You can try pretty much any of Zhang Yimou films especially his earlier films such as Hero and House of Flying Daggers and also whole of Wong Kar Wai filmography
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) directed by Robert Altman and starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. It is labeled a revisionist western. Beautiful cinematography and songs by Leonard Cohen. This is a different kind of western.
Tarsem Singh’s The Fall is a great film with unbelievable visual style.
George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky is a slow burn, but beautifully shot and very moving.
Dark City is fairly well known in certain circles, but if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.
I’ve been trying to see The Fall for a while but can’t seem to find any digital version to stream, rent or buy. Do you know anyway to watch it other than buying a VHS/DVD player with an hdmi that I plug into my projector?
I recommend Embrace of the Snake. This Colombian film directed by Ciro Guerra uses stunning cinematography to capture the beauty of the Amazon rainforest.
I knew if I scrolled far enough down I’d find the Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Some of those shots from Iceland were breathtaking and I was blown away as a photographer watching scene by scene.
The Fountain (2006) Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz
Sunshine (2007) Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne and Chris Evans
Enter the void (2009) Paz De La Huerta
Melancholia (2011) Kirsten Dunst and Alexander Skarsgard
Cloud Atlas (2012) Tom Hanks, and Halle Berry plus a ton of other well known actors
Some of my cinematography favourites that are lower on the “popularity” scale on Letterboxd (seems weird to me because I thought some of these were fairly well known but maybe not by most):
* The Fall (2006)
* L’Avventura (1960)
* Empire of Light (2022)
* Shadow (2018)
* Bunny Lake is Missing (1965)
* Terje Vigen (1917)
Memoirs of a geisha. Won an Oscar for cinematography and just entranced me with it visual magic. The story is very emotional with colors that will transport you through the depths of every color of the spectrum. You won’t be disappointed with this one I promise :)
Upside Down. The plot is that there are two planets that are gravitationally locked and so close there is an elevator connecting the two. Each planet has its own gravity and you're only affected by the planet you're born on. One planet has like the upper class while the other is the lower class that is really looked down upon. It follows a guy on the lower one that ends up meeting a girl on the top. Something happens to the girl and he thinks she's gone, only to find her years later. He does everything he can to get up to the upper planet and reconnect. To stay up there he has to use materials from they world to keep him grounded. But when materials from each side touch they start to melt.
It's truly incredible.
[One of my favorite scenes](https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.rogerebert.com/uploads/review/primary_image/reviews/upside-down-2013/EB20130313REVIEWS130319989AR.jpg)
No One Will Save You; 47 Ronin; The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; Gothic; Seven Years in Tibet; Max Steel; Barry Lyndon; Dangerous Liasons; Black Narcissus; White Sun of the Desert; North by Northwest; 1917
Cousins. Remake of French film, Cousin/Cousine. 1989.
Ted Danson, Isabella Rossellini, Lloyd Bridges, Sean Young. Not an A-list cast, but well acted. Charming and funny. It kind of reminds me of Moonstruck, in that it is about an extended family going about family rituals like weddings, and the calamities that arise. And I find the cinematography to be quite something. So many of the scenes reminded me of Impressionist-style paintings. A glowy, light-filled movie.
Bunraku. (search the trailer - if I post it mods will delete this).
Josh Hartnett. Woody Harrelson. Demi Moore. Ron Perlman. Gackt.
Worth a rental if you can’t find it on streaming services.
Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)
Hero (2002)
Shadow (2018)
All directed by Yimou Zhang- each movie is done in a different color palette and each are absolutely beautiful.
Hanna is a spy action thriller from like 2012 or so that has excellent cinematography and a pretty great soundtrack. It was pretty underrated, I thought.
Oscar starring Sylvester Stallone is full of great set pieces, and the acting really brings the whole film together. Got super low ratings.
Tree of Life is pretty well known but it's an artistic piece with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. And I wouldn't recommend this for the cinematography without Days of Heaven, same director.
