Peter Suschitzky

Last updated

Peter Suschitzky
ASC
Peter Suschitzky.jpg
Peter Suschitzky at Louis Lumière's ciné-club
in January 2018
Born (1941-07-25) 25 July 1941 (age 83)
London, England, UK
Occupation(s) Cinematographer and photographer
Years active1974–present
Organization American Society of Cinematographers
SpouseIlona Suschitzky
Parent Wolfgang Suschitzky
Awards
Website http://petersuschitzky.com

Peter Suschitzky, A.S.C. (born 25 July 1941) is a British cinematographer and photographer. [1] Among his most known works as director of photography are The Rocky Horror Picture Show , The Empire Strikes Back, and Mars Attacks! and the later films of David Cronenberg. Suschitzky succeeded Mark Irwin as Cronenberg's regular cinematographer when Irwin left during the pre-production of Dead Ringers (1988), and has been the cinematographer for all of Cronenberg's films since, with the exception of Crimes of the Future (2022). [2] He has also collaborated with directors John Boorman, Ken Russell, Bernard Rose, and Tim Burton.

Contents

Suschitzky has been the recipient of four Genie Awards for Best Achievement in Cinematography, and a David di Donatello Award for Best Cinematography. He is featured in the book Conversations with Cinematographers, published by Scarecrow Press. He is married to Ilona Suschitzky.

In 2015 he was selected to be a member of the jury for the Critics' Week section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. [3]

Life and career

Suschitzky was born in London, England, [4] the son of BAFTA Award-nominated cinematographer Wolfgang Suschitzky. [5] [6] His father was an Austrian of Jewish descent. [7] Although music was his passion, he chose to pursue a career in cinematography while studying at Institut des hautes études cinématographiques in Paris, France. He became a clapper boy at age 19 and a camera operator at age 22. [8]

Among his first films as DP was It Happened Here , a mockumentary-style World War II film about life in the United Kingdom, following a hypothetical Axis victory in World War II. The film was shot on handheld, 16mm film in order to give it a gritty, realistic look inspired by wartime newsreels. Due to the film's independent nature and unusual subject matter, its production lasted a total of eight years.

In 1975, Suschitzky shot The Rocky Horror Picture Show , a comedy musical film that, while initially unsuccessful, has since become a massive cult film, with regular midnight screenings [9] attended by dedicated, cosplaying fans. [10] He shot the 1977 biopic Valentino for director Ken Russell, for which he received a nomination for a BAFTA Film Award for Best Cinematography. [11] Three years later, he would lens the second entry in the long-running Star Wars film series, The Empire Strikes Back , considered to be the best in the series. [12]

Suschitzky replaced Mark Irwin as director David Cronenberg's regular director of photography, beginning with the 1988 film Dead Ringers, for which he won a Genie Award for Best Cinematography. He would go on to win three more Genies in his collaborations with Cronenberg on the films Naked Lunch, Crash, and Eastern Promises.

Filmography

Short films

YearTitleDirectorNotes
1964The Meeting Mamoun Hassan
1965Mister Lewis Malcolm Craddock
1966Road to Saint Tropez Michael Sarne
The BeachMalcolm Craddock
2017ERDEM x H&M: The Secret Life of Flowers Baz Luhrmann Advertising campaign film
2020Starling - Off the GroundElliot Dear

Documentary shorts

YearTitleDirector
1964Trinidad and Tobago Geoffrey Jones
1965Surface to SurfaceVictor Menzies

