February 28, 2009
Technical Thoughts on Gomorrah and Che
This past Thursday I was finally able to see Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah after a couple attempts that were thwarted by the film being sold out. It's a fantastic film and also a terrifying one.
Sure, the subject matter is unpleasant but what I really found frightening was the gunshots in the film. I don't think there was a single shot fired in the film that didn't make me jump in my seat. It wasn't even that I was caught of guard, it was just the way the sound was mixed that gave the gunshots such a startling quality. I can't quite place my finger on what it is about the sound effects but, if someone has a theory, I'd love to hear it.
On Saturday afternoon, I saw the first part of Steven Soderbergh's Che. I was pleasantly surprised by the film and was incredibly surprised by the camera they used to shoot it. The film was shot with the Red One camera and the results were pretty stunning. The colors were vibrant, the images were incredibly crisp, and, as far as I could tell, the image sensors demonstrated a latitude more akin to film than digital video.
However, the film led me to a realization that great photography and great cinematography are completely different things in the world of cinema.
The images in Che are beautiful to look at but I didn't find the cinematography to be particularly inspired. It was well shot in a very straight forward manner. It presented the actions that occurred in the film without doing much to enhance them. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but when I think of films with great cinematography I think of the works of Ophüls, Malick, and Wong Kar-Wai. While some of the vistas might evoke memories of The Thin Red Line, Soderbergh (who shoots his own films) is no John Toll.
What I sensed in Che was a masterful technical rather than artistic performance. It's wonderful to look at but lacks the sorts of camera movements and compositions that stick with you long after you've forgotten the plot of the film.
