Imagine if we ranked the best directors of photography of the year or the best-shot movies of the year… Oh boy, that list would be long. Near the top of that list would likely be a cinematographer you may not know by name yet, but he’s soon going to be ranked up there with the Roger Deakinses of the world. DP Bradford Young already turned heads with his distinctive look for Sundance pictures like “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints," "Mother Of George" and "Middle Of Nowhere." And now he’s one of 2014’s MVP shooters for lensing “Selma” and “A Most Violent Year.”
The latter was directed by J.C. Chandor and stars Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain as a power couple trying to stay above the moral ugliness of the oil industry and the rise of crime in early 1980s New York. Our A-grade review from earlier in the year said, “Painting a world of white snow, shadowy rooms and grey skies, cinematographer Bradford Young — of the excellent ‘Pariah,’ and ‘Ain’t Them bodies Saints’ — is at the top of his, or anyone’s, game here.” No argument here.
And A24 pictures, who is on a roll once again this year with some terrific movies, has released an excellent featurette of Young’s photography in the film, and it’s a must-watch. So too is this Academy Conversation about the film with Chandor and producer Neal Dodson discussing the making of the movie.
“A Most Violent Year” opens on December 31st in limited release. We already added Jessica Chastain to our 21 Best Performances of 2014 list and shouted out the score by Alex Ebert and its atypical, but awesome action sequence. The featurette and talk are below, along with a couple of new promos and pics for the film.
