IEC
GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHERS
#1: © Marina Svinina [Irkutsk, October 1994] - Courtesy of Alexandra Khovov
SACHA VIERNY
Born: 10 August 1919, Bois-le-Roi, France, as son of Russian immigrants.
Died: 15 May 2001, Paris, France.
Education: l'IDHEC, Paris, France.
Career: Became intern with dir Roger Leenhardt and asst with dir Louis Daquin. Ph news doc's in Africa.
Awards: 'César' Award nom [1981] for 'Mon oncle d'Amérique'; 'César' Award nom [1985] for 'L'amour à mort'; Camerimage 'Golden Frog' nom [1993] for 'The Baby of Mâcon'; Camerimage 'Golden Frog' nom [1996] & Art FF 'Golden Key' [1997] for 'The Pillow Book'.
GO TO FEATURE FILMS
GO TO SHORTS & DOCUMENTARIES
© Photo by Marina Svinina [Irkutsk, October 1994]
[Courtesy of Alexandra Khovov]
France in the
1960s became the cradle of innovative cinematography as faster film stocks,
lighter cameras, and a directorial community unafraid to bend or occasionally
discard forever the old rules, leveled the Hollywood formalism that ruled
post-war film. Among the great French lighting cameramen of that generation,
Sacha Vierny has cut his own path. Never in sympathy with the shoot-and-see
guerilla tactics of Raoul Coutard, unwilling to follow Jean Rabier into his
world of gaudy primaries, more adventurous than the formal Henri Decaë, Vierny
has worked so closely with directors, notably Alain Resnais and Peter Greenaway,
that he is less a technician than their collaborator.
In the 1950s, with French cinema closed to new talent, Vierny, Resnais, and their colleagues made documentaries under the government grant scheme. Vierny lit Resnais's last short, 'Le chant du styrène', a sponsored film about plastics manufacture turned on its head by his dazzling visuals and a Raymond Queneau commentary written in alexandrines.
Resnais had meanwhile found funding to film Marguerite Duras's script of 'Hiroshima, mon amour', of which Vierny shot the French sections. Vierny's style is already apparent in this film, with its painterly taste for darkness and texture, wide ranges of contrast between scenes, and considerable courage in working with low light sources. At first viewing, the film seemed to many critics disorganized, lacking formal photographic style, even carelessly underlit. Only later did its unifying intelligence become clear.
Vierny went on to shoot 'L'année dernière à Marienbad' in 1961. The photography was no less chancy than on 'Hiroshima, mon amour', but Vierny is philosophical about its technical drawbacks. "The fact that there are diffused images, that we sometimes shot on sound stock, that we are not really satisfied, that we think it's a little hasty, a little botched; is that important?" Resnais had showed the cameraman old newspapers and silent films as examples of the effects he was aiming at. "That the whites flared and the blacks were limpid," said Vierny. "That's what Resnais asked of me."
Vierny did not enter into another long-term relationship with any director until his films with Peter Greenaway. Fascinated with painting and anxious to instill some of the same values into his films as he finds in artists like Vermeer, Greenaway is a challenging collaborator for any lighting cameraman, particularly one like Vierny who shares his taste for saturated colors and low light. Indeed, throughout the 1990s Vierny more than ably served as Greenaway's house cinematographer. His images in 'The Baby of Mâcon' and 'The Pillow Book' are especially resplendent; viewing the latter (the story of a young Japanese woman who develops an appetite for having her body painted) is equal to watching a moving canvas.
Vierny, however, rejects photographic richness for its own sake. "My satisfaction is that the photography is not remarked on too much for itself," he has said. To underline his preference for atmosphere over formal perfection Vierny boasts that he uses neither viewfinder nor light meter. The light meter, he says, is "an instrument that measures essentially the quantities of light, and that doesn't correspond to the feelings I have about my work. What is the use of measuring? The meter will only verify that it's right." Such confidence would be arrogant in any lighting cameraman who had not proved, as Vierny has, his absolute mastery of the art. [From article written by John Baxter, updated by Rob Edelman, on the Film Reference website.]
