Best Cinematography of the 2010s

Creating this list was far more difficult than originally expected. How do you go about comparing action extravaganza John Wick (2014) to Academy Award-winning La La Land (2016)? During the selection process, movies would spring up out of nowhere to offer up their excellence. They cry out, “but what about me? Don’t I look great too?” There are so many great movies that didn't make this list. Each of them uniquely achieving beauty, but unfortunately, this review couldn't acknowledge all of them. 

While we recognize that the whole nature of cinematic aesthetics is subjective, for the fun of it, this list endeavors to praise the cinematographers and movies that have stood out from the rest. The elements of cinematography, whether the director of photography was responsible for them or not, have all been considered. Some were chosen because of their use of color, others for their expressionistic lighting designs, and others for their insanely complex shots. 

Ultimately, this list is a celebration of cinema and the people who create magnificent images. 

Mark Lee Ping-bing: The Assassin (2015)

Cinematographer Mark Lee Ping Bin, who is best known for his work with fellow DP Christopher Doyle on In the Mood for Love (2000), visually knocks this period drama out of the park. The sumptuous imagery is shot with restrained precision. Every frame, whether it was captured on location in rural China or on an exquisitely decorated set, is meticulously controlled. The Assassin's visuals mark it as an art-house film and distinguish it from other more mainstream martial arts movies. 

The filmmakers effectively utilized contrasting lighting and unconventional visual techniques (like putting a silkscreen in front of the lens) to make 9th century China come alive. Mark Lee raided the filmmaker's toolbox and used every technique imaginable, high contrast black and white, various aspect ratios, complex long take, and even slow motion.

The film’s most visually splendid shots mix lighting color temperatures; the contrast makes for sets that are multilayered and overtly theatrical. However, there is a surprising naturalness to the visual presentation despite the lavish visuals on display. This is due to the meditatively paced long takes and the use of nature to frame most of the fight sequences. While the opulent colors of the design do carry some of the weight, the way they are lit and framed with enduring patience more than speaks for itself.  

Roger Deakins: Skyfall (2012) & Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Many great action/blockbuster movies could’ve made the list, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Dunkirk (2017), or John Wick. However, the work that Roger Deakins did on Skyfall and Blade Runner 2049 is some of the best cinematography ever. These are modern, sleek, psychological studio films and every image stands up to scrutiny. 

Light, practical and artificial, is expertly manipulated in ways that create jaw-dropping images but also fit within the narrative. In these movies, light is as important as the production design in the process of creating the cinematic world. The monochromatic twilight blue at the Skyfall mansion and the oppressive orange air of Las Vegas in 2049 is as much a part of the setting as the set design. Deakins manufactured bold images that burn into the audience’s memory because of their intense but grounded lighting design.

Skyfall best showcases Deakins’s ability to light based on the location's context rather than manipulate the light for theatrical effect. The variation achieved is astounding, from crisp day-lit action cinematography in the opening Istanbul sequence to a modernist kaleidoscope of neon in Shanghai, and a fire lit chase on the Scottish moors. 

Deakins went more abstract with the lighting design in Blade Runner 2049. That abstraction transports the audience into the futuristic setting where light is oppressive and artificial. The sci-fi setting allows for light that can be believably shaped into thematically rich imagery. Huge contrasts give the world it's neo-noir feel, and overcast light and stark white hallways evoke feelings of alienation. It’s a future that one would decidedly not want to live in but one that is fantastically beautiful to look at.

Robert Yeoman: The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

The Grand Budapest Hotel represents the perfection of the collaboration between cinematographer Robert Yeoman and director Wes Anderson. Yeoman worked on almost every one of Anderson’s movies and by the time they made The Grand Budapest Hotel all that practice paid off. Visually, this movie is about as perfect a movie as they come. Of course, the set design is an equal partner in that achievement, but like in The Assassin, Yeoman's work with the camera and lighting speaks for itself. 

The visuals come alive with an abundance of whimsy and whit. Even the frame of the image is cheekily played with, shifting with the various narrative periods. The changing aspect ratio, overtly symmetrical shots, whip pans, and complex dolly shots could very well have turned out excessive or gimmicky, but when combined with Anderson’s directorial style it all works perfectly together. Stylistically, this is one of the most cohesive movies on the list. The cinematographer and director, after years of collaboration, knew exactly what to do to achieve visual perfection. 

Alexis Zabe: The Florida Project (2017)

The Florida Project doesn't have grandiose aesthetics like  Skyfall or The Grand Budapest Hotel; the images are simple and reflect the film's down to earth story.

While the simple lighting choices don’t create huge huge thematic statements, they do immerse the audience into the story and evoke the feeling of summer. It's a great example of how movies don’t need huge Hollywood budgets to create lasting imagery. Take your pick from the shot of the kids looking at the rainbow, Bobby walking across the parking lot with the late afternoon sky in the background, or the kids watching the cows in the grassy field. Those shots and more can stand against any of the other masterpieces of the decade. The film also has great Steadicam work and static wide shots that frame the eclectic buildings around the hotel. 

Visual splendor can be accomplished with a huge cinema camera or an iPhone, size doesn’t matter. It's a world you want to visit again and again because of the uncomplicated colorful cinematography.

James Laxton: If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) & Moonlight (2016)

It came as a great surprise when If Beale Street Could Talk wasn’t even nominated for Best Cinematography at the 91st Academy Awards. Perhaps the academy members were turned off by the nonlinear narrative or the glacial pacing of the film, all that aside, the movie has some of the most stunning images of American beauty ever put on screen.

