The renowned
British director of photography has been admired by cinephiles for decades, and his latest work on The Goldfinch is as artistically captivating as ever
Last year, Roger Deakins won an Oscar for Blade Runner 2049. It was an extraordinary moment, not just because it was a well-deserved accolade, but because it was the first Academy Award for a cinematographer who had been previously nominated 13 times, for films including The Shawshank Redemption and Skyfall. “About time!” cried cineastes across the globe: the man is an icon in the industry and responsible for some of the finest cinematography of the past three decades.
But as Deakins himself has often said: if the audience doesn’t notice, you’ve done your job. Cinematography is not about being showy, it’s about telling a story and immersing us in the narrative, creating a tangible mood and haunting images. Think back to the emotional impact of The Reader, the suspense of No Country for Old Men or the
comedy of O Brother, Where Art Thou? – Deakins had a hand in all that, and we can expect more with The Goldfinch.