With dir Alain Resnais [right]
Alain
Resnais: 'My earliest memories of Sacha Vierny go back more than half
a century, to our first meeting in 1948 or 1949. I had shot a few 16mm films
in Kodachrome, one of the first monopack color processes, which combined three
ultra thin emulsion layers on a single strip of film [this was before
Eastmancolor]. So Vierny introduced himself with: "We won't have
Kodachrome in professional 35mm for several months. I'd like to talk with you
about the ups and downs of your experience with color film." He was
exaggerating - my knowledge was empirical but limited - and I was truly
flattered that someone in the business wanted to talk shop with me.
We hit it off right away. When I made some short films a few years later with the great cinematographer Ghislain Cloquet, Vierny served as his assistant. Then I asked him to shoot 'Le chant du styrène' in color Dyaliscope. I even asked him to appear in a scene, as the only human being you really see. He was very photogenic.
I won't get into an exhaustive recap of all our films, but I must mention that next we embarked on the adventure of 'Hiroshima mon amour'. Together we checked out the locations that had been scouted in Nevers and its surroundings. I was obsessed with dusk, that moment when the sun disappears over the countryside. Was it really impossible to capture that on film? The two of us tried to find a way. Vierny was only shooting the French part of the film and had accepted the gamble of only finding out what Japanese cinematographer Michio Takahashi had shot in Tokyo after the film was edited. For a cinematographer, it was torture to know his images would be combined with those of a colleague without being able to see them ahead of time. But Vierny was stimulated by the challenge.
He never tried to make a secret of the tricks of his trade. I'd met other cameramen and it was quite a secretive milieu; everyone kept his methods to himself. It was totally different with Vierny. We were constantly talking about the relationship between the film stock and light, the aperture, depth of field, sensitometry, and the potential of the photoelectric cell. All these discussions contributed to a very strong, nearly familial relationship.
Here was a cinematographer who was interested not only in the look of the film but in its overall quality. We knew each other so well that, when we were on set, he could tell the frame and lens I was going to choose just by the way I looked through the viewfinder and moved up or down. He would start setting up the lights before I even told him what I wanted.
You could count on Vierny's support no matter what. That explains some of the on-set run-ins he had with our production managers. He was often criticized for always taking the director's side. We were criticized for forming a rock-solid unit, impermeable to outside influence. When I was starting out, I found my abilities so poor that I might have quit if it wasn't for Vierny, [camera operator Philippe] Brun, and my script supervisor, Sylvette Baudrot. When I made 'L'année dernière à Marienbad', for instance, I was in a constant mood of terror and anxiety, only alleviated by my collaborators' skill and commitment. Even today, I remain astounded at the confidence they put in a director of short films, shooting his first features by special dispensation [I didn't meet the French film administration's criteria]. Those three were the pillars that allowed me to construct my mise-en-scène and editing, like the roof supports of a Greek temple.
Vierny was an aristocrat of the cinematographer's trade. On first meeting, he could be very imposing. Actors sometimes mistook his demeanor for coldness, but they always came to love him. He was incredibly good at speaking to actors and had great respect for their work, considering their contribution to the film to be possibly the most important of all. He was conscious that the way the set was lit needed to be coordinated with the acting, and that a poorly lit set could destroy an actor's work. He believed that everything should be done to make the actor feel entirely free - a relatively rare point of view when we got started in the business. He wasn't looking for a predetermined aesthetic composition into which the actor had to wedge himself. After a take, rather than complaining that an actor hadn't hit his marks, he'd reposition some of the lights so that the actor could repeat the same movements. He was irreproachable. I have no idea how one could fault him.
