The American Society of Cinematographers, founded on January 8, 1919, celebrated their 100-year anniversary by naming what they believe to be the best-photographed films of the 20th century.
The list, voted for by members of the Cinematography Society, was organised by Cinematographer Steven Fierberg in a bid to showcase the best of cinematography as selected by professional directors of photography.
“I believe that as individuals and also members of the ASC we need to share with the public what influenced and inspired us in our work and our artistry — films we all consider landmarks in our profession,” Fierberg said when the list was released. “It is our hope that the list will help cinematography to be better understood by the public — the audience — [and to showcase] each of us as an artist who is an essential contributor to the magic of cinema,” he added.
The society put their heads together to name what they believe to be the 10 best, most influential and most culturally significant films ever made from a cinematography standpoint. After the top 10, the remaining 90 films have been named without ranking.
“We are trying to call attention to the most significant achievements of the cinematographer’s art,” Fierberg added. “We do not presume to call one masterful achievement ‘better’ than another.”
The top 10 best-shot films named by The American Society of Cinematographers:
1 – Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Shot by Freddie Young and directed by David Lean.
2 – Blade Runner (1982).
Shot by Jordan Cronenweth and directed by Ridley Scott.
3 – Apocalypse Now (1979).
Shot by Vittorio Storaro and directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
4 – Citizen Kane (1941)
Shot by Gregg Toland and directed by Orson Welles.
5 – The Godfather (1972).
Shot by Gordon Willis and directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
6 – Raging Bull (1980).
Shot by Michael Chapman and directed by Martin Scorsese.
7 – The Conformist (1970).
Shot by Vittorio Storaro and directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.
8 – Days of Heaven (1978).
Shot by Néstor Almendros and directed by Terrence Malick.
9 – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
Shot by Geoffrey Unsworth with additional photography by John Alcott and directed by Stanley Kubrick.
10 – The French Connection (1971).
Shot by Owen Roizman and directed by William Friedkin.
Below, you will find the remaining 90 films—and the cinematographers who worked on the film—as named by the American Society of Cinematographers:
Metropolis (1927) – Karl Freund, Günther RittauNapoleon (1927) – Leonce-Henri Burel, Jules Kruger, Joseph-Louis Mundwiller Sunrise (1927) – Charles Rosher Sr., ASC; Karl StrussGone with the Wind (1939) – Ernest HallerThe Wizard of Oz (1939) – Harold Rosson The Grapes of Wrath (1940) – Gregg Toland How Green Was My Valley (1941) – Arthur C. Miller Casablanca (1942) – Arthur Edeson The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) – Stanley Cortez Black Narcissus (1947) – Jack Cardiff The Bicycle Thief (1948) – Carlo Montuori The Red Shoes (1948) – Jack Cardiff The Third Man (1949) – Robert Krasker Rashomon (1950) – Kazuo Miyagawa Sunset Boulevard (1950) – John Seitz On the Waterfront (1954) – Boris Kaufman Seven Samurai (1954) – Asakazu Nakai The Night of the Hunter (1955) – Stanley Cortez The Searchers (1956) – Winton C. Hoch The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) – Jack HIldyard Touch of Evil (1958) – Russell Metty, ASC Vertigo (1958) – Robert Burks North by Northwest (1959) – Robert Burks Breathless (1960) – Raoul Coutard Last Year at Marienbad (1961) – by Sacha Vierny 8 ½ (1963) – Gianni Di Venanzo Hud (1963) – James Wong Howe Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) – Gilbert Taylor I Am Cuba (Soy Cuba; 1964) – Sergei Urusevsky Doctor Zhivago (1965) – Freddie Young The Battle of Algiers (1966) – Marcello Gatti Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) – Haskell Wexler Cool Hand Luke (1967) – Conrad Hall The Graduate (1967) – Robert Surtees In Cold Blood (1967) – Conrad Hall Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) – Tonino Delli Colli Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) – Conrad Hall The Wild Bunch (1969) – Lucien Ballard A Clockwork Orange (1971) – John Alcott Klute (1971) – Gordon Willis The Last Picture Show (1971) – Robert Surtees McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971) – Vilmos Zsigmond Cabaret (1972) – Geoffery Unsworth Last Tango in Paris (1972) – Vittorio Storaro The Exorcist (1973) – Owen Roizman Chinatown (1974) – John A. Alonzo The Godfather: Part II (1974) – Gordon Willis Barry Lyndon (1975) – John Alcott One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) – Haskell Wexler All the President’s Men (1976) – Gordon Willis Taxi Driver (1976) – Michael Chapman Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) – Vilmos Zsigmond The Duellists (1977) – Frank Tidy The Deer Hunter (1978) – Vilmos Zsigmond Alien (1979) – Derek Vanlint All that Jazz (1979) – Giuseppe Rotunno Being There (1979) – Caleb Deschanel The Black Stallion (1979) – Caleb Deschanel Manhattan (1979) – Gordon Willis The Shining (1980) – John Alcott Chariots of Fire (1981) – David Watkin Das Boot (1981) – Jost Vacano Reds (1981) – Vittorio Storaro Fanny and Alexander (1982) – Sven Nykvist The Right Stuff (1983) – Caleb Deschanel Amadeus (1984) – Miroslav Ondricek The Natural (1984) – Caleb Deschanel Paris, Texas (1984) – Robby Müller Brazil (1985) – Roger Pratt The Mission (1986) – Chris Menges Empire of the Sun (1987) – Allen Daviau The Last Emperor (1987) – Vittorio Storaro Wings of Desire (1987) – Henri Alekan Mississippi Burning (1988) – Peter Biziou JFK (1991) – Robert Richardson Raise the Red Lantern (1991) – Fei Zhao Unforgiven (1992) – Jack Green Baraka (1992) – Ron Fricke Schindler’s List (1993) – Janusz Kaminski Searching For Bobby Fischer (1993) – Conrad Hall Trois Coulieurs: Bleu (Three Colours: Blue; 1993) – Slawomir Idziak The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – Roger Deakins Seven (1995) – Darius Khondji The English Patient (1996) – John Seale L. A. Confidential (1997) – Dante Spinotti Saving Private Ryan (1998) – Janusz Kaminski The Thin Red Line (1998) – John Toll American Beauty (1999) – Conrad Hall The Matrix (1999) – Bill Pope In the Mood for Love (2000) – Christopher DoyleShareTweetPin ItLinkedIn193shares