Louis Malle's DP?

Evan Andrew John Prosofsky · February 6, 2009

I have been a huge fan of Louis Malle's films for a very long time. Today I was thinking of 'Murmur of the Heart', how beautiful it is, and I couldn't for the life of me remember who photographed it. Unthinkable! How do I not know! I feel silly. So heres some questions for those who might know:

-Who Dp'd Murmur of the Heart, Lancombe Lucien, and Aus Revoir Les Enfants? They(to me) have a very similar look.

-Does anybody know what film stock/'s were used while shooting the aforementioned films? I find Murmur of the Heart has a very soft, clean, pleasing feel. It's like daylight washes over everything rendering the colors in the most beautiful subtle tones.

-Lenses used?

Cool, thanks!

If anybody wants to use this thread as a forum to discuss the cinematography in Malle's films please do so.

Kieran Scannell · February 6, 2009

Well I know Lacombe Lucien was shot by Tonino Delli Colli who amongst many other beautifully shot films also shot The Name Of The Rose

and I think Once Upon A Time In The West.

Kieran.

David Mullen ASC · February 7, 2009

Well I know Lacombe Lucien was shot by Tonino Delli Colli who amongst many other beautifully shot films also shot The Name Of The Rose
and I think Once Upon A Time In The West.

Kieran.

According to the IMDB (which you could have employed yourself Evan) the other two were shot by Renato Berta and Ricardo Aronovich.

In fact, Malle seemed to like to work with a wide range of cinematographers.

Pre-1981, almost all features were shot on 35mm Kodak negative, with a few exceptions, and Kodak generally just had one stock available at a time, with that two-year overlap when they switched to ECN-2 processing and 5247 in the mid 1970's.

Anyway, "Murmur" and "Lucien" were released in 1971 and 1974, so both were likely to have been shot on Kodak 5254 100T, which came out in 1968.

Evan Andrew John Prosofsky · February 7, 2009

According to the IMDB (which you could have employed yourself Evan) the other two were shot by Renato Berta and Ricardo Aronovich.

In fact, Malle seemed to like to work with a wide range of cinematographers.

Pre-1981, almost all features were shot on 35mm Kodak negative, with a few exceptions, and Kodak generally just had one stock available at a time, with that two-year overlap when they switched to ECN-2 processing and 5247 in the mid 1970's.

Anyway, "Murmur" and "Lucien" were released in 1971 and 1974, so both were likely to have been shot on Kodak 5254 100T, which came out in 1968.

Hey thanks for the info David. Yeah you're totally right, forgot about good old imdb. Anybody else a fan of the cinematography of "Murmur of the Heart"?

Andrew Wilding · October 19, 2009

Hey thanks for the info David. Yeah you're totally right, forgot about good old imdb. Anybody else a fan of the cinematography of "Murmur of the Heart"?

Yes, hugely. Also Lacombe, Lucien. So, so gorgeous.

Leo Anthony Vale · October 19, 2009

Well I know Lacombe Lucien was shot by Tonino Delli Colli who amongst many other beautifully shot films also shot The Name Of The Rose
and I think Once Upon A Time In The West.

& the Steve Reeves classics 'The Thief of Baghdad' and 'Morgan the Pirate'.

Tim O'Connor · October 20, 2009

According to the IMDB (which you could have employed yourself Evan) the other two were shot by Renato Berta and Ricardo Aronovich.

In fact, Malle seemed to like to work with a wide range of cinematographers.

Pre-1981, almost all features were shot on 35mm Kodak negative, with a few exceptions, and Kodak generally just had one stock available at a time, with that two-year overlap when they switched to ECN-2 processing and 5247 in the mid 1970's.

Anyway, "Murmur" and "Lucien" were released in 1971 and 1974, so both were likely to have been shot on Kodak 5254 100T, which came out in 1968.

I haven't heard that before about only one stock generally being available at a time. What did people do if they wanted to shoot

with different stocks on the same picture? I know that the faster tungsten stocks weren't out yet but there were some choices yes?

Also, did Fuji have a 35mm. stock in the 70s? Was there anyone besides Kodak?

Saul Rodgar · October 20, 2009

I haven't heard that before about only one stock generally being available at a time. What did people do if they wanted to shoot
with different stocks on the same picture? I know that the faster tungsten stocks weren't out yet but there were some choices yes?

Also, did Fuji have a 35mm. stock in the 70s? Was there anyone besides Kodak?