He was as naturally elegant as his cinematography. 'Stavisky...' was a film in the 'Vierny style'. He liked things to shine in the darkness. To make the darkness palpable, he would add a spot of light in an unusual place. He liked the key light [main light source] to be clear, without having to compensate with the myriad little light sources used by forties and fifties cinematographers. He liked it when the picture needed to look a little solemn. He was fascinated by the aesthetic adventure of 'L'année dernière à Marienbad', which required a kind of hieratic wax museum quality, like an animated statue. I remember how interested he was in using auxiliary lenses to get more depth of field than would have otherwise been possible. And choosing to shoot matching shots and countershots twenty or sixty miles apart implied a complex game for the cinematographer. But he was also ready and willing to shoot neutral, nearly 'dirty' images for 'La guerre est finie'. After going to talk with Spanish refugees and communist activists, most of whom lived in the Paris suburbs, I wanted to reproduce the light I'd seen inside their homes. Vierny always liked to do the opposite of what we'd done in the previous film; he was a tireless experimenter. Every time I think about him, I want to borrow one of his favorite expressions: "Quelle merveille!" [How marvelous!]' [This tribute to Sacha Vierny by Alain Resnais was published in the October 2001 issue of 'Positif'. It is based on an interview conducted by François Thomas and was translated for The Criterion Collection website by Nicholas Elliott.]
| FEATURE FILMS | |
|---|---|
|
1958 |
Le bel âge/Love Is When You Make It! [Pierre Kast] b&w; cph: Ghislain Cloquet |
|
1958 |
Hiroshima mon amour [Alain Resnais] b&w; ph Japan seq: Takahashi Michio |
|
1959 |
La main chaude/The Itchy Palm [Gérard Oury] b&w; cph: André Villard |
|
1959 |
Merci Natercia! [Pierre Kast] b&w |
|
1960 |
La morte saison des amours/The Season for Love [Pierre Kast] b&w |
|
1961 |
L'année dernière à Marienbad/Last Year at Marienbad [Alain Resnais] ds/b&w |
|
1961 |
Climats/Climates of Love [Stellio Lorenzi] ds/b&w |
|
1962 |
Portrait Robot [Paul Paviot] b&w; cph: André Villard |
|
1962 |
Muriel, ou Le temps d'un retour [Alain Resnais] c |
|
1964 |
Aimez-vous les femmes?/A Taste for Women [Jean Léon] cs/b&w |
|
1965 |
La guerre est finie [Alain Resnais] b&w-c |
|
1965 |
De dans van de reiger/The Dance of the Heron [Fons Rademakers] scope/b&w |
|
1966 |
La musica [Paul Seban & Marguerite Duras] b&w |
|
1966 |
Belle de jour [Luis Buñuel] c |
|
1967 |
Caroline chérie [Denys de La Patellière] fs/c |
|
1967 |
La nuit bulgare [Michel Mitrani] c |
|
1968 |
Le tatoué [Denys de La Patellière] fs/c |
|
1969 |
La main [Henri Glaeser] c |
|
1970 |
Bof - Anatomie d'un livreur [Claude Faraldo] c |
|
1971 |
La vocation suspendue [Raúl Ruiz] 16mm/b&w-c; cph: Maurice Perrimond; b&w footage shot in 1942 |
|
1972 |
Le moine [Ado Kyrou] c |
|
1972 |
La sainte famille [Pierre Koralnik] c |
|
1972 |
Les granges brûlées/Suspect of Murder/Suspicion of Murder/The Investigator [Jean Chapot & (uncred) Alain Delon] c |
|
1973 |
Stavisky... [Alain Resnais] c |
