis Ford Coppola had Gordon Willis as their DP. Willis was one of America’s most talented craftsman. Savour his genius by how he used colour in these movies and how he worked with Woody Allen in monochrome. Allen & Willis were a team for eight films, from Allen’s first Annie Hall, and then on Interiors, Manhattan, Stardust Memories, A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy, Zelig, Broadway Danny Rose, and The Purple Rose of Cairo. John Toll worked with numerous directors and in almost as many genres, but the one he worked twice with was Cameron Crowe: Almost Famous and Vanilla Sky. It is interesting to note if last year’s Best winner – Linus Sandgren for La La Land and if bond with its director Damien Chazelle on his Man, now in pre-production, and starring Ryan Armstrong.
Cinematography Oscar it will form a future next film The First Gosling as Neil
Joel & Ethan Coen first employed the already legendary Roger Deakins on Barton Fink and have since utilised his expertise in a further eleven movies of various genres: The Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou? The Man Who Wasn’t There, Intolerable Cruelty, The Lady Killers, No Country For Old Men, A Serious Man, True Grit and Hail, Caesar! It is a partnership that is almost certain to continue.
What these examples show is how important to many directors a first -rate cinematographer is to them, for first and foremost a movie is a visual medium but what Carlo Di Palma brought to movies was more than just shooting images, he used colour like no other filmmaker – telling you about the character via the colours he chose – through the background he shot them against, for Carlo realized one very important factor and that was movies are about emotion, the way we feel about the images we are seeing and that is how he used his cinematic art to convey that. Look at the image of Monica Vitti from Red Desert, it speaks loudly about her character without her uttering any dialogue – that was Di Palma’s genius.
This brilliant documentary is a must-see for all students of film and genuine film aficionados. Thank you, Adriana, for gathering all these nostalgic nuggets to honour the memory of your husband. Please make sure that you stay in your seats until the end of the credits, you will see why. The film will be released on DVD on October 9th. Ciao Carlo.
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