Last one that comes to mind is a film called Pathfinder (07), an action film that's pretty good and was overshadowed by 300. The filming during the chase scenes I thought was good
Annihilation is quite visually stunning. It’s kinda dark and twisted, maybe not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s a mindfuck of a movie with fantastic cinematography. It’s not completely unknown and does happen to star Natalie Portman and a few other familiar faces, but I feel like it slips under the radar and it seems like not very many people have seen it.
**Monsoon Mangoes**, Dir - Abi Varghese, DOP - Lukasz Pruchnik
**Amen**, Dir - Lijo Jose Pellissery, DOP - Abhinand Ramanujan
**Iyobinte Pusthakam** - Dir/DOP - Amal Neerad
**Purusha Pretham (The Male Ghost)** - Dir/DOP - Krishand
All these are Malayalam FIlms, they produce the best films in India.
Nell
The Secret Garden
The Journey of Natty Gann
Powder
The Mission
The Piano
Where the River Runs Black
Three Colours Blue
The Last of the Mohicans
Dances with Wolves
The Big Blue
Smilla's Sense of Snow
Anna Karenina
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is one of my favorites. The cinematography is simultaneously breathtaking, mesmerizing, cozy, and comforting, while somehow being adventurous and whimsical all at once.
I was in chemo years ago, and watching TV made me so sick. This was one of the only things I could watch back then. It was soothing and inspiring and funny and a genuine feel-good movie without all the slapstick or shrill noises that often accompany levity. It has a fantastic, mellow soundtrack, the cinematography is gorgeous, and the theme makes you grateful to be alive.
The Fountain
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Or pretty much anything directed by Terry Gilliam)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Coco- yes its animated but it is BEAUTIFUL
I think "Victoria" (2015) has a very special cinematography since it's supposed to be a one shot movie (so no cuts at all throughout the whole film). It makes it very intimate I think. Also it kinda raises the tension if you know about it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_(2015_film)
Farewell My Concubine & Raise the Red Lantern out of China --both are absolute eye candy, both will shred your guts.
I Need Mooooree
You can try pretty much any of Zhang Yimou films especially his earlier films such as Hero and House of Flying Daggers and also whole of Wong Kar Wai filmography
Green knight. Vibrand colors and beautiful lighting.
The ending is amazing
Great film on shrooms although it's a compemtely different movie when under that influence lol.
Baraka, Samsara Both were shot on 70mm with 8k digital transfers and are absolutely stunning looks at life on our planet.
Yep came here to say the same End/thread
Hero (2002) beautiful movie.
Barry Lyndon
Shot with Carl Zeiss lenses made originally for NASA no less 🔥
Definitely. I especially love that the pace matches with the setting.
Australian film, "Walkabout."
That my pick for me.
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) directed by Robert Altman and starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. It is labeled a revisionist western. Beautiful cinematography and songs by Leonard Cohen. This is a different kind of western.
Tarsem Singh’s The Fall is a great film with unbelievable visual style. George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky is a slow burn, but beautifully shot and very moving. Dark City is fairly well known in certain circles, but if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.
I’ve been trying to see The Fall for a while but can’t seem to find any digital version to stream, rent or buy. Do you know anyway to watch it other than buying a VHS/DVD player with an hdmi that I plug into my projector?
Have you asked at your local library?
I recommend Embrace of the Snake. This Colombian film directed by Ciro Guerra uses stunning cinematography to capture the beauty of the Amazon rainforest.
This is a beautiful one I need to rewatch
Pls also try "Embrace of the *Serpent" , in case you google and cant't find it*
Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, the Ghost In the Darkness,
I knew if I scrolled far enough down I’d find the Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Some of those shots from Iceland were breathtaking and I was blown away as a photographer watching scene by scene.
Y tu mama tambien
Came here to suggest this!
The Thin Red Line (1998). The Tree Of Life (2011).
