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The Reader (2008)

Tom Lowe

Tom Lowe

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I finally sat down and watched The Reader in HD. Oh, man, the photography is truly stunning. I especially loved the scenes in 1950s Germany. But the juxtaposition against other "eras" of the film, including the almost overlit and "clinical" environments of the man's adult life 1990s Germany, worked extremely well to convey story.

How on earth did Slumdog beat this film for Best Cinematography Oscar??? Another robbery from poor Deakins. I think after the presentation was made at the Oscars, Deakins should have dialed 911 and reported a "robbery in progress." He can file yet another complaint alongside some recent ones from Lubezki. I think that file drawer is becoming filled to capacity with recent robberies in this category.
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There were actually 2 dop's. Roger Deakins and Chris Menges (who shot "The Killing Fields" and "The Mission" amongst others. "The Reader" was shot in blocks over a long period of time, so it was difficult for one in demand dop to do the whole thing.

Hallulejuah Tom. Who are the people that VOTE for this particular category? DO they have eyes? Don't they work in a visual business? Shouldnt cinematographers vote for cinematography? End rant.
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In terms of voting for awards, in the UK for the BAFTA's, as a member, I vote in all 3 rounds. Once it gets to the last round, you have a vote in your own specialisation category. Same for editors in the editing category, production designers in the production design category........

Then from that short list there is a discussion panel who decide who the winner is. Never been asked to be a member of that panel, but gather it is made up of experts in that specialisation, directors, producers and heads of bafta.

Would imagine it would be a similar process for the oscars.
 
Tom said:
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I finally sat down and watched The Reader in HD. Oh, man, the photography is truly stunning. I especially loved the scenes in 1950s Germany. But the juxtaposition against other "eras" of the film, including the almost overlit and "clinical" environments of the man's adult life 1990s Germany, worked extremely well to convey story.

How on earth did Slumdog beat this film for Best Cinematography Oscar??? Another robbery from poor Deakins. I think after the presentation was made at the Oscars, Deakins should have dialed 911 and reported a "robbery in progress." He can file yet another complaint alongside some recent ones from Lubezki. I think that file drawer is becoming filled to capacity with recent robberies in this category.
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I think that scenes shot with "naked" Kate Winslet could be shot by Chris Menges (won Oscars for cinematography with The Killing Fields, The Mission) and that Roger Deakins shot the rest of the scenes.

LINK>>>
 
I was pretty surprised that Reader didn't get the Cinematography Oscar. I thought the apartment scenes were stunning and had attributed them to Deakins. I was not aware that it was shot by other than Deakins. Thanks for that. I thought Doubt was excellent. I was especially impressed with his ability to make the play visually compelling. I am working on shooting a play and learned a lot from that.
 
I was aware that Deakins shared credit, but I have no idea who shot what. Now that I've seen the film, I can dig through my old American Cinematographers and find the article.

The same thing happened with Lee Ping Bin and Chris Doyle on In the Mood for Love, one of the greatest cinematography masterpieces of all time.

BTW, with Oscars, the 5 films in Cinematography are voted on and selected by cinematographers, but the final vote is taken among the "full academy" -- mostly people who know very little about the art -- which is why, I believe, that the results are often so frustrating.
 
Not to take away any merits from either Roger Deakins or Chris Menges but I thought Slumdog was incredibly well shot. Beautiful pictures isn't and shouldn't be the only reason a film should deserve the credit for best cinematography. If it was, films like slumdog which are shot in less than ideal environments, would never win.

Let me say that I thought The Reader is beautifully shot, I also thought Jesse James and Revolutionary Road was also amazingly well shot. But I have to say, I was most floored by slumdog. It wasn't the most beautiful, but the way the cinematography was used to tell the story was SPECTACULAR. The various photographic effects used to tell different sequences of the story, the use of color, and the outstanding camera work was what really stood out in my mind. More so than the lighting in an of itself. Slumdog had a very distinct look and feel that is largely attributed to the cinematography and in my mind, inseparable from the experience of the film. That is why it won.
 
Tom,

that sole shot makes me want to see the film. I will give my feedback as soon as I watch it.
 
Peter Mosiman said:
Tom,

that sole shot makes me want to see the film. I will give my feedback as soon as I watch it.
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Dude, I had the same reaction. I haven't seen it yet either. Need a Blu Ray copy!

I personally thought Deakins was due for NCFOM. I don't know about you guys, but I felt the photography was a huge part of the experience of that film.
 
IMHO, the last four years have witnessed four robberies in a row -- two from Lubezki, and two from Deakins.

Although, I guess last year one could argue that Pfister might have deserved it over Deakins. Reasonable people could disagree on that, because Dark Knight was really such a wildcard in that category, with all the IMAX shots, etc. I listened to a podcast interview with Pfister and was super impressed with all the work they put into the cinematography on that picture. Sometimes it's easy to overlook mega blockbusters when it comes time to for artistic awards, but Dark Knight was a great accomplishment.
 
Tom said:
How on earth did Slumdog beat this film for Best Cinematography Oscar??? Another robbery from poor Deakins. I think after the presentation was made at the Oscars, Deakins should have dialed 911 and reported a "robbery in progress." He can file yet another complaint alongside some recent ones from Lubezki. I think that file drawer is becoming filled to capacity with recent robberies in this category.
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I would guess that it might be because of that Mantle used the cameras more creatively on Slumdog Millionaire than how the cameras were used by the cinematographer on The Reader. This of course is highly subjective as everything else.. :thumbup1:
 
Steven Caesare said:
Folks adding EE to BD masters should be summarily shot.

-sc
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LOL! Agreed.

I loved The Reader- it is a great story that is well told and REALLY well shot! It is on my ever growing list of movies to buy.
 
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