Feature films

YearTitleDirectorNotes
1964 It Happened Here Kevin Brownlow
Andrew Mollo
With Kevin Brownlow
1966The Christmas Tree Jim Clark
1967 Privilege Peter Watkins
Charlie Bubbles Albert Finney
1968 A Midsummer Night's Dream Peter Hall
1969 Lock Up Your Daughters! Peter Coe
Gladiators Peter Watkins
A Touch of Love Waris Hussein
1970 Figures in a Landscape Joseph Losey With Henri Alekan and Guy Tabary
Leo the Last John Boorman
1971 Melody aka SWALK Waris Hussein
1972 Henry VIII and his Six Wives
The Pied Piper Jacques Demy
1973 That'll Be the Day Claude Whatham
1975 The Rocky Horror Picture Show Jim Sharman
Lisztomania Ken Russell
1977 Valentino
1980 The Empire Strikes Back Irvin Kershner
1983 Krull Peter Yates
1984 Falling in Love Ulu Grosbard
1988In ExtremisOlivier Lorsac
Dead Ringers David Cronenberg 1st collaboration with Cronenberg
1990 Where the Heart Is John Boorman
1991Un homme et deux femmesValérie Stroh
Naked Lunch David Cronenberg
1992 The Public Eye Howard Franklin
1993 The Vanishing George Sluizer
M. Butterfly David Croenenberg
1994 Immortal Beloved Bernard Rose
1996 Mars Attacks! Tim Burton
Crash David Cronenberg
1998 The Man in the Iron Mask Randall Wallace
1999 eXistenZ David Cronenberg
2000 Red Planet Antony Hoffman
2002 Spider David Cronenberg
2005 A History of Violence
Shopgirl Anand Tucker
2006 The Stone Council Guillaume Nicloux
2007 Eastern Promises David Cronenberg
2011 A Dangerous Method
2012 Cosmopolis
2013 After Earth M. Night Shyamalan
2014 Maps to the Stars David Cronenberg
2015 Tale of Tales Matteo Garrone

Television

TV movies

YearTitleDirectorNotes
1966 The War Game Peter Watkins Uncredited
Francis Bacon Fragments of a Portrait Michael Gill Documentary film
1975 All Creatures Great and Small Claude Whatham

TV series

YearTitleDirectorNotes
1961Mächte des Glaubens Peter von Zahn Episode "Das Judentum"
1993 Fallen Angels Tom Hanks
Tom Cruise
Episodes "I'll Be Waiting" and "The Frightening Frammis"

Awards and nominations

BAFTA Awards

YearTitleCategoryResult
1977 Valentino Best Cinematography Nominated

Canadian Screen Awards

YearTitleCategoryResult
1988 Dead Ringers Best Cinematography Won
1991 Naked Lunch Won
2006 Crash Won
2007 Eastern Promises Won

Accademia del Cinema Italiano

YearTitleCategoryResult
2015 Tale of Tales Best Cinematography Won

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Cronenberg</span> Canadian filmmaker and film director (born 1943)

David Paul Cronenberg is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a principal originator of the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation, infectious diseases, and the intertwining of the psychological, physical, and technological. Cronenberg is best known for exploring these themes through sci-fi horror films such as Shivers (1975), Scanners (1981), Videodrome (1983) and The Fly (1986), though he has also directed dramas, psychological thrillers and gangster films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janusz Kamiński</span> Polish cinematographer, film and television director

Janusz Zygmunt Kamiński is a Polish cinematographer and director.

<i>Dead Ringers</i> (film) 1988 film by David Cronenberg

Dead Ringers is a 1988 psychological thriller film starring Jeremy Irons in a dual role as identical twin gynecologists. David Cronenberg directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Norman Snider. Their script was based on the lives of Stewart and Cyril Marcus and on the novel Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland, a "highly fictionalized" version of the Marcuses' story.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Deakins</span> British cinematographer

Sir Roger Alexander Deakins is an English cinematographer. He is the recipient of five BAFTA Awards for Best Cinematography, and two Academy Awards for Best Cinematography from sixteen nominations. He has collaborated multiple times with directors such as the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes, and Denis Villeneuve. His best-known works include The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Fargo (1996), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Skyfall (2012), Sicario (2015), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and 1917 (2019), the last two of which earned him Academy Awards.

