John Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) classic isn’t just a great story about greed; it’s a masterclass in visual storytelling. Every frame, every hard shadow, and every composition works to twist the knife of paranoia. It’s one… Read More »The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) – Cinematography Analysis
Rebecca (1940) is a masterclass in visual design that proves you don’t need a single drop of color to terrify an audience.This was Hitchcock’s first American feature and his only Best Picture winner. But for me, it’s not just a… Read More »Rebecca (1940) – Cinematography Analysis
When Mathieu Kassovitz dropped La Haine in 1995, it landed like a bomb. It wasn’t just a movie; it was a snapshot of a fracture in French society that people were trying to ignore. Shot in stark black and white, it follows… Read More »La haine (1995) – Cinematography Analysis
To call The Bridge on the River Kwai a “war movie” feels like a disservice. It’s a psychological thriller disguised as an epic. While the backdrop is the brutal reality of a World War II Japanese POW camp, the real battlefield is… Read More »The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) – Cinematography Analysis
Watching Ben-Hur forces me to shift gears completely. It requires a different mindset, one that appreciates a time when the “look” wasn’t something you dialed in later—it was baked into the negative on the day, under the blazing sun. When I watch… Read More »Ben-Hur (1959) – Cinematography Analysis
When Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride hit screens in 1987, it wasn’t an instant blockbuster, yet today it stands as a pillar of modern fantasy. It manages to be a love story, a revenge tale, a comedy, and an adventure, all wrapped… Read More »The Princess Bride (1987) – Cinematography Analysis
Rain Man isn’t the film you reference for flashy, groundbreaking VFX or wild camera moves. It doesn’t try to dazzle you like the blockbusters of the late 80s. Instead, John Seale’s work on Barry Levinson’s 1988 film is a lesson in… Read More »Rain Man (1988) – Cinematography Analysis