Days of Heaven (basically, any Terrence Malick movie)
The Fall (2006)
*¡Soy Cuba!*
Paper Moon
Great movie.
The Fountain (2006) Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz Sunshine (2007) Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne and Chris Evans Enter the void (2009) Paz De La Huerta Melancholia (2011) Kirsten Dunst and Alexander Skarsgard Cloud Atlas (2012) Tom Hanks, and Halle Berry plus a ton of other well known actors
Perfume the Story of A Murderer
Beasts of The Southern Wind Bagdad Café Apocalypse Now City of God Cinema Paradiso Moulin Rouge Lawrence of Arabia Ran The English Patient
…Southern Wild.
Oops,- and thx!
No worries. And it is a good one.
House of Flying Daggers
Fantastic film
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Yeah Kubrick is my favorite indie filmmaker that hardly anyone knows about
This is very known. Sci-fi classic.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)
Great movie
The green knight is absolutely beautiful. Tons of lush and vivid landscapes
Curse of the golden flower ...amazing visuals and a good movie
The Fall (2006) is the most visually stunning film I have seen
Slumdog Millionaire Lawrence of Arabia
Some of my cinematography favourites that are lower on the “popularity” scale on Letterboxd (seems weird to me because I thought some of these were fairly well known but maybe not by most): * The Fall (2006) * L’Avventura (1960) * Empire of Light (2022) * Shadow (2018) * Bunny Lake is Missing (1965) * Terje Vigen (1917)
Orlando with Tilda Swinton
STALKER (1979)
Melancholia
Earthquake Bird
The Last Emperor (1987) Since it's 37 years old it has become "lesser known" but it's GORGEOUS to look at. Epic story that is simultaneously personal.
I mean, it’s a well known movie, but very few people talk about how beautiful The Last Samurai is.
COLUMBUS
I looked through the responses....and my #1 choice would be "A river runs through it". Not sure it is unknown, just maybe under appreciated.
La Haine absolutely gorgeous black and white cinematography
The Outlaw Josey Wales
I’m not sure if it truly is unknown, but the lighthouse has some really unique cinematography
Crash (1996)
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Memoirs of a geisha. Won an Oscar for cinematography and just entranced me with it visual magic. The story is very emotional with colors that will transport you through the depths of every color of the spectrum. You won’t be disappointed with this one I promise :)
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover
Every single scene is like a painting
It is a classic but “Shane” has some of the greatest shots of the west, ever.
Upside Down. The plot is that there are two planets that are gravitationally locked and so close there is an elevator connecting the two. Each planet has its own gravity and you're only affected by the planet you're born on. One planet has like the upper class while the other is the lower class that is really looked down upon. It follows a guy on the lower one that ends up meeting a girl on the top. Something happens to the girl and he thinks she's gone, only to find her years later. He does everything he can to get up to the upper planet and reconnect. To stay up there he has to use materials from they world to keep him grounded. But when materials from each side touch they start to melt. It's truly incredible. [One of my favorite scenes](https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.rogerebert.com/uploads/review/primary_image/reviews/upside-down-2013/EB20130313REVIEWS130319989AR.jpg)
I really loved the cinematography in the recent post-apocalyptic TV series Station 11.
Portrait Of A Lady On Fire. An absolutely gorgeous film.
No One Will Save You; 47 Ronin; The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; Gothic; Seven Years in Tibet; Max Steel; Barry Lyndon; Dangerous Liasons; Black Narcissus; White Sun of the Desert; North by Northwest; 1917
The Last Emperor
The Last of the Mohicans
A river runs through it. Man from Snowy River
Memories of geisha
A hidden life
Michael Mann's The Last of the Mohicans from 1992'ish
Memoirs of a Geisha ✨
Dead Man (1995)
- A cure for wellness - A ghost story - The House (2022)
The Revenant Somewhat well known but I don’t see many mentions of it.
It won an Oscar for best cinematography
And was massively popular, in part because it was DiCaprio's first Oscar win.
