Roger & James Deakins

“So Rog, what do you think? Pull one and say... Wow, one of the first films I think I ever saw was this, Kameradschaft by G. W. Pabst.”

“Oh, and here's another one. Come and See, one of our favorites. We had the pleasure of talking with the cinematographer for the podcast and it was amazing how they made the movie. Yeah, it's a very strange cover. It's an interesting film because some points the main character, this kid, is looking straight at the lens, and other times it feels like a documentary, filming the horrors of the, yeah, Nazi regime.”

“Tokyo Olympiad, right, which was directed by Kon Ichikawa, and the famous Japanese cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa, he was overseeing the photography of it. Did two of my favorite movies, Fires on the Plain, and he did another film called Burmese Harp, both set in the World War II. And it's so interesting that he made, Kon Ichikawa made those two films, and then he made Tokyo Olympiad, which is one of the best documentaries about sport ever made, I think.”

“Did two of my favorite movies: Fires on the Plain, and he did another film called Burmese Harp, both set in the World War II. And it's so interesting that he made, Kon Ichikawa made those two films and then he made Tokyo Olympiad, which is one of the best documentaries about sport ever made, I think.”

“And he did another film called Burmese Harp, both set in the World War II. And it's so interesting that he made, Kon Ichikawa made those two films and then he made Tokyo Olympiad, which is one of the best documentaries about sport ever made, I think. There's Fires on the Plain, yeah, and Burmese Harp. Look at that, Roger, well done.”

“I'm sorry, but I've got to pick this one. What's that? Sid & Nancy. We saw it recently because we remastered it here, and it's just an incredible, incredible document of the times, I think. Yeah, and, well, it felt very real because I remember shooting concerts with these punks in Hammersmith and having to wear a plastic mac because they're all spitting at the stage, and I was on the stage doing handheld of Gary and the Sex Pistols, and we were all getting covered in... Well, it was not very nice.”

“Let's change this. Look at this. Le cercle Rouge. Oh, yes. Now, this to me is the, probably one of the, apart from Tarkovsky, probably my all-time great director, Jean-Pierre Melville.”

“But there's an early film he did, Le silence de la mer, also shot by Henri Decaë, one of their first ones, the first collaboration. Afterwards they did Le Doulos and all sorts of things. But this one is absolutely magnificent. It all takes place in a small cottage during the war where this German soldier, lieutenant, is billeted to stay with this old man and his granddaughter. And these two, the old man and the granddaughter, refuse to talk to the German, the Nazi, until right at the end, which you have to watch it to find out what happens, because very little happens. It's all about this relationship. It's very, very moving. It's one of the best war films ever made that all takes place in the front room, yeah, little cottage in France. Yeah, it is a great film.”

“Seventh Seal. I'm sorry, but I love this film. Every Halloween I would watch this. That was great. So before I really even understood it, not that I understand it now, but I would watch it and, I have not seen the restoration, so I really want to. Yes, brilliantly.”

“There's so many great movies here. L'avventura. You know, there's something about this film that it's not literal. Yeah, there's a story, but you know, it's a story about a relationship and it's a story about a man who's trying to find himself. There's so much is, so much is built up through the images and the pacing and the... It's real movies, you know. If I could, if I could describe what I love about this movie, then I'd write a book, but you can't describe it because it's a movie. A movie can do something that no other medium can do, and when it works, it really works. And when it really works, it's called L'avventura.”

“We have missed out the all-time great film director, which is... What do you mean? Mirror. There's Mirror.”

“And there should be Solaris. Solaris, Solaris, which is great. I don't, I think this Solaris, it's really interesting. Solaris was made just a little bit later than Kubrick's 2001, and Tarkovsky said he could never do 2001, but he wanted to do a film that was really something that was more with the, emotionally engaged with you. He felt, he felt Kubrick's film was rather cold and a piece of wonderful technology, but had little to engage you with emotionally. And personally, I think he's absolutely right. I think Solaris is his, Solaris is the best science fiction film probably ever made, and the most profound.”

“Here we are, we've found something tucked away in the far corner down below where you could hardly see it, which is one of, to me, not only a great film, but probably the best black and white cinematography I've ever seen by Conrad Hall. And also, it's just amazing the transitions between the scenes, the thought that was put behind it. Yeah, some of the best transitions, but also, I mean, the cinematography is wonderful because he shoots the desert landscape like you've never seen it before, but then he also shoots the murder in the darkness and the flashlights and, and, and yeah, the tension in that and the horror of it in just an amazing way. I think if anybody wants to watch one movie for cinematography, to understand what cinematography is, it would be In Cold Blood. Yeah, well, I think we've said it all now. Yeah, really. And Andrei Tarkovsky, what more can you say?”