Wry Cheer

criterionfilms:

The Michael Mann Retrospective: Miami Vice, Manhunter, The Keep, Thief
Originally posted by fuzzyghost
Taking a look back at the filmography of famed director Michael Mann, beginning with his 1981 debut Thief, his forgotten film The Keep, his hit series Miami Vice, and concluding with 1986′s Manhunter.

Wry Cheer turned 11 today!

Wry Cheer turned 10 today!

filmstruck:

Russell Boyd’s Contributions to the Work of Peter Weir by Thomas Davant
In their first meeting, Billy Kwan, the avid record-keeper and introspective cameraman strikes a deal with Guy Hamilton, a journalist freshly arrived from the continent and adjusting to the boiling politics, poverty and rage steaming from Jakarta. The Australian is looking for the hard-hitting story to deliver to the folks back home. The road to that goal, however, is paved with red tape and competition. Kwan has the means, though. If the newcomer allows the native to shoot the story, they would make the perfect team. He reiterates: “You for the words, me for the pictures. I can be your eyes.” This small moment from THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY (’82) seems to speak to the relationship between director Peter Weir and cinematographer Russell Boyd. Together they brought Australian cinema to the forefront. That continent resting vast and sturdy on the bottom of the map was a land of staggering beauty and inexplicable mystery, from the deep forests of the north, along the mountainous coasts to the red desert of its heart. There was a vibration humming over the land. Together Boyd and Weir tapped into the pulse.
Boyd’s early life was spent outdoors in Victoria. Nestled in the southern corner of the continent, the region is a wild mix of grasslands, lush forest and snow-capped mountains. Looking for a job in news, he tackled the big city beat of Melbourne. He began shooting footage but was quickly turned off filming the aftermath of tragedy. After a few years turning out documentaries in Sydney, he helmed his first feature as DP in 1975. The up and coming Peter Weir was captivated by the cinematographer’s use of natural light and realized it would be the perfect fit for his next film.
Their first collaboration was the glorious, haunting and wildly influential PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (’75). The opening shot—the titular land formation rising alien and ominous out of the fog—forever sealed the texture and mystery of Australia onto celluloid. What was to unfold in its running time was a painting come to life. It always strikes a chord of joy into my heart when filmmakers find inspiration in art. Boyd was particularly influenced by the Heidelberg School, a group of Australian impressionists working in the late 1800s whose work attempted to catch the essence and power of light on the vast stretches of their continent’s landscape.
With a palette awash in Martian reds, khaki browns and the occasional blue ribbon or pink bouquet, the cinematography services an intoxicating adaptation of Joan Lindsay’s novel. The disappearance sequence alone is worth a revisit: as the girls climb into the rock then point of view shots are interspersed with long shots of the land formation. The shots grow tighter as the girls wander through the sandy arteries between rocks. With the ancient hum of Gheorghe Zamfir’s pan flute and electronic vibrations, the blend of image and sound drifts into science fiction. The girls are lured in, lulled and swallowed whole. In a recent interview about Boyd for the ASC, Weir explained: “The movie required more than just beautiful photography. There needed to be a power behind the images. We needed to put a spell on the audience.”
The same effect was achieved in their second endeavor, the mysterious and mesmerizing crime drama THE LAST WAVE (’77). Shots of rain pelting the red sands of the desert on a sunny day as school children run in a shock of confusion and joy carries you back to those summer afternoons when nature contradicted Herself and your reaction was one of slight hysteria in the face of a natural phenomenon. Another sequence of water filling every inch of a car will send your heart racing. Boyd glides between the afternoon and darkness, once again relying on as much natural light as possible. The results are images with a weight and texture. The film unfolds in a twist of shadows and shades of an impending apocalypse. The British set up Australia as a penal colony, but before that, the land belonged to the Aborigines (Weir’s use of aboriginal actors in this film was unprecedented). Boyd’s photography seems to draw from some mysterious spirit lingering beneath the city and emanating from the land itself.
THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY brought Sigourney Weaver, Mel Gibson and the unrecognizable Linda Hunt before Boyd’s camera. Set in Indonesia on the cusp of political turmoil, the film plays like a shade of Graham Greene. Boyd’s photography is once again beautifully suited for the natural landscape: lush greens of the jungle, sweat beading on skin and the gradual accumulation of shadow create an atmosphere of danger, intrigue and sex. The sun filters through the bamboo in a green shimmer. There’s a way that beautiful cinematography takes you into the world of a film and makes you shiver with the echoes of sensation: you see the glass of beer dripping with condensation, you feel it in your hand and taste it upon your lips; you see the rain and feel the frustration of drenched clothes clinging to your skin before you give in and toss your hands out in acceptance. Maybe it’s the power of celluloid…
At the risk of appearing elitist, I make the statement that the average conversation about movies revolves around the following: who’s in it, what’s it about, who directed it? I would argue that the average film-goer knows the difference between a beautifully composed image and one that’s unexceptional. But for those of us who delve a little deeper into film-going, certain names carry a mystical, awe-inspiring weight. Storaro, Zsigmond, Nykvist, Almendros, Deakins…masters of light and glass, whose eyes and fingerprints elevate a film from mere moving image to the majestic heights of experience.
The American Society of Cinematographers honored Boyd with the International Award in February. Now is as good a time as ever to revisit the work of a master.