Taxi Driver. When Travis is standing in the hallway of the tenement cathouse, holding the $20 bill that Keitel gave him days/weeks before ("Forget about it cabbie, it's nothin',"), Travis "floats" towards the hallway lookout. A very famous effect, which was explained as Bickle's belief of almost being an angel of vengeance, which causes him to lift off of the floor via his urgency or whatever..
The print version also includes mini-eulogies to some of the great DOPs - and I'm delighted they found space for Sergei Urusevsky, not least because he was my nomination (though not one I thought would make the shortlist!).
Sadly, I've yet to see an Urusevsky-shot film not directed by Mikhail Kalatozov - has anyone?
I've ached to see Sorok pervyy (aka The Forty-First) from the mid-50's, which sees Urusevsky collaborating with Chukhrai (of Ballad of Soldier fame), for a long time... just not gotten around to grabbing the DVD.
You have great taste, Mike. In my book Urusevsky's work with Khalatozov puts him right up there alongside John Alton in the pantheon of the all-time greatest cinematographers of the sound era. Breathtakingly lyrical images. Beautiful lesson in the comppsition of "artistically beautiful" shots which nonetheless flow effortlessly with the substance of the narrative and therefore never seem out of place or blaringly loud as is the case with so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sooooooooooooooooooooo much of today's work.
That's absolutely right - the great Urusevsky shots are phenomenal technical achievements (and how!), which clearly took a vast amount of planning and manpower to execute, but they never feel as though they're showing off just for the sake of it: there's a lyricism about them that's absolutely integrated into the rest of the film.
I still remember watching The Cranes Are Flying for the first time - my mum saw it on its original release and never forgot it, so when a screening popped up at the NFT in the late 1990s, I took her along. From the plot summary, I was expecting something pretty schmaltzy and dated, but it was clear right from the opening shot that it was far, far more than that - and that Urusevsky was a cinematographer of the rarest genius. And I went to see the big-screen revival of I Am Cuba specifically because it was shot by him.