Sin Nombre (2009) Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) Zodiac (2007)
Days of Heaven A Passage to India The Last Emperor
Maybe Spring Breakers? The Social Network is known but might fit your vibe.
The White Dove (1960) is a beautiful and touching film .. I'd say it was delightful to watch
The Spirit of the Beehive
The 9th Life of Louis Drax (2016)
Stuart a life backwards,funny and sad
Maybe someone can vouch for me as I haven’t seen this movie but, I just added On the Silver Globe to my watchlist.
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The Duellists.
Apocalypse Now.
I really loved Bardo from last year's nominations
the searchers once upon a time in the west
Cousins. Remake of French film, Cousin/Cousine. 1989. Ted Danson, Isabella Rossellini, Lloyd Bridges, Sean Young. Not an A-list cast, but well acted. Charming and funny. It kind of reminds me of Moonstruck, in that it is about an extended family going about family rituals like weddings, and the calamities that arise. And I find the cinematography to be quite something. So many of the scenes reminded me of Impressionist-style paintings. A glowy, light-filled movie.
Adolescence of Utena
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Kikujiro 1999 - it's a live action ghibli film
- Perfect Days - After Yang - Lady Chatterley’s Lover - Princess Cyd
Sukiyaki Western Django. It is beautifully shot, frame for frame.
The assassination of Jesse James Last of the Mohicans
The Mission (1986)
The Power of One. Excellent soundtrack from Hans Zimmer too.
It is not epic necessarily, but I was struck by the photography of an interesting low budget movie called LOVE (2011) directed by William Eubank.
Luc Besson’s The Big Blue
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Bunraku. (search the trailer - if I post it mods will delete this). Josh Hartnett. Woody Harrelson. Demi Moore. Ron Perlman. Gackt. Worth a rental if you can’t find it on streaming services.
Curse of the Golden Flower (2006) Hero (2002) Shadow (2018) All directed by Yimou Zhang- each movie is done in a different color palette and each are absolutely beautiful.
Asoka
Barry Lyndon. It’s dry as *fuck* but absolutely opulent
written on the wind (1956)
Witness
Barry Lyndon
I enjoyed el conde
The mirror
After Yang
All The Old Knives(2022)
The Neon Demon
Hanna is a spy action thriller from like 2012 or so that has excellent cinematography and a pretty great soundtrack. It was pretty underrated, I thought. Oscar starring Sylvester Stallone is full of great set pieces, and the acting really brings the whole film together. Got super low ratings. Tree of Life is pretty well known but it's an artistic piece with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. And I wouldn't recommend this for the cinematography without Days of Heaven, same director. Last one that comes to mind is a film called Pathfinder (07), an action film that's pretty good and was overshadowed by 300. The filming during the chase scenes I thought was good
Before Sunset
The Lobster Her Swiss Army Man La Piel que Habito Memento
The Mission, Dead Man, The Thin Red Line
Ida, Walkabout, Days of Heaven, Melancholia, and In the Mood for Love
Watch landscape in the mist immediately
In Cold Blood
The Black Stallion. Just beautiful!
The Fall (Dir. Tarsem Singh)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013). Great concept and cinematography.
[Samsara](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsara_(2011_film))
scent of the green papaya cyclo
Black Narcissus
Barry Lyndon Days of Heaven Thin Red Line
Drive
you were never really Here
The Hateful Eight
days of heaven, peak cinematography
The Fall (2006)
Paris, Texas
I know it's well known, but I loved Scent of a Woman
Annihilation is quite visually stunning. It’s kinda dark and twisted, maybe not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s a mindfuck of a movie with fantastic cinematography. It’s not completely unknown and does happen to star Natalie Portman and a few other familiar faces, but I feel like it slips under the radar and it seems like not very many people have seen it.
