Best Cinematographers List
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Last Updated: 7/3/24
Note:
It's simple and straightforward: the best of the best cinematographers in cinema history which is about the
look of the film.
Miniseries and telefilms are fair game, but anything made after the year 2000 and documentaries are excluded.
This list is based on what I have seen so far and is limited to the top 10 with 5 honorable mentions which are
all unordered. While selecting the cinematographers, I am thinking about the unparalleled beauty through the
high number of films they had handled.
If you are enamored by the look of Chinatown, it's because John A. Alonzo shot the film which earned him
the only Oscar nomination of his career. Of Mexican-American and Latino heritage, he went on to work on
Lady Sings the Blues; Farewell, My Lovely; Tom Horn; the 1983 version of Scarface;
and Internal Affairs. On a side note, he mentored John Toll who went on to win two Oscars for Best
Cinematography.
Completely underrated during the 90's, the Mexican cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki was responsible for
shooting three unbelievably good-looking pictures: Como agua para chocolate, A Walk in the Clouds,
and Meet Joe Black. Eventually, he received recognition during the 21st century by being awarded three
Oscars among eight nominations.
A British cinematographer, Chris Menges is a two-time Oscar winner, having handled some of the most stunning-looking
period pictures such as The Killing Fields and The Mission for Roland Joffé. He also shot two more UK
films: Local Hero and The Boxer.
If you loved Oliver Stone's films, then you loved the way Robert Richardson shot them. He's a three-time Oscar
winner, having worked on Platoon, Salvador, Wall Street, JFK, and
The Horse Whisperer. His creed has been: "It's far better to shoot a good picture than a good-looking
picture." Indeed so.
You aren't familiar with the name, but you're exceedingly familiar with his work which won three Oscar
nominations. Douglas Slocombe shot all of the three famous movies: Raiders of the Lost Ark,
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He was responsible
for other beautiful pictures such as The Blue Max and The Great Gatsby.
If there's anybody who's the best, it's Vittorio Storaro. One word: beautiful. A three-time Oscar winner,
he's a longtime favorite of Bernardo Bertolucci, having done brilliant work. His must-see films are
Il confirmista, Last Tango in Paris, Novecento, Agatha, Apocalyse Now,
The Last Emperor, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, The Sheltering Sky, and Little Buddha.
Robert Surtees was a legendary cinematographer who earned three Oscars among thirteen nominations.
Black-and-white or color, it didn't matter; he could capture the best of them as illustrated in Quo Vadis,
The Bad and the Beautiful, Raintree County, Ben-Hur, the 1962 version of
Mutiny on the Bounty, and The Last Picture Show.
A two-time Oscar winner whose work spanned four decades, Geoffrey Unsworth excelled the most in creating
unforgettable period and sci-fi pictures such as The Purple Plain, A Night to Remember,
The World of Suzie Wong, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Cromwell, Cabaret,
Murder on the Orient Express, and A Bridge Too Far.
If you loved the opening scene of Chariots of Fire, it was shot by David Watkin. His sole Oscar win went to
one of the most stunning-looking picture of all time: Out of Africa. A big advocate of the bounce light as a
soft light source, he didn't get enough credit for his work on The Devils, Mahogany, and Yentl.
A longtime favorite of Woody Allen, Alan J. Pakula, and James Bridges, Gordon Willis didn't get the moniker
"The Prince of Darkness" for nothing. He could highlight the degree of blackness as seen through
The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, and The Godfather Part III. Another masterpiece in
his filmography was Comes a Horseman. Unfortunately, Gordon Willis never won an Oscar in his lifetime.
Honorable Mentions:
Robert Burks,
Henri Decaë,
Freddie Francis,
Janusz Kamiński,
and
Philippe Rousselot