|
1976 |
Baxter, Vera Baxter [Marguerite Duras] c |
|
1976 |
Le diable dans la boîte [Pierre Lary] c |
|
1977 |
L'hypothèse du tableau volé/The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting [Raúl Ruiz] b&w; 67m |
|
1978 |
Éclipse sur un ancien chemin vers Compostelle [Bernard Férié] c |
|
1978 |
Le fils puni [Philippe Collin] c |
|
1979 |
Le chemin perdu/The Lost Way [Patricia Moraz] c |
|
1979 |
Le rose et le blanc [Robert Pansard-Besson] c; cph: Jean-Paul Meurisse |
|
1979 |
Mon oncle d'Amérique [Alain Resnais] c; 2uc: François Catonné |
|
1980 |
BEAU PERE/Beau père [Bertrand Blier] scope/c |
|
1982 |
Les trois couronnes du matelot/Three Crowns of the Sailor [Raúl Ruiz] b&w-c |
|
1983 |
Clash/The Clash [Raphaël Delpard] b&w-c |
|
1983 |
Le femme publique [Andrzej Zulawski] c |
|
1984 |
L'amour à mort/Love Unto Death [Alain Resnais] p/c |
|
1984 |
Flügel und Fesseln/L'avenir d'Émilie/The Future of Emily [Helma Sanders-Brahms] c |
| SHORTS & DOCUMENTARIES | |
|---|---|
|
1953 |
Das Lied der Ströme/Song of the Rivers [Joris Ivens, Robert Ménégoz, Ruy Santos & Joop Huisken] b&w; doc/90m; cph: Erich Nitzschman, Anatoli Kloschin, Maximilian Scheer, a.o. |
|
1954 |
Bonnes vacances/Holidays on the Côte d'Azur [Pierre Neurisse & Jacques Nahum] ?; comm doc/26m; cph: André Dumaître |
|
1954 |
Le devoir de Zouzou [Jean Vidal] b&w; short/38m; cph (?): Henri Martin |
|
1954 |
Les chemins qui marchent [Pierre Lary] ? |
|
1954 |
Neiges [Jean-Jacques Languépin] c; short/20m; cph: Ghislain Cloquet, Georges Strouvé & André Dumaître |
|
1955 |
Nuit et brouillard/Night and Fog [Alain Resnais] 16mm-35bu/b&w-c; doc/32m; cph: Ghislain Cloquet |
|
1956 |
Du fourrage vert toute l'année [André Vetusto] c; doc/44m; cph: Quinto Albicocco & Félix Forestier; ep film series 'Je vois tout' |
|
1956 |
Tu enfanteras sans douleur [Henri Fabiani] 16mm/b&w; comm doc/26m |
|
1956 |
Un mauvais rêve: cancer [Pierre Neurisse & Fabiënne Forgue] ?; cph: Jean Penzer |
|
1957 |
Le mystère de l'atelier quinze [Alain Resnais & André Heinrich] b&w; short/18m; cph: Ghislain Cloquet |
|
1957 |
Les élèves-maîtres [André Vetusto] b&w; doc/20m |
|
1957 |
Lettre de Sibérie/Letter from Siberia [Chris Marker] b&w-c; doc/62m |
|
1957 |
Le chant du styrène [Alain Resnais] ds/c; doc/14m; + small part |
|
1958 |
L'opéra - - mouffe [Agnès Varda] 16mm/b&w; short/17m; uncred cph: A. Varda |
|
1958 |
16h.40 - Destination Rio [Jean-Pierre Decourt] ?; comm doc/?m; for Air France |
|
1958 |
Le champion [Jean-Pierre Decourt] c; short/23m |
|
1958 |
Pablo Picasso de 1900 à 1914 [Fabiënne Tzanck-Forgue] 16mm/c; doc/13m |
|
1959 |
Le cercle [Arie Mambouch (Arie Ambash), M. Bloch & Nina Mayo (Yael Ambash)] c; anim/12m |
|
1959 |
Une question d'assurance [Pierre Kast] b&w; short/26m |
|
1959 |
Paris la belle [Pierre Prévert & Marcel Duhamel] sepia & c; doc/24m; ph footage in sepia (1928): Man Ray , Henri Grignon & Jacques-André Boiffard |
|
1959 |
Ceux de l'acier [André Vetusto] c; doc/22m |
|
1959 |
La femme et l'enfant [Pierre Lary] ? |
|
1960 |
Neuf mois en quelques minutes [Pierre Lary] c; ?/17m |
|
1960 |
Bébé prend le départ [Pierre Lary] ? |
|
1960 |