The film, directed by Barry Jenkins, is a gorgeous exploration of love, family, faith, and race in America. Jenkins & Laxton place the actors center stage and take great care to shoot them with passion. From wide shots to intimate shallow focus close-ups, everyone is framed and lit with great care. Long lenses distort backgrounds into varying shades of dark jewel tones and marvelously bokeh the background lights in New York City. The camera looks at the characters with a tenderness not often seen in American cinema and is a must-see for cinematography enthusiasts. 

Moonlight is a much different visual achievement, mixing naturalistic shots with thematically striking choices. Each of the film’s three segments has a slightly different visual style to separate the parts of Chiron’s life. For most of its runtime, Moonlight is grounded with its shot selection, but occasionally Laxton and Jenkins utilize expressionistic color and the camera to visually express the inner struggle of the main character. These moments of heightened reality stand out because of the restrained nature of the rest of the film and make for a beautifully unique coming of age story.

Emmanuel Lubezki: The Tree of Life (2011)

Love it or hate it, the visual splendor of The Tree of Life is undeniable, and it all comes down to Lubezki’s use of light. No other movie on this list relies on lighting so heavily to produce beautiful images. Set mostly in a quiet suburban neighborhood, the obsessive filming practices of Director Terrence Malick and his cinematographer meant that the production only filmed when the natural light was perfect, turning the normal neighborhood into a visual feast.

The images cascade one after another, the camera freely floating around following the actors to capture the moment. Each scene is filmed in a free-spirited way that is used to evoke the emotion of the moment rather than using traditional cinematic techniques. The film's unusual visual style doesn't always connect with audiences, but so much work went into filming at precisely the right moment that the movie does ultimately capture the indescribable beauty of life. 

Łukasz Żal & Ryszard Lenczewski: Ida (2013)

The golden age of black and white movies has passed, but every year there are still great movies presented in crisp monochrome. The past 10 years has had its fair share of good looking black and white flicks: The Artist (2011), The Turin Horse (2011), Frances Ha (2012), and recently The Lighthouse (2019). However, Ida (2013), from Polish director Paweł Pawlikowski, is perhaps the best black and white movie of the decade and one that can go toe to toe with any color movie on this list.

After seeing just a few images from the movie you can instantly pick up on this movie's unusual visual style. Shot in stark black and white, the film effectively evokes the time period of the narrative and creates a palpably chilly atmosphere. Beyond that, Ida is a visual feast for its composition alone. The composition takes full advantage of the 1.37:1 aspect ratio by framing the characters so that their visual presence is diminished, appearing cut off and alienated. The careful framing of the characters sometimes manages to tell an entire story in a single image. And is a great example of a movie breaking traditional composition methods to great effect. 

Mihai Mălaimare Jr: The Master (2012)

Paul Tomas Anderson’s The Master doesn’t rely on flashy sets or hyper-specific color design schemes, it does have those, but use light and the camera speaks as a powerful part of the storytelling. Enigmatic lead performances from Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman are heightened by the sharp cinematography. 

Long lenses isolate them from others and create intense claustrophobic conversations, compressing the space between them. Low angles emphasize power relationships, and curiously, the camera rarely ever looks down on Freddie, except when he's thinking about sex. Read into that what you will. The camera often frames character within smaller frames, drawing our attention and further isolating. Dodd and Freddie, who are often in disagreeable moods, are lit with expressive shadows. These techniques contrast with those used on the character of Peggy Dodd, who is rarely isolated within the frame or lit with split lighting. These contrasting visuals clue the audience into the character relationships and their power dynamics.

Ultimately, all of these visual techniques compound together and excellently communicate the emotional state of the characters. 

The Director & Crew as Cinematographer:

Phantom Thread (2017) & Roma (2018)

Who would have guessed that two movies from two critically acclaimed directors would forgo an official director of photography and manage to create some of the most visually striking images of the decade? Both are stunning achievements in visually excessive imagery. Neither are particularly subtle with their styles and both adhere to the director’s visual guidelines with admirable consistency.  

Bright overexposed windows are visually harsh compared to the softly light interior of the Woodcock household. The camera moves with ruthless efficiency to tell the story. And despite the warm set design, the settings are coldly lit, an external reflection of Reynolds’ character. The only big splashes of warmth are when Alma and the relationship are at their strongest. 

Where Phantom Thread contains images that stand on their own, Roma’s success doesn't necessarily lie in any one frame or tableau being beautiful, rather the collective aesthetic appeal over an entire shot. 

The movie has some of the best lateral tracking shots in cinema. They’re expertly staged and lit in a way that brings a real texture to the world in the film. The visual MVP of the movie is, of course, the climactic scene in the ocean, which is so visually poignant that it’s easy to look past the impossibly difficult, camera, lighting, and visual effects work that went into making just that shot possible. 

Claire Mathon: Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

If you studied some of the frames from this movie from far away, you could be persuaded that they were classical paintings.

The trailer speaks for itself; you could pause on almost any frame and marvel at the attractive compositions. Strong colors in the production design and costumes are impeccable light to create striking compositions. The camera observes the actors, set design, and locations giving each time to shine. Characters are framed by huge landscapes, harsh shadows, bright daylight, and quiet firelight. The images are filled with bold colors and light is continually being manipulated to make the locations feel new. 

Some of the images are evocative of the work of Rembrandt or Vermeer. However, while Mathon appears to take her cues from painting, visually the film is an original beauty. Being set in the 19th century and using painterly cinematography might make for a stuffy endeavor, but the film has a modern aesthetic. Digital cameras give the compositions a super crisp edge and create an undeniably contemporary take on the period piece.