Agfa had some beautiful stocks, dunno about the exact dates when they were discontinued. Seem to recall early 90's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motio...ure_film_stocks

Here is an example of what one of their stocks (the Agfa XTS400) looked like, shot by Geoff Boyle:

http://www.gboyle.co.uk/GRAPHITE%20qt.HTM

I wonder what movies have been shot on Ilford stocks. Can't find much on that subject. When I took B/W still photo in college that is all I used --and would shoot a movie on it if I could . . .

Tim O'Connor · October 20, 2009

Agfa had some beautiful stocks, dunno about the exact dates when they were discontinued. Seem to recall early 90's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motio...ure_film_stocks

Here is an example of what one of their stocks (the Agfa XTS400) looked like, shot by Geoff Boyle:

http://www.gboyle.co.uk/GRAPHITE%20qt.HTM

I wonder what movies have been shot on Ilford stocks. Can't find much on that subject. When I took B/W still photo in college that is all I used --and would shoot a movie on it if I could . . .

I forgot about Agfa! Never used it but I remember it. Looks rich in that spot. Thanks for the links.

John Holland · October 20, 2009

Tim , i find it strange that you dont know your history of various colour negs , still the best colour neg Kodak ever made was 5254 , i have winged on about this a lot on here !. Agfa stocks in the 80s were fantastic , David Watkin got the Oscar for Cinematography for " Out of Africa " shot on Agfa XT stocks .Kodak sort of put Agfa out of the Motion Picture market by trying to copy those stocks ! and in the USA afraid Kodak rules ! . But i think that will change very soon glad to say as Fuji will take over !

Leo Anthony Vale · October 20, 2009

I haven't heard that before about only one stock generally being available at a time. What did people do if they wanted to shoot
with different stocks on the same picture? I know that the faster tungsten stocks weren't out yet but there were some choices yes?

Also, did Fuji have a 35mm. stock in the 70s? Was there anyone besides Kodak?

Even mixing different B/W stocks was considered bad form in LA. NY might have allowed a bit more slack. NY movies weren't usually as slick as LA movies.

Kodak had only one color neg stock 100T and frowned upon DPs and labs processing it in a non standard manner.

When Fuji and later Agfa tried to break into the US market, they had to switch to the ECN and ECN-II

processes. C-41 and E-4 & E-6 for stills. Part of Fuji's strategy was to offer higher speed stocks than Kodak.

& They had to pay royalties to Kodak for the use of their patents.

Tim O'Connor · October 21, 2009

Tim , i find it strange that you dont know your history of various colour negs , still the best colour neg Kodak ever made was 5254 , i have winged on about this a lot on here !. Agfa stocks in the 80s were fantastic , David Watkin got the Oscar for Cinematography for " Out of Africa " shot on Agfa XT stocks .Kodak sort of put Agfa out of the Motion Picture market by trying to copy those stocks ! and in the USA afraid Kodak rules ! . But i think that will change very soon glad to say as Fuji will take over !

Hi John, I always enjoy your posts although I think that I've missed your ones on film stocks because

I have been staying in the same categories, mostly lighting and general discussion. I've been reading the others more this week and finding good stuff.

I started shooting film in the 80s, mostly reversal and then negative in the later 80s. It's funny how

even in the local production community in which I learned a lot, film stocks seemed to get the least discussion, particularly in any historical contexts. The only source I had was American Cinematographer. I never knew anybody who knew about film in this way until I came on here.

It's great. I really like old cars too and I get a kick out of the similar way in which talking about stocks that were so good but are no longer made now reminds me of talking about high performance engines that are discontinued. Cubic inches and millimeters and ASA !

Tim O'Connor · October 21, 2009

Even mixing different B/W stocks was considered bad form in LA. NY might have allowed a bit more slack. NY movies weren't usually as slick as LA movies.

Kodak had only one color neg stock 100T and frowned upon DPs and labs processing it in a non standard manner.

When Fuji and later Agfa tried to break into the US market, they had to switch to the ECN and ECN-II

processes. C-41 and E-4 & E-6 for stills. Part of Fuji's strategy was to offer higher speed stocks than Kodak.

& They had to pay royalties to Kodak for the use of their patents.

I think that I first heard about using different stocks back when people would use a bit of 5293 or

later '94 for say certain night exteriors but would consider it a compromise because of the more pronounced grain and would use slower film for most everything that they could. The only time I saw Agfa was in a magazine adevrtisement, never saw a can in person. Actually never saw anything but Kodak for many years!