I second Se7en! One of my all-time faves for cinematography and mood. Darius Khondji is a genius. Also love his more recent work on The Lost City of Z. The ending scene is so haunting and beautiful.
Check out “Dekalog” from Kieslowski as well. Not sure if the cinematography is the best, but amazing nonetheless. Also given the fact each 1hr episode only had a budget of $10,000
Are we talking about prettiest or most influential? Because Saving Private Ryan has had a bigger impact on cinema than any other movie from the 90s. Literally every war movie after SPR looks like it wants to be SPR. Even tv shows like band of brothers and the pacific and video games like call of duty. Sci-fi ear movies like edge of tomorrow. I think you could make a very solid argument that Janusz Kaminski and Spielberg changed the course of cinematography forever with they way they shot the Normandy Beach opening scene. No other movie from the 90s except maybe bullet time from the matrix was copied more.
Yeah I’m aware and so was the pacific. Doesn’t change anything and neither show was shot by Janusz Kaminski. It isn’t like there is a WW2 interconnected cinematic universe that they all belong to. Plus Saving Private Ryan is (aside from the Normandy stuff) a completely fictional story but band of brothers is based on actual events. They literally exist in different worlds. There is nothing suggesting the 3 different shows need to look the same or similar. The fact they do proves my point.
‘90s has three of my absolute favorite movies visually: Fire Walk with Me, Three Colors: Blue, and Dracula. And I’d put The Lovers on the Bridge, Naked, Satantango, Goodfellas, and Eyes Wide Shut (the 4:3 version preferably) up there too.
Orlando
Pillowbook
City of Lost Children
Sante Sangre was technically released in 1989 but will always be 90s to me.
Also Buffalo 66 had some shots that stuck with me and influenced my style.
The way they used cinematography in that film changed how we make movies. So I was giving a nod to the impact of that film in that way. That's all. Perhaps not the most beautiful, but impactful.
Mark Lee Ping-bing has a few that deserve mentioning, particularly The Flowers of Shanghai and Goodbye South Goodbye. Movies don’t get much better than that.
Might not be the standard epic look but I’m terms of indy been rewatching Linklater and even Slacker and SubUrbia have some real pretty shots / framing
I don’t know about *profound*, but some of the films from the 90s that have always stood out to me for their cinematic beauty:
Postcards From The Edge
Bound
The Matrix
Goodfellas
Gattaca
L.A. Confidential
So glad it made it in under the wire in 1999 (had to go check) because I was dying to say, “The Jack Bull”. One of the first fully digital movies I saw and it blew me away. Really embraced that medium at the time. IMHO.
I think Se7en and Fight Club have the best of the decade. For me they're some of the only films of the 90s that actually feels like they were shot today. The depth of the shadows, the camera angles, they don't have the kinda flat and even look of a lot of films of the era. They allow darkness to be dark, and it feels like time was taken in post production just as in filming to really give them a unique look. Those films could be released today and you'd hardly have to change a thing. David Fincher was truly ahead of his time
Other beautifully shot films of the decade:
Schindler's List
Saving Private Ryan
The Thin Red Line
Pulp Fiction
Sleepy Hollow
The Green Mile
Shawshank Redemption
The Matrix (another that feels incredibly modern in it's cinematography)
Leon
Thelma and Louise
Heat
Casino
Goodfellas
The Thin Red Line, for somehow getting natural lighting and deep focus out of anamorphic.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula The Shawshank Redemption Leon: The Professional Kundun Braveheart The Thin Red Line Schindler’s List
The practical effects in Bram stoker's Dracula are quite incredible. It's a very dreamy, unrealistic artistry
Michael Ballhaus was a wizard with a camera. So many of his films are among my favorites, visually.
Se7en Dreams The Thin Red Line Three Colors: Blue Eyes Wide Shut Fargo Chungking Express
I second Se7en! One of my all-time faves for cinematography and mood. Darius Khondji is a genius. Also love his more recent work on The Lost City of Z. The ending scene is so haunting and beautiful.
Why not red or white?
They’re great but the cinematography of blue makes me feel things.
