This term's Dartmouth Film Society series,"Picture Perfect: The Art of Cinematography," will lure students into Spaulding and Loew Auditoriums through movies that explore that essential, yet popularly enigmatic aspect of filmmaking called cinematography.
Cinematography, whose literal meaning is "writing in movement," traditionally encompasses things such as lighting, camera movement, choice of camera lens and use of filters. In effect, cinematography defines the visual aesthetic of movies.
The films in "Picture Perfect" are, on a whole, stunningly beautiful. Some are picturesque; others are glamorous. There are even a few that reach the status of visual poetry. All are examples of exceptional cinematography, ranging from silent era Hollywood to modern China, and of course, include several recent Hollywood blockbusters. These are certainly movies that lose much of their luster when watched on a computer screen or on a dinky combo TV/DVD player.
Before there was "Sister Act," there was "Black Narcissus." While movies about nuns hardly qualify as an expansive genre, "Black Narcissus" is the best among them. Shot in sumptuous TechniColor, it explores the darker side of a group of nuns establishing a convent in the Himalayas. It's as shocking today as it was when it first played more than fifty years ago.
The outstanding performance here is by Kathleen Byron as Sister Ruth, whose collapse from grace is embodied in the simplest of actions: her applying lipstick. Byron would later comment that the movie "gave me half of my performance with the lighting."
Martin Scorsese, one of many notable filmmakers influenced by this film, described watching it as "like being bathed in color." Cinematographer Jack Cardiff rightly won an Oscar for his work here: "Black Narcissus" is still considered by many critics to be among the finest examples of color design and lighting ever. Don't miss it when it plays on the silver screen on Jan. 15 at 7 p.m.
The legendary Greta Garbo -- known to be as aloof and reclusive as a nun, while being mysterious and oh-so glamorous -- was notorious for her supposed quip, "I want to be alone." Garbo, however, insisted she never said such a thing in real life, but it went down in history anyways. The source of that quote was her character Grusinkaya in "Grand Hotel," which was set in Berlin and featured the largest group of movie stars ever assembled until that point (along with Garbo, there were four other heavyweights: Joan Crawford, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery and Lionel Barrymore). This strategy paid off for MGM when the opulent "Hotel" won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1932.
William Daniels, whom Garbo insisted shoot all her movies because she believed he was largely responsible for her glamorous look, was the cinematographer. You can catch this grand soap opera on Jan. 22 at 7 p.m.
Woody Allen epitomizes the quintessential New York film director, and "Manhattan" is the ultimate tribute to New York, so it's not surprising that this film has become an American classic.
Allen plays a neurotic writer who's torn between an older, intellectual woman (Diane Keaton) and a 17-year old girl (Mariel Hemingway). Would Allen know that life would imitate art? Regardless, "Manhattan" is distinguished by its quirky characters and witty dialogue, with Manhattan itself brought to life as a character by the exemplary black-and-white cinematography of Gordon Willis. You can watch "Manhattan" after "Grand Hotel" on Jan. 22 at 9:15 p.m.
The series takes its audience from Berlin to New York and then lands in sunny Havana. "I Am Cuba" is one of those visual poems I alluded to earlier, and literally so as the screenwriter was poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko.
While not quite as infamous as Leni Riefenstahl's Nazi propaganda film "Triumph of the Will," the Russian-backed agitprop film "I Am Cuba" is every bit as trenchant, not only due to its caustic message of American exploitation, but also because of its sheer virtuosity. Ironically, it was denounced as counter-revolutionary by Cuban authorities.
The most daring shot in the film comes when the camera starts on top of a high-rise building, goes down the side of the building and straight into a swimming pool, where it follows a few swimmers around. The whole film is both visually and aurally rhythmic, set to a largely jazz soundtrack. "I Am Cuba" plays on Feb. 1 at 7 p.m.
Martin Scorsese's "Raging Bull" has often been considered among the best sports films ever made, and for good reason. This biopic about boxer Jake LaMotta spares no punches in exposing the soul of a troubled but brilliant fighter.
The mostly black-and-white cinematography of Michael Chapman revolutionized the filming of boxing scenes. These scenes were shown in a gritty, realistic point-of-view fashion, employing ingenious camera and sound tricks to enter the minds of the fighters themselves. Robert DeNiro gained more than fifty pounds to play the aged Jake LaMotta long after his boxing career was over. "Raging Bull" plays Feb. 8 at 9:15 p.m.
"Persona" is my favorite film in this series. This movie is indescribable, so I will save myself the trouble of attempting to explain it. Although on the surface a tale of a breakdown of an actress (Liv Ulmann) and the nurse who takes care of her (Bibi Andersson), "Persona" uses several techniques, such as starting and ending inside a projection machine, to question the very reality of the film's world. It is very much a movie to ponder far after the credits are over. Watch it on Feb 15 at 7:00 p.m. and be puzzled.
F.W. Murnau's "Sunrise" is often considered the greatest film of the silent era. In the "Sight and Sound" 2002 poll of film critics, it was ranked as the number seven film of all time.
"Sunrise" was the first film to use a moving camera to full advantage, fluidly moving through space to create illusions of depth. It is a film that is truly silent in that the dialogue and title cards are rather unnecessary. Charles Rosher and Karl Struss won the first Oscar for Cinematography for "Sunrise." Catch it on Feb. 19 at 9 p.m.
Other notable films include: "Hero," a luscious, vibrantly beautiful martial-arts film set in ancient China (Jan. 25, 7 and 9:15 p.m.); "King Kong," which brings the iconic ape to Hanover (Jan. 29, 7 p.m.); "The Passenger," featuring the unlikely pairing of Italian art film director Michaelangelo Antonioni and Jack Nicholson (Feb. 22, 8 p.m.; Loew Auditorium); "The Night of the Hunter," Charles Laughlin's titanic morality tale (Feb. 26, 7 p.m.); "The New World," the reclusive Terrance Malick's fourth film with a breakthrough performance by Q'Orianka Kilcher as Pocahontas (March 1, 7 p.m.); "Russian Ark," the first feature length film filmed entirely in one shot (March 5, 7 p.m.); and "Brokeback Mountain," Ang Lee's tale of gay cowboys that has topped many critics' lists for 2005 (March 8, 7 and 9:30 p.m.).
