The beauty of Robert Elswit's cinema

by Cláudio Alves

Our odyssey through the 2005 Best Cinematography Oscar nominees is reaching its end. After Dion Beebe, Rodrigo Prieto, and Wally Pfister, we've arrived at the filmography of Robert Elswit.

Mostly known for his collaborations with Paul Thomas Anderson, Robert Elswit is a master craftsman whose control of the camera is virtually unparalleled. Whether in choreographed motion or stately stillness, his images sing with meaning and ravishing beauty. More specifically, he's got a penchant for expressive dolly shots, wide-angle lenses, and shoots sunlight in ways that make it bleed white while his shadows, especially at night, glow in hues of blue and even purple. Usually, when you see Elswits name on the credits, you can expect a handsome movie regardless of the rest of the project's quality.

Here are 10 highlights from Robert Elswit's filmography…

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Happy 50th Emily Watson!!

Chris here, wishing a happy 50th birthday to one of our most underserved contemporary actresses, Emily Watson!

And around this time she’s also celebrating her 20th anniversary for her first Oscar nomination for her debut in Breaking the Waves, a performance that time simply doesn’t diminish...

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VIDEO ESSAY: There Will Be Blood and Symmetry

Hey everybody! It’s Matt.

Five years have passed since we last heard from Paul Thomas Anderson, but he returns on September 14^th with The Master, a movie that has been the object of considerable anticipation related to a few surprise screenings and its subject matter. Anderson’s phalanx of adoring fans has already started to speculate on The Master’s Oscar potential. While it is meaningless to start daydreaming about Anderson’s acceptance speech before we've seen the movie, there are several reasons to get excited about The Master.

Above all, it is crucial to recognize that Anderson has managed to improve with every project. He has progressed from the boisterous creative ecstasy of Boogie Nights, Hard Eight, and Magnolia to the tight formal elegance of Punch-Drunk Love and There Will Be Blood. There Will Be Blood, one of the many great films released in 2007, is especially notable for its visual and thematic maturity. Anderson used a careful system of symmetries and visual rhymes to hold together the sprawling, epic subject.

In this video essay, I demonstrate how Paul Thomas Anderson communicates his ideas. The video is graciously hosted by IndieWire’s Press Play. Be sure to head over and check out a brief introduction. Special thanks to Matt Zoller Seitz, someone I really look up to, for his assistance.