I
put more importance in logic rather than aesthetics when I shoot a
scene.” This
is the mantra of Nestor Almendros as shown by his works, one of which
is the award-winning movie “Kramer versus Kramer.”
Almendros
was one of the key movers of cinematography. As a risk taker, he was
unafraid to experiment. For him, cinematography became more than just
making the actors and actresses look good and flawless on screen.
When technological breakthroughs paved the way for film gadgets that
make the scene brighter and more colorful, Almendros did not easily
join the bandwagon. In Kramer vs. Kramer, he remained a minimalist
when using lighting, utilizing natural light such as windows and
bedside lamps to preserve the integrity of the scene.
Almendros
opted to use simple lighting because he believed that it is far more
important to highlight only the significant elements of the film,
rather than filling it with all the razzle-dazzle and superficial
technicalities that distract the viewers from the original story. A
number of movies have been made which are technically excellent
because they employed state of the art technology. In itself, Kramer
versus Kramer is excellent because it was authentic and it showed
veri-similitude. The movie was a low-key drama which initially
appears to be drab and mundane. The colors were limited and subdued
but it was effective in reflecting the depth and melancholy of the
story.
Almendros
had an eye for beauty, for truthfulness, and he made use of natural
light to convey the reality of the scene. He wanted the audience to
experience something real and logical. He was economical, yet the
silent scenes in the movie were profound and robust in themselves,
adding a dialogue would have meant ruining its effect.
Kramer
versus Kramer was a movie about a couple whose marriage fell apart.
The husband was too busy with work and the neglected wife wanted to
find herself, leaving her child to the inept hands of her
career-oriented husband. This later led to a bitter battle over their
child’s custody. Almendros realizes that his visual style would
then need to correspond to the raw materials. This meant that the
environment, the background, the lighting, and the cinematography as
a whole should match the screenplay and the personality of the
characters. Almendros sacrificed the bright lights which usually
denote aesthetics, in favor of portraying a clearer picture of
reality.
“It
is in nature and everyday life that I discover my inspiration.”
Almendros understood that the movie was about reality, a daily
struggle of a family. He saw that the movie revolves around people
and he made use of the characters’ faces as his landscape. He
manipulated the light, the surroundings, the movement of the camera,
and the position of the characters to create a visual impact, leaving
the audience captive and evoking empathy and emotions from them. His
cinematography utilized the camera to provoke emotions that the
director wants to project. He portrayed rich images, with every shot
highlighting the inner qualities of the subject matter. The
characters, the story, and the entire film itself enabled a credible
and “willing suspension of reality from the viewers.