The 95th Academy Awards are coming up this week and we continue to look at some of the nominees. Among them is legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, who has earned his 16th Oscar nomination for his last collaboration with Sam Mendes on “Empire of Light”. The film received mixed critical reviews and only a modest amount of festival recognition. It should be interesting to dive into how the subtle cinematography of Roger Deakins reveals its powers to illuminate a rather average—as some reviewers call it—story. “Spark between the carbons makes the light. And nothing happens without light.” A quote from the film explains cinema projection principles, but it also reminds us that there is invariably much more beneath the surface. That’s true for “Empire of Light” as well. Yes, it’s a character-driven drama about the lonely, middle-aged, cinema manager Hilary (performed by Olivia Colman), but it also touches on mental health problems, sexual exploitation, gender equality, and even on racism in Great Britain in the early 80s. This is a story about ordinary people in turbulent real-life situations, and that’s where the intimate and subtle cinematography of Roger Deakins performs wonders. How so? Let’s look more closely. Classic approach to the cinematography on Empire of Light “Empire of Light” is nothing like the last work of Deakins and Mendes “1917” – an Award-winning World War I drama, which was made to look like a one-take movie. As the director explains in his interview with “American Cinematographer”, this time they deliberately decided...
Published By: CineD - Thursday, 9 March, 2023