Nestor Almendros ( Spanish: Néstor Almendros Cuyás ; October 30, 1930 , Barcelona - March 4, 1992 , New York ) is a Spanish cameraman and documentary who worked in Cuba , France and the USA . The master of work with light , nicknamed the "architect of light" [4] . The author of the book "Man with a movie camera." Jury member of the 38th Cannes and 46th Venice Film Festivals. Almendrosa is usually included in the list of the greatest operators in history [5] [6] .
| Nestor Almendros | |
|---|---|
| Néstor almendros | |
 | |
| Date of Birth | |
| Place of Birth | Barcelona , Spain |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | New York , USA |
| Citizenship | |
| Profession | cameraman , filmmaker |
| Awards | Oscar , Cesar |
| IMDb | |
Content
Life and work
From a family of school teachers who, after the defeat of the Spanish Republic, emigrated to Cuba in 1939. In 1955 he graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy and Literature of the University of Havana , went to the USA to study cinema, continued his studies in Rome , where he met with Manuel Puig .
After the victory of the Cuban Revolution, he returned to Cuba, together with G. Cabrera Infante founded the Havana Cinematheque , shot documentaries, but broke up with the Castro regime (in particular, due to the unconventional nature of his sexual orientation ) and left for France in 1962.
He joined the directors of the French new wave , constantly collaborated with F. Truffaut , worked with E. Romer (" Night at Maud ", " Marquise von O "), J. Estasch , Barbe Schroeder , Maurice Piala , as well as in the USA with T. Malik , A. Pakula , R. Benton , M. Scorsese, and others.
Almendros’s artistic triumph was Malik’s Harvest Days (1978), which was shot in a short 20-minute period of Golden Light, which immediately precedes sunset (the so-called magic hour ).
Almendros was an active human rights activist, directed documentaries about Castro’s regime “Bad behavior” and “No one heard” (both - 1984). Since the late 1970s, he began to lose his sight, worked on the last film already blindly. Died of AIDS .
Filmography
Operator
- 1964 : Nadia in Paris / Nadja à Paris ( Eric Romer )
- 1964 : Paris through the eyes ... / Paris vu par ... (collective project)
- 1966 : Modern Student / Une étudiante d'aujourd'hui ( Eric Romer )
- 1967 : The Collector / La Collectionneuse ( Eric Romer )
- 1967 : The Wild Racers ( Daniel Heller and Roger Corman )
- 1969 : More / More ( Barbet Schroeder )
- 1969 : Night at Maud / Ma nuit chez Maud (Eric Romer)
- 1969 : Wild Child / L'Enfant sauvage ( Francois Truffaut )
- 1969 : Knee Claire / Le Genou de Claire (Eric Romer)
- 1970 : Family Hearth / Domicile conjugal (Francois Truffaut)
- 1971 : Valley / La Vallée (Barbet Schroeder)
- 1971 : Two English Women and the Continent / Les Deux Anglaises et le Continent (Francois Truffaut)
- 1972 : Love in the Afternoon / L'Amour l'après-midi (Eric Romer)
- 1973 : Ginger / Poil de carotte (Henri Graziani)
- 1973 : Rare Bird / L'Oiseau rare ( Jean-Claude Brialie )
- 1973 : Femmes au soleil
- 1973 : Charlot, le gentleman vagabond
- 1974 : La Gueule ouverte ( Maurice Piala )
- 1974 : Général Idi Amin Dada: Autoportrait (Barbet Schroeder)
- 1974 : Cockfighter (Monte Hellman)
- 1974 : My first hobbies / Mes petites amoureuses ( Jean Eustache )
- 1975 : L'Histoire d'Adèle H. (Francois Truffaut)
- 1975 : Mistress / Maîtresse (Barbet Schroeder)
- 1976 : Marquise von O / La Marquise d'O ... (Eric Romer)
- 1976 : All day long under the trees / Des journées entières dans les arbres ( Marguerite Duras )
- 1976 : Cambio de sexo
- 1976 : Days of Heaven ( Terence Malik )
- 1977 : The Man Who Loved Women / L'Homme qui aimait les femmes (Francois Truffaut)
- 1977 : All Life Ahead / La Vie devant soi (Moshé Mizrahi)
- 1977 : Going South / Jack Nicholson
- 1977 : Le Center Georges-Pompidou
- 1977 : The Green Room / La Chambre verte (Francois Truffaut)
- 1978 : Koko, le gorille qui parle (Barbet Schroeder)
- 1978 : Perceval Welshman / Perceval le Gallois (Eric Romer)
- 1978 : Runaway Love / L'Amour en fuite (Francois Truffaut)
- 1978 : Kramer vs. Kramer Kramer ( Robert Benton )
- 1980 : The Blue Lagoon ( Randal Kleiser )
- 1980 : The Last Metro / Le Dernier Métro (Francois Truffaut)
- 1982 : Sophie's Choice ( Alan Pacula )
- 1982 : Still of the Night (Robert Benton)
- 1983 : Pauline on the beach / Pauline à la plage ( Eric Romer )
- 1983 : Hurry Sunday! / Vivement dimanche! (Francois Truffaut)
- 1984 : Places in the Heart (Robert Benton)
- 1986 : Jealousy / Heartburn ( Mike Nichols )
- 1987 : Nadine / Robert Benton
- 1991 : Billy Bathgate / Robert Benton
Director
- 1950 : Una Confusión cotidiana
- 1960 : Rural Schools / Escuelas rurales
- 1960 : La tumba francesa
- 1960 : Gente en la playa
- 1960 : Ritmo de Cuba
- 1984 : No One Heard / Nadie escuchaba
- 1984 : Mauvaise Conduite
Recognition
- He was awarded an Oscar for T. Malik’s film “ Harvest Days ” (1979), which is often called the owner of the most beautiful “picture” in the history of cinema [7] [8] .
- César Award for Best Cinematography in Francois Truffaut's Last Metro (1980). Truffaut considered Almendros one of the greatest operators in history [9] .
- In the USA, the Almendros Award was established for the best film on the struggle for human rights , in Italy - the prize named after him for young cameramen.
Autobiography
- Un homme à la caméra. Renens: 5 Continents; Paris: Hatier, 1980 (A Man with a Camera. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1984)
- Almendros N. A few general observations. A chapter from the book “A Man with a Movie Camera” // Film Studies Notes, 2003, No. 64, p. 114-123.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 BNF identifier : Open Data Platform 2011.
- ↑ 1 2 SNAC - 2010.
- ↑ 1 2 Encyclopædia Britannica
- ↑ Technique of film and television. Art, 1983. pp. 76.
- ↑ François Truffaut: The Lost Secret - Anne Gillain - Google Books
- ↑ Is Days of Heaven the most beautiful film ever made? | David Thomson | Film | The guardian
- ↑ Is Days of Heaven the most beautiful film ever made? | David Thomson | Film | The guardian
- ↑ Days of Heaven Review. Movie Reviews - Film - Time Out London . Date of treatment January 8, 2013. Archived January 20, 2013.
- ↑ GREAT MOMENTS | San Francisco Film Festival . Date of treatment January 8, 2013. Archived January 20, 2013.
Literature
- Nestor Almendros: direttore della fotografia. Aquila: Ministero del Turismo e dello Spettacolo, 1988
- Néstor Almendros en Sevilla. Sevilla: Consejería de Cultura; Filmoteca de Andalucía, 1999.
- Butovsky Y. Nestor Almendros, a man with a movie camera // Cinema Notes, 2003, No. 64, p. 109-112.
- Truffaut F. Light of Nestor Almendros // Ibid., P. 113