Top 10 Janusz Kaminski Films

If you’ve seen a film directed by Steven Spielberg in the past 18 years, then you’re familiar with Janusz Kaminski’s cinematography. Kaminski has lensed every live-action Spielberg film since Schinder’s List, netting six Oscar nominations and two wins in the process. Best known for his use of stark shadows, harsh white light, and interior fog, Kaminski is a master of atmosphere. The man knows how to put us in the world of a film as well as the best of them.

10. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Here’s a quote I found from Kaminski, which sums up why The Lost World deserves to be included here: “Jurassic Park was very much like an amusement park ride. The images were brighter, more colorful and more friendly. This film is much more moody and violent. Steven was not in the same frame of mind. His sensibilities are a bit darker now.”

9. Amistad (1997)

For its introductory siege alone. The blinding strobe of thunder, the intense close-ups of pain, anguish, and freedom. The blanket rain, the thick blood. Certainly one of the most intimately violent things Kaminski has ever filmed.

8. War of the Worlds (2005)

I remember reading a review the day War of the Worlds came out. The critic basically said that while War of the Worlds wasn’t a great film, you can tell it was made by a man who knows how to make great films. The critic highlighted the film’s flawless visual design as the chief reason. Hard to disagree.

7. Jerry Maguire (1996)

Janusz Kaminski hasn’t shot too many films outside of Spielberg’s world, but I love that Jerry Maguire stands on its own as a very good looking film, one that is clearly shot by Janusz Kaminski, but not necessarily Spielberg’s Janusz Kaminski.

6. Munich (2005)

This is the most recent Spielberg/Kaminski collaboration on this list, mostly because it so confidently toes the aesthetic line of flawless and parody. Most every shot in this film is risks being visually hyperbolic, but, unlike their more recent collaborations, Munich manages to find a balance of extreme and control.

5. Catch Me If You Can (2002)

This movie just looks fun. From its opening, old school credits to its zipping and zooming con sequences. But it also knows when to restrain itself, especially in its later scenes. The light pours in when things are going well, and the shadows drown everything out when things are down. Love it.

4. Minority Report (2002)

Minority Report is a rule breaker. It’s full of centered, immaculate compositions and Kaminski’s trademark white hot light, but Kaminski is having a ton of fun with improvisational angles, noir-themed setups, an ice cold palette, and ceaseless reflections. The look of Minority Report so perfectly establishes the world the film is trying to create. What’s real and what’s false? Kaminski loves not cluing us in.

3. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Much like Minority Report, the look of A.I. expertly verifies the world of the film. Kaminski’s photography, along with the fabulous production design, help transport us to the suburban beauty (and, later, back-alley dread) of the not too distant future, while the film’s final, polarizing act is a miraculous-looking journey into the unknown. A.I. is all fantasy, and it remains Kaminski’s most fantastical film yet.

2. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

When I saw The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, I knew what it was like to live with locked-in syndrome. I experienced the internal terror of wanting to speak, but being stricken with silence. For a man commonly known for traditional (but immaculate) compositions, Kaminski breaks every photographical rule in this film. The harsh focus, the revolving camera, the creamy lenses; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly uses cinematography to literally, terrifyingly put you in there.

1. Schindler's List (1993) & Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Can’t pick one. Tried. Can’t. Schindler’s List is as good looking as movies get. As far as classic compositions go, the movie is utterly flawless. There isn’t a misplaced shot or poorly stage set-up. It is masterful direction of photography, and it set the bar for what a contemporary black and white film should look and feel like.

Saving Private Ryan is best known for popularizing the increased frame rate technique. To capture slow motion, you film at a higher frame rate (most movies are shot at 24 frames per second, so for slow motion, you film at 120 fps), then decrease the speed in editing. So, 120 fps shot in-camera gets changed to 24 fps in post-production. Do that, and you have a fluid slow motion shot. Many key scenes in Saving Private Ryan, most notably the opening D-Day sequence, were shot at an increased frame rate, but not changed in editing. That’s how you get that herky jerky effect that puts you right in the middle of the action. And while Saving Private Ryan wasn’t the first film to use this effect (an effect that has admittedly been abused to death in subsequent years), it was one of the first major movies to use the technique in such a powerful way. Now, obviously there’s more to Kaminski’s work in Saving Private Ryan than increased frame rates, but shooting the film that way was a very, very bold choice. One that will be studied and lauded forever.

Other Notable Films

Little Giants (1994)

How to Make an American Quilt (1995)

The Terminal (2004)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

War Horse (2011) 

Lincoln (2012)

The Judge (2014)

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