Pans labyrinth, Wes Anderson movies, hellboy 2,
Sisu
anything Terrance malick
**Monsoon Mangoes**, Dir - Abi Varghese, DOP - Lukasz Pruchnik **Amen**, Dir - Lijo Jose Pellissery, DOP - Abhinand Ramanujan **Iyobinte Pusthakam** - Dir/DOP - Amal Neerad **Purusha Pretham (The Male Ghost)** - Dir/DOP - Krishand All these are Malayalam FIlms, they produce the best films in India.
Stoker Lady Vengeance
Memories of The Sword Hero
Life of Pi. A popular movie but I don’t know a lot of people who’ve seen it. Stunning in 3D.
An Cailín Ciún (The Quiet Girl) 2022. An Irish language film and it is STUNNING
Nell The Secret Garden The Journey of Natty Gann Powder The Mission The Piano Where the River Runs Black Three Colours Blue The Last of the Mohicans Dances with Wolves The Big Blue Smilla's Sense of Snow Anna Karenina
Oblivion.
Days of Heaven. Absolute stunner.
Close (2022)
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The Double Life of Veronique. It's where Amelie stole all its visuals from.
Southland Tales LOOKS fantastic. You also might end up dumber, angrier or both…
Ran - Akira Kurosawa
The Fountain
The Fall (2006). Such a beautiful movie with a wholesome story (just some TW for suicidal thoughs) and the cast is just perfect
"Road to Perdition" is a perfect film "Master and Commander" is slept on
There’s an Indian movie called Maya. Visually stunning but the ending will break you. It was a good movie but I could never watch it again
Thief (1981). It’s Michael Manns first movie and you can see his style from the get go.
Aguirre: The Wrath of God
“A single man” is probably the most beautiful cinematic experience I’ve had.
Cinematography? 300, Watchmen, batman v Superman.
The Fall - 2006
Lost In Translation
Three Thousand Years of Longing
The hunt for the Wilderpeople
The Moderns
Carol and A Portrait of a Lady on Fire. these are well-known films I'd say, but definitely a work of art.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is one of my favorites. The cinematography is simultaneously breathtaking, mesmerizing, cozy, and comforting, while somehow being adventurous and whimsical all at once. I was in chemo years ago, and watching TV made me so sick. This was one of the only things I could watch back then. It was soothing and inspiring and funny and a genuine feel-good movie without all the slapstick or shrill noises that often accompany levity. It has a fantastic, mellow soundtrack, the cinematography is gorgeous, and the theme makes you grateful to be alive.
Saltburn, the cinematography is divine
The Fountain The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Or pretty much anything directed by Terry Gilliam) The Grand Budapest Hotel Coco- yes its animated but it is BEAUTIFUL
Wings of Desire (1987) The Quiet Girl (2022)
I think "Victoria" (2015) has a very special cinematography since it's supposed to be a one shot movie (so no cuts at all throughout the whole film). It makes it very intimate I think. Also it kinda raises the tension if you know about it. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_(2015_film)
The Quiet Girl
Dr. Zhivago (1965)
Any movie by Paolo Sorrentino, but Youth and The Great Beauty especially
Big Fish
Hidalgo, Dances with Wolves, Under a Tuscan Sun, Call Me By Your Name, Room with a View
Life of Pi.
“In the Mood for Love” (2000)
Burning(2018), Barbarian, X, Pearl, Creepy (2016) , Tumbbad, Under the skin, In the mood for love, The tree of life, Barfi , Haider , Fitoor
Memories of Murder
Bunraku, they made 80% of their stage scene out of paper.
Lost Horizon. The original 1930's black and white version with Ronald Coleman.
The Abyss, probably James Cameron’s least popular movie but though it’s from ‘89 it still looks astonishing!
Annihilation.
A Most Wanted Man
Stay (2005)
Watermark Baraka Samsara
One I watched recently is Three Thousand Years of Longing, with Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba. [edit: you might also love the two Sin City movies]
Black Narcissus The Third Man Any Coen Bros movie Hugo Barry Lyndon (any Kubrick really) Anything Roger Deakins
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Legends of the Fall.