All hail The Prince of Darkness!
Tuesday, April 21, 2020 at 7:11PM 
In the annals of American film history, you'll have difficulty finding a filmmaker as influential as Gordon Willis. He's one of the best cinematographers that's ever lived, a man who almost single-handedly invented the look we most quickly associate with the great cinema of the 70s. Low-lit and underexposed, his pictures were rich in shadow play and gloomy frames, a materialization of the decades' paranoia and moral ambiguities. Because of such a characteristic style, he gained the nickname 'prince of darkness,' though maybe we should have called him the king of cinematographers. Both titles feel correct…
Among his closest collaborators, Willis counted directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Alan J. Pakula, Woody Allen, and James Bridges, shooting everything from deconstructed musicals to mafia epics, sprawling westerns to monochrome songs of the city. In these troubled times, perhaps it's a good endeavor to savor cinematic beauty and few films are more beautiful than those that Gordon Willis worked on. Luckily for all of us, many of Willis' greatest feats are available to stream or rent online. Some of them are even new to streaming.
With that in mind, here are some highlights of his filmography and where you can watch them:
KLUTE (1971) Available to stream on the Criterion Channel, fubo TV, and TCM. You can also rent or buy it on Apple iTunes, Google Play and Youtube and others.
THE GODFATHER (1972) You can rent or buy the film on Amazon, Apple iTunes, Google Play, Youtube and others.
THE PARALLAX VIEW (1974) Available to stream on HBO Now, HBO Go, Direct TV, and the Cinemax Amazon Channel. You can also rent or buy it on Apple iTunes, Google Play and Youtube and others.
THE GODFATHER: PART II (1974) You can rent or buy the film on Amazon, Apple iTunes, Google Play, Youtube and others.
ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976) Available to stream on the Roku Channel. You can also rent or buy it on Apple iTunes, Google Play and Youtube and others.
ANNIE HALL (1977) Available to stream on the Criterion Channel, Amazon Prime, Direct TV, fubo TV, HBO NOW and TCM. You can also rent or buy it on Apple iTunes, Google Play and Youtube and others.
INTERIORS (1978) Available to stream on Hoopla. You can also buy or rent it on Amazon, Apple iTunes, and Vudu.
COMES A HORSEMAN (1978) You can rent or buy the film on Amazon, Apple iTunes, Google Play and Youtube.
MANHATTAN (1979) Available to stream on Amazon Prime, Direct TV, fubo TV, the HBO Now Amazon Channel and TCM. You can also rent or buy it on Apple iTunes, Google Play and Youtube and others.
STARDUST MEMORIES (1980) Available to stream on Hoopla. You can also buy or rent it on Amazon, Vudu and Apple iTunes.
PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (1981) You can rent or buy the film on Amazon, Apple iTunes, Google Play, Youtube and others.
BROADWAY DANNY ROSE (1984) Available to stream on Hoopla, Tribeca Shortlist, and Pluto TV. You can rent or buy the film on Amazon, Apple iTunes, Google Play, Youtube and others.
THE GODFATHER: PART III (1990) You can rent or buy the film on Amazon, Apple iTunes, Google Play, Youtube and others.
Because we all love to obsess over the Oscars, it's important to point out that Gordon Willis died without ever winning a competitive Academy Award. Despite filming many awards champions, he only got two Oscar nominations in his career, neither of which for any of the 70s classics he lensed. Just to understand the absurdity of it all, consider that the only Godfather movie to be nominated for best cinematography was the often-maligned third chapter.
The biggest recognition Willis received in the form of golden trophies was an Honorary Academy Award given to him in 2010 for "unsurpassed mastery of light, shadow, color, and motion". Better late than never, we suppose.
Speaking of Willis and Oscars, for what film do you think he most deserved the prize?
Reader Comments (8)
Golly. Probably the two Godfather movies. But what a legend.
Yes, the two he was nominated for weren't his best, and weren't even my favourites to win in either year, not that I supported the winners either (1983 should've been WAR GAMES, and 1990 should've gone to the previously posted Allen Daviau for AVALON. IMO).
I'd have to go with the first two GODFATHERs as well, although ANNIE HALL and THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO run close in the top 5.
Let's not discount The Godfather Part III. Not only the film as a whole, but it's gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous, standing out with both Avalon and Dances With Wolves.
Life is currently Interiors..
Wait, was he not nominated for Manhattan? That cinematography was a big deal at the time, though 1979 was jam packed.
Godfather trilogy
Broadway Danny Rose may be the most spectacular Black and White cinematography of the 1980s (or tied with Elephant Man). I'd have voted for it over the winner, The Killing Fields.
Daniella Isaacs: I agree with you on Broadway Danny Roses's cinematography. It's great work - it really helps our understanding of the story and the characters. It manages to be both gritty/urban and romantic/dreamy.
Me: Yes, The Godfather Part III is underrated, both for its cinematography and more generally. It is a sad and beautiful film about how crime really doesn't pay. It avoids the easy appeal of a lot of other gangster movies and aims for (and, arguably, reaches) something more profound (though granted, it has its flaws).
I think he would have been a worthy winner for both his nominations. And he would have deserved the award for any of his famous films from the 1970s. That said, even though not nominating him is strange (and was commented upon as strange at the time), he would have been up against stiff competition. For example, would he deserve it for The Godfather over Geoffrey Unsworth for Cabaret? Or for Part II over my preference from that year's nominees, John Alonzo for Chinatown? Or for All the President's Men over my preference Owen Roizman for Network? Or for Annie Hall over Vilmos Zsigmond for Close Encounters of the Third Kind? Or for Manhattan over Vittorio Storaro for Apocalypse Now? Possibly not in each case. But legendary work even so - and rightly (though belatedly) rewarded with an Honorary Oscar.