Whats wrong with "Casino"?

[Malinko]

Im sure you are all aware of the movie "Casino". I think the movie looked fine but others did not. Robert Richardson, who did the movie was very disapointed with himself and he did not like the way it looked. Robert Richardson is probably one of the best cinematographers working today. His images are brilliant. Whats he seeing that others arent regarding Casino?

[Wendell_Greene]

He wasn't happy with the look of "Casino" because he felt the optical blowup (required when you shoot Super 35) degraded the images. Richardson prefers to shoot anamorphic, but Scorsese shoots all his film using Super 35, including the upcoming film with Leonardo Di Caprio "The Aviator", which reunites him with Richardson.

 

Richardson also shot "Kill Bill" with Super 35 spherical lenses but used a Digital Intermediate (DI) and I guess he was happier with the results since I haven't read any negative comments from him on his work on that film.

 

Richardson is indeed a brillant DP, but extremely hard on himself and his work.(read some of his journal entries from AC for "The Four Feathers") Despite two Academy Award Best Cinematography nominations and a win for "JFK", the admiration of his peers and several other critical raves for his work, he still told The Hollywood Reporter in 1995, "I think I have a certain talent, but I haven't tapped it yet. I still look back on every film and wish I hadn't shot it. I rather not walk away from something until I've mastered it"

 

Personally I liked the look of "Casino" and I can think of several music videos (most by Hype Williams) and commercials directly inspired by Richardson's excellent cinematography.

[Malinko]

Thank You.