Authors — Daniel Eagan
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“We Needed to Steer the Film to a Place Where It Wasn’t a Biopic”: Cinematographer Turned Director Ellen Kuras on Her Kate Winslet-Starring Lee
For years filmmakers have tried to tell Lee Miller’s story. Famous first as a model for artists like Man Ray, then as a fashion photographer, Miller became a war correspondent during World War II. She captured some of the most iconic images of her time, from views of Hitler’s life to the horrors of concentration camps. For her feature debut as a director, Ellen Kuras was determined not to fall into standard biopic conventions. Starting from a book of Miller’s photographs, she collaborated with star and producer Kate Winslet and writers Marian Hume, Liz Hannah, and John Collee to find […]
by Daniel Eagan on Sep 28, 2024 -
“I Had to Light Seven Rooms in Two Hours”: Giovanni Ribisi on Moving from Acting to Cinematography with Strange Darling
Battered and bloody, a blond woman — “Lady,” played by Willa Fitzgerald — in prison garb races across a field. A rifle-toting “Demon” (Kyle Gallner) chases her into an Oregon forest. From there, the balance of power shifts several times in Strange Darling, a serial-killer thriller that aims for a fresh approach to the genre. Written and directed by JT Mollner, Strange Darling unfolds in six chapters. Shown out of order, each reveals new details about the story’s two opponents. After screening at Fantastic Fest and Camerimage, the movie opens theatrically August 23, 2024. Strange Darling’s cinematographer is unexpected: actor […]
by Daniel Eagan on Aug 22, 2024 -
Cutting Costs in Black and White: Phạm Ngọc Lân ơn Cu Li Never Cries
Unfolding in a Hanoi of twisting alleyways and cramped apartments, Cu Li Never Cries follows a half-dozen intertwined characters whose lives are in upheaval. Mrs. Nguyện (Minh Châu), a widow, has been gifted with a pet slow cu li, a tiny primate that may be more trouble than it’s worth. Her niece Vân (Hà Phương) helps run a day-care center on the verge of bankruptcy. Her fiancé Quang (Xuân An) has doubts about both their wedding and his future. The film’s glistening black-and-white imagery and soundtrack of patriotic anthems evoke a timeless world rarely seen in Western cinema. At the […]
by Daniel Eagan on Apr 8, 2024 -
“Why Make It Simple?” Pedro Costa on The Daughters of Fire
In 1951, a volcano erupted on Fogo, one of the Cape Verde islands. That incident is the starting point for The Daughters of Fire, an experimental short by the Portuguese director Pedro Costa. Costa splits the screen into panels portraying three women—Adelaide, Clotilde, and Irodina—singing over an arrangement of Biagio Marini’s “Passacaglia (Opus 22).” The film ends with footage from A Erupcao do vulcao da ilha do Fogo, a 1951 documentary by ethnologist Orlando Ribeiro. The films are part of Canción de Pedro Costa, a museum exhibition currently touring Europe. In museums the films are projected separately in three different […]
by Daniel Eagan on Dec 1, 2023 -
“Scorsese is Always Open to the Energy of the Moment”: DP Rodrigo Prieto on Killers of the Flower Moon
Adapted from David Grann’s best-selling book, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is based on real-life crimes against the Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma. In the film, Scorsese continues his collaboration with several key artists: actors Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, editor Thelma Schoonmaker and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC. This also marks the final film for Scorsese and musician Robbie Robertson, who died this past August. Prieto worked with Scorsese on three previous films: The Wolf of Wall Street, The Irishman, and Silence. He built a career in his native Mexico, earning international acclaim with Alejandro González […]
by Daniel Eagan on Nov 8, 2023 -
“At the End of the Movie You Have Nine Different Deliverables to Time”: Roger and James Deakins on Still Photography, LUTs and Previs
Cinematographer Roger Deakins—CBE, ASC, BSC and recently knighted—and his collaborator and wife, James Ellis Deakins, recently visited New York to talk about his book of still photographs. Byways, published by Damiani Books, is the first book from the two-time Oscar-winning cinematographer. It includes previously unpublished black-and-white photos spanning five decades, from 1971 to the present. North Devon farms, British seaside towns, the deserts outside Albuquerque: Deakins’s singular vision is apparent no matter what the subject. Deakins is known for his collaborations with directors like Denis Villeneuve, Sam Mendes and the Coen brothers. With his wife James he also hosts the […]
by Daniel Eagan on Jun 8, 2023 -
Twinning: Cinematographer Laura M. Gonçalves on Capturing the Double Realities of TV’s Dead Ringers
The Mantle twins may be extraordinary gynecologists, but their world is descending into chaos. Beverly, the “baby,” can’t persuade an opioid billionaire to fund her revolutionary “birthing center” in Manhattan. Elliot has fallen so far into substance abuse that she may be hallucinating murders. Dead Ringers, streaming now on Amazon, builds a six-episode miniseries filled with clammy dread on the bones of David Cronenberg’s 1988 movie. Created for television by Alice Birch, and starring Rachel Weisz as Beverly and Elliot Mantle, the story explores identity and psychosis with bloody intimacy. The series is also a marvel of technology. Playing two […]
by Daniel Eagan on May 15, 2023 -
“To Shoot on the 48th Floor is a DP’s Nightmare”: DP Charlotte Bruus Christensen on Sharper
Set in a shadowy world of scam artists and grifters, Sharper follows four characters through interlocking stories set in a modern-day noir version of New York City. From Park Avenue penthouses to abandoned warehouses, director Benjamin Caron builds a dangerous world filled with betrayals and double-crosses. Justice Smith plays Tom, manager of a used bookstore. A chance meeting with Sandra (Briana Middleton) leads to Max (Sebastian Stan), a self-professed con man. Max will encounter Madeline Phillips (Julianne Moore), a wealthy widow with designs on corporate titan Richard Hobbes (John Lithgow). Sharper is the feature debut for Caron, best known for his […]
by Daniel Eagan on Mar 29, 2023 -
32 Days with Willem Defoe on a Virtual Volume Set: Vasilis Katsoupis on Inside
A thief breaks into a Manhattan penthouse filled with priceless art. Trapped by a high-tech security system, unable to communicate with the outside world, he must figure out a way to survive. At the same time, he begins to question how much the art surrounding him is really worth. Working on his first feature, writer-director Vasilis Katsoupis set his appropriately-titled film Inside almost entirely within a single set. A few other characters appear on monitors, through windows and in flashbacks, but the movie is a showcase for Willem Dafoe, who plays the thief. Starring with him is a remarkable collection […]
by Daniel Eagan on Mar 16, 2023 -
Editor Walter Murch on the Golden Ratio, Recreating a ’70s-era Editing Room and The Conversation
Watching a documentary on film history, editor Walter Murch was struck by how different cinematographers tended to frame faces in close-ups similarly. “I noticed something peculiar,” he said. “No matter what the film was, the eyes of performers in close-up seemed to float along the same line from shot to shot.” Murch tested his theory by tying a string of knitting yarn across his television screen. Dividing measurements from above and below the line gave him 1.618, a number that represents phi, or the golden ratio. Further measurements of faces in close-ups—from the upper frame edges to hairlines, from chins […]
by Daniel Eagan on Jan 18, 2023
