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TheWeek.com asks: Why is Storaro, the greateat cinematographer on Earth, stuck making lousy movies?


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I was actually wondering the same thing... And I don't think Café Society is one of those. I just feel that there is this big hole in his Hollywood career where no film of particular merit got shot by Vittorio. He seems so willing to work. So why wasn't he hired more?

 

I wish him many more films to come, even lousy ones.

 

http://theweek.com/articles/635521/why-greatest-cinematographer-earth-stuck-making-lousy-movies

Edited by Alexandros Angelopoulos Apostolos
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The title is a bit of journalistic hyperbole in order to get you to read the article, the point isn't really to debate who is "the greatest"...

 

My impression was that after three Oscars, Storaro wasn't interested in just shooting prestige Hollywood movies for the paycheck, he wanted to work on smaller movies where he could have more freedom to explore his interests. He didn't want to repeat himself. The downside is that you fall off the radar of Hollywood and lose access to those budgets, etc. The article didn't mention all those dance movies he shot for Carlos Saura for example -- "Tango" in particular is a great work of color and camera movement.

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My impression was that after three Oscars, Storaro wasn't interested in just shooting prestige Hollywood movies for the paycheck, he wanted to work on smaller movies where he could have more freedom to explore his interests. He didn't want to repeat himself.

 

I can imagine that after the insanity of the 'Apocalypse Now' production, Storaro may not have wanted to experience something like that again. Didn't he agree to work on Paul Shrader's 'Exorcist' sequel because they were shooting near his house?

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Who says he is the best on Earth? What about Deakins?

Deakins? Then we should mention the man whom (not only) Roger considers the best DoP ever - Vadim Yusov. He didn't get much work after the fall of USSR, neither in Russia (no wonder, our film industry was destroyed by the "Eltsin team" in 90s) nor abroad. Why? - colleagues say, because foreign producers thought they couldn't afford his work! They estimated around $500k for a feature, while in reality Yusov had a very low rate by Hollywood standards - people like him just weren't interested in money.

 

Maybe that's also the Storaros case? Producers being plain afraid of hiring a DoP like him, who'll need a bugdet, a lot of freedom and shooting days - and, in case of Storaro - a siesta.

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Maybe he's just not a fan of kids comic books.. or actors running around in tights.. same reason I turn down all those Hollywood flicks.. I even sold my house in Bel Air.. which I heard was bought by one of the actors who run around in tights.. what a town ..

Edited by Robin R Probyn
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Exactly the same has happened to Darius Khondji. Skills etc are not enough to keep a successful career going, you also have to play the game (if that's what you want to do). When you move back to Europe and do smaller films, you fall of the radar for big stuff. Probably by choice.

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