The 75 best looking films ever made

Oh wow... I never noticed that! It's been years since I watched that trilogy. Really cool stuff.

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YES!!!
To me, one of the most visually striking "real world" films I've ever seen.
I fell in love with Kieslowski (and Irene Jacob, I can tell you that) instantly.

No. 61
'City of God' (2002)
Directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund
DoP.: César Charlone

With the slums of Rio de Janeiro acting as a backdrop to all the grimy, seedy criminal activity, City of God breathed a sort of new life into international cinema when it burst onto the scene in the early 2000s. César Charlone's photography is quite brilliant, from the depth of focus shots that have guns pointed right in the viewers face to the beautiful shots of sunset covered beaches. The beauty of it acts as a leveller to the tragedy of the film's narrative.

The film's world also has a TV series and a further sequel, which I've yet to see - but I can't imagine they're as beautifully shot as 'Cidade de Deus'.

Great movie with an amazing visual style; good pick!

No. 60
'Let the Corpses Tan' (2017)
Directed by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani
DoP.: Manuel Dacosse

Dacosse's style in this film is glorious. It borrows heavily from films like Le Samourai and maybe Tarantino but also offers a real life of it's own. Close ups, use of colour, and clever camerawork are utilised to really ramp up both the tension and the violence. The last half hour of the film doesn't match up to the first hour or so, but the visuals are there throughout. It's a real feast for the eyes.

That's the stuff. Hoping to see more Cattet/Forzani on the list. I'm 100% on board with everything they've done.

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Captain's Log
My Collection

Never heard of Let the Corpses Tan, but I see it is available to stream on Prime. Will add to my queue!

Let the Corpses Tan was good but nevertheless a slight disappointment. Not as good as the first two Belgian duo's gialli.

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Only God Forgives is not Refn's best film. It may actually be his least best. But it is the best looking. The pinks, purples, neons and lights are just dazzling. He's not the first to use them but when he does, he does it very well. With Larry Smith as DoP, Only God Forgives shines as a beautiful looking piece of moody, mysterious neo noir, and although it's unlikely to be a film that many will love, it's on this list because it looks so good.

The lighting. The shadows! This is a stunning looking film, which I only got round to recently, but was just amazed at how pretty it looked. I'd like to think that Freddie Francis' work on this film inspired the likes of Sven Nykvist, because that type of shot on the top right ^ is done very well in Ingmar Bergman's films.

The creepyness was also exacerbated by Francis' work - the bottom left shot there ^ is impeccable. Long shadows, bright lights lighting up the two characters on the ground, then a dark hand with lit fingers appears on screen - while all in focus. Absolutely amazing. This horror film wouldn't look out of place released in 2021.

I grew up watching The Innocents with my mom when we wanted to watch something "spooky". It was a great surprise when I rewatched it as a young adult and found that it was a legitimately great film, and an especially great-looking film. Freddie Francis is the man.

It is gorgeous. I suppose we’re more used to ‘extreme’ horror nowadays, but I find ‘The Innocents’ pretty spooky even now. Deborah Kerr is a legend.

Kerr was so good in this. Some scenes genuinely scared me. Which alot of horror films made before the 70s don't really do.

In fact I often forget that it was directed by Jack Clayton, because I just think of it as a Freddie Francis movie.

I was wondering which two movies are the photos on the right side?

Top right - Suspiria
Bottom right - The Master

I wish we could squeeze one of the Grazyna Szapolowska ones in there. Maybe A Short Film About Love could be the yellow one.

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#63 Once Upon a Time in The West. I place much higher on the list. I'd also include at least one of Sergio Leone's Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns. I'm a big fan of realism as far as showing the distasteful but real. Crude gunslingers eating noises, a bit of food or sauce dripping down the side of their mouths, flies buzzing about, landing and on their faces and body. Then the realism of nature, dust and mud on faces and clothes.

Oh, and about that black and white thing. Considering the natural spectrum, you're 1/2 correct. White is the combination of all color. Black is the absence of color.
But I digress...great thread!

Catch-up time before the "haven't seen thats" outweigh the ones I have seen and I look silly

Watched Limite the other day (thanks for providing info that it was on YT), it does have some nice cinematography dotted throughout but can't say I was enamoured of the whole. He certainly seemed to have a penchant for lower legs, wonder if Tarantino is in any way related Haven't seen The Double Life of Véronique, Let the Corpses Tan or Only God Forgives, do own the first though and loved his Colours trilogy so will definitely pop that one on as prep for the upcoming countdown. Don't know much about the latter two (I prefer to go into fillums almost blind so it's not unusual for me to know next to nothing about them prior to watching lol) but if I get the chance I'll try and give them a squint as well. Once Upon a Time in the West, City of God and The Innocents I have seen though as I own all three and all are more than worthy of a place in this list, plenty of striking imagery in all three.

Looking forward to seeing what comes next....

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FW Murnau famously just changed the names of the characters for this film because Bram Stoker's family wouldn't allow him to use the story of Dracula. The result is a stupendously brilliant horror film which is still strikingly chilling today. Most of the creepyness is down to Max Schreck's portrayal of Count Orlok (long teeth and fingers), but the reason this film is in the list is due to the inventiveness of the photography.

As you can see from the shots above, the examples of nature used to symbolise killing, the shadows and the use of different tints to convey moods and different times of the day. The audience must have been terrified in 1922 and mystified as to how the Count disappeared infront of their very eyes (bottom right shot). Beautifully shot film.