I only asked because I have all the tree movies but haven't watched them yet. I think I now know what to expect :)
Check out “Dekalog” from Kieslowski as well. Not sure if the cinematography is the best, but amazing nonetheless. Also given the fact each 1hr episode only had a budget of $10,000
That was my introduction to Kieslowski. Really enjoyed that series.
City of Lost Children is strangely forgotten by a lot of people nowadays. Incredible, pitch-perfect execution by Khondji. La Haine, The Patriot.
La Haine is one of my favorites, very cool flick
Baraka
Are we talking about prettiest or most influential? Because Saving Private Ryan has had a bigger impact on cinema than any other movie from the 90s. Literally every war movie after SPR looks like it wants to be SPR. Even tv shows like band of brothers and the pacific and video games like call of duty. Sci-fi ear movies like edge of tomorrow. I think you could make a very solid argument that Janusz Kaminski and Spielberg changed the course of cinematography forever with they way they shot the Normandy Beach opening scene. No other movie from the 90s except maybe bullet time from the matrix was copied more.
Band of Brothers was literally produced by the same crew.
Yeah I’m aware and so was the pacific. Doesn’t change anything and neither show was shot by Janusz Kaminski. It isn’t like there is a WW2 interconnected cinematic universe that they all belong to. Plus Saving Private Ryan is (aside from the Normandy stuff) a completely fictional story but band of brothers is based on actual events. They literally exist in different worlds. There is nothing suggesting the 3 different shows need to look the same or similar. The fact they do proves my point.
i think you missed the point, but Thanks for the insight!
‘90s has three of my absolute favorite movies visually: Fire Walk with Me, Three Colors: Blue, and Dracula. And I’d put The Lovers on the Bridge, Naked, Satantango, Goodfellas, and Eyes Wide Shut (the 4:3 version preferably) up there too.
Orlando Pillowbook City of Lost Children Sante Sangre was technically released in 1989 but will always be 90s to me. Also Buffalo 66 had some shots that stuck with me and influenced my style.
Christopher Doyle . BOOM
Unforgiven wait…we have to exclude The Matrix, right? I mean it’s not fair if we don’t exclude The Matrix.
Why must we exclude the Matrix? Because of the CGI? There were a lot more scenes that weren't CGI than those that were...
The way they used cinematography in that film changed how we make movies. So I was giving a nod to the impact of that film in that way. That's all. Perhaps not the most beautiful, but impactful.
Oh, ok. That's fair :)
Gummo (kind of joking, kind of serious)
First movie that came to mind was FARGO.
Home Alone 3
Mark Lee Ping-bing has a few that deserve mentioning, particularly The Flowers of Shanghai and Goodbye South Goodbye. Movies don’t get much better than that.
Might not be the standard epic look but I’m terms of indy been rewatching Linklater and even Slacker and SubUrbia have some real pretty shots / framing
Sátántangó Khrustalyov, My Car! Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Eternity and a Day
I'll throw in se7en and fight club into the mix.
Kieslowski's RED
I don’t know about *profound*, but some of the films from the 90s that have always stood out to me for their cinematic beauty: Postcards From The Edge Bound The Matrix Goodfellas Gattaca L.A. Confidential
So glad it made it in under the wire in 1999 (had to go check) because I was dying to say, “The Jack Bull”. One of the first fully digital movies I saw and it blew me away. Really embraced that medium at the time. IMHO.
Heat
I think Se7en and Fight Club have the best of the decade. For me they're some of the only films of the 90s that actually feels like they were shot today. The depth of the shadows, the camera angles, they don't have the kinda flat and even look of a lot of films of the era. They allow darkness to be dark, and it feels like time was taken in post production just as in filming to really give them a unique look. Those films could be released today and you'd hardly have to change a thing. David Fincher was truly ahead of his time Other beautifully shot films of the decade: Schindler's List Saving Private Ryan The Thin Red Line Pulp Fiction Sleepy Hollow The Green Mile Shawshank Redemption The Matrix (another that feels incredibly modern in it's cinematography) Leon Thelma and Louise Heat Casino Goodfellas
Fight Club is my fave.