Une naissance entre toutes [Pierre Lary] ? |
|
1961 |
Un Paris pour chacun [Chris Marker] ?; ?/600mtr; cph: Pierre Lhomme |
|
1961 |
Diamètres [Philippe Condroyer] c; doc/27m |
|
1962 |
Structures [Philippe Condroyer] c; doc/18m |
|
1962 |
Alpha-bêta-gamma [André Vétusto] c; doc/21m; cph: Claude Lecomte |
|
1962 |
Conte de neige et de sable [Jean-Jacques Sirkis] ?; short/18m |
|
1963 |
Quinze mille voisins [Pierre Lary] c; doc/24m |
|
1963 |
Un mal qui répand la terreur [Pierre Neurisse] ? |
|
1963 |
Le chapeau de Fortunatus [S. Arié Mambouch & Nina Mayo] b&w-c; short/16m |
|
1964 |
Un coin sans importance [Pierre Lary] ?; short/?m |
|
1964 |
Paris-Balzac - L'envers d'une histoire [André Charpak] ?; doc/10m |
|
1964 |
Et si c'était une sirène/Schade, daß du eine Sirene bist [Jean Schmidt] ?; short/24m |
|
1964 |
Mayeux le bossu [André Charpak] c; doc/11m |
|
1965 |
Nur der Nebel ist grau [Robert Ménégoz] cs/c; doc/25m |
|
1966 |
Aujourd'hui Paris... et demain [André Heinrich] c; doc/?m; cph: Pierre Lhomme, Guy Durban & Yann Le Masson |
|
196? |
La chaise longue [Sacha Vierny] ? |
|
1969 |
L'art roman [Sacha Vierny] ? |
|
1969 |
Photo couleur [Sacha Vierny] ? |
|
1970 |
Elle est la qui t'attend [Pierre Lary] c; short/16m |
|
1971 |
On n'échappe jamais [Pierre Lary] c; short/16m |
|
1971 |
L'animal en question [André Pozner] 16mm/b&w-c; doc/31m; cph: Pierre Lhomme |
|
1971 |
Versailles reçoit Elisabeth Schwarzkopf [Pierre Jourdan] ?; doc/?m |
|
1971 |
Le fusil à lunette [Jean Chapot] 16mm/c; short/14m |
|
1976 |
500 grammes de foie de veau [Henri Glaeser] b&w; short/15m |
|
1977 |
Le conseiller Crespel [Robert Pansard-Besson] c; short/20m |
|
1979 |
L'état des lieux [François Caillat] c; short/13m |
|
1983 |
Sans fausse note [Luc Pierre Trouvé] c; comm doc/13m; for the SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français) |
|
1983 |
Réouverture [Luc Pierre Trouvé] ? |
|
1987 |
Fear of Drowning [Vanni Corbellini & Peter Greenaway] 16mm/c; short/26m |
|
1989 |
Final [Irène Jouannet] b&w; short/14m |
|
1991 |
L'autre Célia [Irène Jouannet] c; short/22m |
|
1992 |
Rosa [Peter Greenaway] scope/b&w; dance film/15m |
|
1995 |
Autoreverse [Mathias Pulleu-Benguigui] ?; short/11m |
| TELEVISION | |
|---|---|
|
1964 |
Le petit Claus et le grand Claus [Pierre Prévert & Paul Grimault] tvm |
|
1967 |
La bien-aimée [Jacques Doniol-Valcroze] tvm |
|
1991 |
A Walk Through Prospero's Library [Peter Greenaway] exp doc/23m/v |
|
1991 |
Not Mozart/M Is for Man, Music, Mozart/M. Aural and Visual Variations on a Conundrum of the Apotheosis of the Spirit of Mozart [Peter Greenaway] mus exp tvm/29m/16mm; 3 seg: 'M Is for Man', 'M Is for Music' & 'M Is for Mozart'; ep 6-part series 'Not Mozart' |
| MISCELLANEOUS | |
|---|---|
|
1947 |
Les dernières vacances/The Last Vacation [Roger Leenhardt] intern; ph: Philippe Agostini |
|
1948 |
Le point du jour [Louis Daquin] co-asst dir; ph: André Bac |
|
1953 |
Statues d'épouvante/Le cubisme/L'école de Paris [Robert Hessens; doc] c.asst; ph: Ghislain Cloquet |
|
1954 |
Pantomimes [Paul Paviot; short] c.asst; ph: Ghislain Cloquet |
|
1954 |
Tout chante autour de moi [Pierre Gout] c.asst; ph: Georges Delaunay |
