braddugg For all the film buffs and film historians, this movie is a testament on cinematography. I say this precisely because it covers many years of films. From 1930's to 1990's and beyond, it shows an array of history of cinema itself.Actually titled as CAMERAMAN - THE LIFE AND WORK OF JACK CARDIFF, I put the title as simply CAMERAMAN. Jack Cardiff, is considered by many as the greatest cinematographer ever and this film, which is a documentary shows us glimpses of the work of Jack Cardiff and why is he essentially considered as great by many. Sprinkled with interviews from, Martin Scorsese, Kirk Douglas and many many varied film personalities, this documentary shows us scenes from various films. Most of the scenes are actually known to us, and here we see the work that went to make that scene. There is wonderful information in this film and also, the humility of the great man is presented wonderfully, in his own words, he seems to be lost and unrecognized for much of the time. He mentions, that in premieres, people would ask "Who's that?" and they will say "Oh, he's nobody" Many moments like this give us insights into this great man and his body of work. This is a documentary that should be watched by film buffs. Also, did I mention that he is first cinematographer to have been given an honorary Academy award. So, boy how he did all of that is worth knowing. A 4/5 for this wonderful documentary by Craig McCall. I am told, it took nearly two decades to complete this. Salute to the sheer amount of effort kept by Craig and his team.

st-shot Made shortly before his death Cameraman: the life and work of Jack Cardiff is an excellent bio on Cardiff and due to his long career the history of color film as well. Working into his nineties the highly lucid and spry octogenarian covers a lot of ground with emphasis on his collaboration with the the team of Powell and Pressburger at Archer studios which produced two of the finest color works in film history Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes. There of course were decades of others that also shined from Archer and beyond with The African Queen, Pandora and the Flyiong Dutchman, War and Peace and The Vikings and Cameraman shows healthy snippets from each.Amiable and self effacing Cardiff himself makes for a wonderful guide mixing anecdotes and methods free of ego and judgment. This doc is a must for film historians as well as anyone that has ever been under the spell of celluloid magic.

MartinHafer This is a wonderful tribute to Jack Cardiff and really gives the viewer insight into what it was to be a cinematographer during film's glory days of the 40s, 50s and beyond. This is wonderful, as MOST biographies about movie folks were about the actors and directors--and NEVER about technicians. So, in this case, you get to see and appreciate the use of color, framing, the use of matte paintings and other aspects of camera-work.The film consists of lots of clips of films Cardiff made. In addition, they were fortunate enough to have lots of footage of Cardiff reminiscing about his work and the people he's known over the years. And, considering how incredibly old Cardiff was, he sure seemed a lot younger and alert than you'd expect from a man nearly 100! In addition, there are lots of interviews with those who worked with him or who appreciated and learned from him (such as Martin Scorsese). All in all, a wonderful tribute but also a great lesson to die-hard film buffs. Well worth seeing.

ShootingShark A documentary about acclaimed cameraman and film director Jack Cardiff, who had a lengthy career in British films, Hollywood and internationally, and worked with many of the biggest names in cinema.Jack Cardiff had a pretty amazing life. The son of theatrical performers, he was a child actor in silent pictures, then a jobber in British films in the thirties, was selected by Technicolor in 1936 to be the first person in the UK to be trained in its use, won an Oscar for Black Narcissus in 1947, went on to work with everyone from Humphrey Bogart to Marilyn Monroe to Sylvester Stallone, directed a dozen movies of his own (my favourite of which is Girl On A Motorcycle but the most famous is probably Sons And Lovers), was still making features in his seventies and carried on working pretty much up until his death in 2009 aged 94. What a guy. This film is a series of interviews with him and those who worked with him, shot over several years, and he is witty, informative, modest and insightful. His conception of what movie photography should really be - a moving extension of painting - is fabulous, with many clips beautifully illustrating this ideology. Good movie photography should convey the action clearly and simply. Great movie photography should do this but also have artistic merit in its use of colour, shade, composition and movement through the frame. Outstanding movie photography should do all this but somehow contribute to the emotion of the film as well, and this is what Cardiff's cinematography somehow achieves. He has many interesting stories to tell, both technical and otherwise, and the film is crammed full of amazing photos from his life, like the one of Marlene Dietrich (who also knew a thing or two about cameras) looking through one of his lenses. He's also refreshingly honest and forward-looking - he doesn't dismiss digital technology when it would be so easy for someone of his calibre to do so, and like all great artists he adapted and evolved his style over time. Even if you're not really interested in movie photography, check out this great little documentary about a guy who - as far as movies are concerned - pretty much saw it all. The film includes footage previously shot by McCall for his shorts The Colour Merchant and Painting With Light, had a small but deserved theatrical release and was showcased at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. For those seeking more detail on Cardiff, he also published an excellent autobiography entitled Magic Hour. 6/10