{"id":71449,"date":"2014-05-19T18:24:22","date_gmt":"2014-05-19T22:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=71449"},"modified":"2014-05-20T11:02:14","modified_gmt":"2014-05-20T15:02:14","slug":"prince-of-darkness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/05\/19\/prince-of-darkness\/","title":{"rendered":"Prince of Darkness"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"AnnieHall6\"<\/a>

Willis, left, on the set of Annie Hall<\/i> with Woody Allen.<\/p><\/div>\n

Gordon Willis, the cinematographer Entertainment Weekly<\/em> has called \u201cthe closest thing Hollywood had to a Rembrandt<\/a>,\u201d died yesterday, at eighty-two. Over the course of his remarkable career, Willis photographed Francis Ford Coppola\u2019s The Godfather<\/em>\u2014parts one, two, and <\/em>three\u2014and many of Woody Allen\u2019s most enduring films, such as Annie Hall<\/em>, Manhattan<\/em>, and The Purple Rose of Cairo<\/em>. The A.V. Club<\/em> writes<\/a>, \u201cHis expressive use of warm-toned light and deep shadows\u2014which led fellow cinematographer Conrad L. Hall to nickname him \u2018The Prince of Darkness\u2019\u2014left an indelible mark on cinema.\u201d And Variety<\/em> quotes Roger Ebert\u2019s astute observations on Manhattan<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n

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All of these locations and all of these songs would not have the effect they do without the widescreen black and white cinematography of Gordon Willis. This is one of the best-photographed movies ever made \u2026 Some of the scenes are famous just because of Willis\u2019 lighting. For example, the way Isaac and Mary walk through the observatory as if they\u2019re strolling among the stars or on the surface of the moon. Later, as their conversation gets a little lost, Willis daringly lets them disappear into darkness, and then finds them again with just a sliver of side-lighting.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t understand the elegance of simplicity,\u201d Willis said once. \u201cIf you take a sophisticated idea, reduce it to the simplest possible terms so that it\u2019s accessible to everybody, and don\u2019t get simple mixed up with simplistic, it\u2019s how you mount and present something that makes it engaging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are Manhattan<\/em>\u2019s iconic bridge scene and an hour-long interview with Willis. <\/p>\n