How crestfallen are we? We were all about Roger Deakins this year – the twice-nominated cinematographer of the sumptuous-looking “The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” and “No Country for Old Men” (we also had quite the visual boner for Janusz Kaminski’s work on “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”).
But yesterday, Robert Elswit was awarded the year’s top prize by the American Society of Cinematographers for his work on “There Will Be Blood.” Elswit also shot “Michael Clayton” (though it was not Oscar nominated for its visuals). Granted, this is a tough category to bitch about. 3/4 of the nominees were basically amazing (“Atonement” eh? tracking shot-schmacking shot) and “There Will Be Blood,” looks fantastic. But we were hoping Deakins’ ‘Assasination’ work would take it (or Kaminski’s ‘Butterfly’).
At least Elswit is humble. “[Deakins] is in a class all his own,” Elswit recently told the AP. “There the rest of us, and there’s Roger Deakins.” Deakins’ double cinematography nod was the first one in that category since 1971.
Not to be. Oh well, but yes, this basically means Robert Elswit is probably going home with an Academy Award. The other nominee was Seamus McGarvey for “Atonement.”