8 Memorable Images from Gordon Willis' Iconic 1970s Films
Legendary cinematographer Gordon Willis died this weekend at age 82. Responsible for the influential look of such films as The Godfather, Annie Hall and Manhattan, Willis was known to his peers as the “Prince of Darkness” for his use of shadows and hiding regions of the frame in a medium that had historically focused on pouring immense amounts of light on every corner of a shot. In collaboration with directors like Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola and Alan Pakula, Willis helped create the ’70s cinema’s stark style that defines film’s golden Easy Riders, Raging Bulls decade.
Willis was one of the giants of cinematography who turned what had been a nuts and bolts craft into a modern day art form. Below are some of the unforgettable images from Gordon Willis’ 1970’s.
Klute (1971)
Willis’ breakthrough film. The darkness of the photographer’s style suited the tale of a small-town detective (Donald Sutherland) sinking into a world of shadows as he investigates and gets lured into the life of a Manhattan prostitute (Jane Fonda).
The Godfather (1972)
The apotheosis of Willis’ chiaroscuro. Shrouded in darkness, Marlon Brando’s Don Corleone remained starkly real but forever unknowable.
The Paper Chase (1973)
Willis’ realistic lighting allowed John Houseman’s law professor, Charles Kingsfield, to tower like a giant over lecture halls filled with mere-mortal terrified students.
The Parallax View (1974)
Willis hyper-realism created what has become the iconic lens of the 1970’s paranoid style, as seen here in the film’s climactic fight atop Seattle’s Space Needle.
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
As much as anything, it was Willis’ lighting that captured Michael Corleone’s slide into his father’s darkness.
All The President’s Men (1976)
The paranoid style becomes reality, capturing the twilight journey of Woodward and Bernstein to the truth hiding behind the White House gates.
Annie Hall (1977)
The first of Willis’ eight collaborations with Woody Allen, in which the pair created their classic vision of New York in the 1970’s.
Manhattan (1979)
The shadows that were menacing and sinister in The Godfather become warm and lush as they capture Woody Allen’s home town in black and white. Together, Willis and Allen created a vision of New York as romantic and evocative as depictions of Paris’ golden age.
