Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010) Reviews

• Top-Notch Documentary On One Of Cinema's Most Talented Behind-The-Scenes Artists

  ShootingShark2011-04-25

  A documentary about acclaimed cameraman and film director Jack Cardiff, who had a lengthy career in British films, Hollywood and internationally, and worked with many of the biggest names in cinema. Jack Cardiff had a pretty amazing life. The son of theatrical performers, he was a child actor in silent pictures, then a jobber in British films in the thirties, was selected by Technicolor in 1936 to be the first person in the UK to be trained in its use, won an Oscar for Black Narcissus in 1947, went on to work with everyone from Humphrey Bogart to Marilyn Monroe to Sylvester Stallone, directed a dozen movies of his own (my favourite of which is Girl On A Motorcycle but the most famous is probably Sons And Lovers), was still making features in his seventies and carried on working pretty much up until his death in 2009 aged 94. What a guy. This film is a series of interviews with him and those who worked with him, shot over several years, and he is witty, informative, modest and insightful. His conception of what movie photography should really be - a moving extension of painting - is fabulous, with many clips beautifully illustrating this ideology. Good movie photography should convey the action clearly and simply. Great movie photography should do this but also have artistic merit in its use of colour, shade, composition and movement through the frame. Outstanding movie photography should do all this but somehow contribute to the emotion of the film as well, and this is what Cardiff's cinematography somehow achieves. He has many interesting stories to tell, both technical and otherwise, and the film is crammed full of amazing photos from his life, like the one of Marlene Dietrich (who also knew a thing or two about cameras) looking through one of his lenses. He's also refreshingly honest and forward-looking - he doesn't dismiss digital technology when it would be so easy for someone of his calibre to do so, and like all great artists he adapted and evolved his style over time. Even if you're not really interested in movie photography, check out this great little documentary about a guy who - as far as movies are concerned - pretty much saw it all. The film includes footage previously shot by McCall for his shorts The Colour Merchant and Painting With Light, had a small but deserved theatrical release and was showcased at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. For those seeking more detail on Cardiff, he also published an excellent autobiography entitled Magic Hour. 6/10

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• A master cameraman who learned his art from the masters...

  Doylenf2012-01-06

  Jack Cardiff began his life in show biz, part of a touring troupe with his mom and dad and even appeared in bit roles in silent films. But it wasn't until he got behind a camera and discovered all the lighting techniques he would go on to use for either color or B&W that his fame spread. I've always felt that if he had filmed no other works than BLACK NARCISSUS, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP or THE RED SHOES, his immortality was guaranteed. By an interesting use of film clips, good narration, and comments from stars who worked with him on various films, this documentary is among the best I've ever seen on any celebrity whose work on film has so many highs and lows. Modest about his fame, he mentions how he's seldom recognized by fans at premieres of epics he photographed. "Who's that?" they will say. "Oh, he's nobody." Absolutely riveting use of clips from BLACK NARCISSUS and THE RED SHOES, in particular, show just how masterful his use of Technicolor was. Lauren Bacall, Sophia Loren, Moira Shearer, Kathleen Byron, Charlton Heston and Kirk Douglas are among the stars who speak about the experience of working with him. Bacall tells how Bogart never cared much about his appearance in a film, only the film itself and he had complete confidence in Jack Cardiff on THE African QUEEN. Excellent documentary, well worth any film fan's attention.

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• Explore Jack Cardiff's wonderful life

  Steve Crook2011-12-11

  Jack Cardiff was an amazing man who had a wonderful life. He started in show-business as a child actor in a touring show working with his parents. He was still working right up until the last of his 94 years. In that time he had worked with most of the great names in the business and earned their respect and admiration. This documentary covers most of his working life with lots of examples from clips or stills and interviews with the great man himself as well as many of those whose lives he touched. The documentary was many years in the making and was fortunate enough to interview a lot of the people that Jack worked with who are no longer with us. It's not often that a feature length documentary leaves you wanting more, but this one does. When Jack discovered the world of movies as a child actor in some early silent films he decided that being a cameraman was the best job going because they got to travel to such exotic locations. He was mainly self-educated because the life of a touring theatrical didn't allow much time at any one school. But that self-education included study of the old masters in art galleries wherever he went. So when he started working as a cameraman he was able to bring his knowledge of lighting and composition.

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• Man with a movie camera.

  st-shot2012-01-20

  Made shortly before his death Cameraman: the life and work of Jack Cardiff is an excellent bio on Cardiff and due to his long career the history of color film as well. Working into his nineties the highly lucid and spry octogenarian covers a lot of ground with emphasis on his collaboration with the the team of Powell and Pressburger at Archer studios which produced two of the finest color works in film history Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes. There of course were decades of others that also shined from Archer and beyond with The African Queen, Pandora and the Flyiong Dutchman, War and Peace and The Vikings and Cameraman shows healthy snippets from each. Amiable and self effacing Cardiff himself makes for a wonderful guide mixing anecdotes and methods free of ego and judgment. This doc is a must for film historians as well as anyone that has ever been under the spell of celluloid magic.

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• Celebrating an 80-year career...predictably colorful, unexpectedly moving

  moonspinner552012-01-05

  British cinematographer Jack Cardiff, who made a name for himself with his splashy camera-work on the classic Powell & Pressburger films "A Matter of Life and Death", "Black Narcissus", and "The Red Shoes", recounts the cinematic milestones of his long career. Transitioning from British cinema to Hollywood filmmaking in the 1950s, Cardiff went on to work with such diverse directors as Alfred Hitchcock, Henry Hathaway, King Vidor, and John Huston. The film clips are well used, and the celebrity fans (such as Martin Scorsese) and co-workers who comment are interesting, though the second half of this documentary (after Cardiff moved from director of photography to the director's chair) is left a bit sketchy. Receiving an Academy Award nomination as Best Director for 1960's "Sons and Lovers", Cardiff admits this was the peak of his professional career...and yet we are left uncertain why such a talented and respected man didn't receive better assignments in later years. Still, finishing off with Cardiff's recent honorary Oscar celebration for the bulk of his work was a nice touch, proving that wisdom and talent go hand in hand--and age doesn't necessarily diminish either.

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