Irwin Winkler is an American film producer and director. He is the producer or director of over 58 motion pictures, dating back to 1967's Double Trouble, starring Elvis Presley. The fourth film he produced, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), starring Jane Fonda, was nominated for nine Academy Awards. He won an Oscar for Best Picture for 1976's Rocky. As a producer, he has been nominated for Best Picture for four films: Rocky (1976), Raging Bull (1980), The Right Stuff (1983), and Goodfellas (1990).

John Toll, ASC is an American cinematographer and television producer. Toll's filmography spans a wide variety of genres, including epic period drama, comedy, science fiction, and contemporary drama. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in both 1994 and 1995 for Legends of the Fall and Braveheart respectively, and has also won numerous BAFTA, ASC, and Satellite Awards. He has collaborated with such directors as Francis Ford Coppola, Edward Zwick, Terrence Malick, Mel Gibson, Cameron Crowe, The Wachowskis, and Ang Lee.

Geoffrey Gilyard Unsworth, OBE, BSC was a British cinematographer who worked on nearly ninety feature films during a career that wound up spanning over more than forty years. He is best known for his work on critically acclaimed releases such as Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Bob Fosse's Cabaret and Richard Donner's Superman.

The following is a list of cinematographers who have won and been nominated for the American Society of Cinematographers Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatrical Releases, which is given annually by the American Society of Cinematographers.

Owen Roizman was an American cinematographer. He received five Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography, for the films The French Connection (1971), The Exorcist (1973), Network (1976), Tootsie (1982), and Wyatt Earp (1994). He served on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was president of the American Society of Cinematographers.

Russell Paul Carpenter, ASC is an American cinematographer and photographer, known for collaborating with directors James Cameron, Robert Luketic and McG. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for the 1997 Best Picture-winning film Titanic.

Jordan Scott Cronenweth, ASC was an American cinematographer based in Los Angeles, California. Considered to be one of the greatest and most influential cinematographers of all time, he is best remembered for his BAFTA Award-winning work on the groundbreaking science fiction film Blade Runner, which is credited as codifying the cyberpunk aesthetic. A contemporary of Conrad Hall, his style consisted of heavily textured, film noir-inspired photography, seen in numerous classic films, including Zandy's Bride, Gable and Lombard, Altered States, and Peggy Sue Got Married.

Mark Irwin is a Canadian cinematographer.

Robert Christopher Elswit, ASC is an American cinematographer. He has collaborated with Paul Thomas Anderson on six of his films and won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for There Will Be Blood. Elswit has also collaborated with directors and screenwriters Tony and Dan Gilroy on all of the six films that either brother directed.

Philippe Rousselot, AFC, ASC is a French cinematographer and film director best known for his wide range of work in both European and mainstream American cinema, ranging in genres from drama, to fantasy, to blockbusters. He has collaborated with directors such as Robert Redford, Neil Jordan, Stephen Frears, Tim Burton, David Yates, and Guy Ritchie. He is the recipient of three César Awards, a BAFTA, an Oscar, and is a nominee for the Palme d'Or.

Anthony Barry Richmond BSC, ASC is an English cinematographer, film producer, and director. He is known for his collaborations with Nicolas Roeg, which include Don't Look Now (1973), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), and Bad Timing (1980). He was the cinematographer for the 10-camera filming of the final Beatles film Let It Be (1970), the original footage from which was re-edited by Peter Jackson into the highly acclaimed docu-series The Beatles: Get Back (2021). For his work on Don't Look Now, Richmond received the 1973 BAFTA for Best Cinematography. His other notable credits include the cult horror films Candyman (1992), Tales from the Hood (1995), Ravenous (1999), and Cherry Falls (2000), as well as mainstream comedies such as Legally Blonde (2001) and The Sweetest Thing (2002). His sole directorial credit is the 1985 drama Déjà Vu.

Roberto Schaefer, ASC, AIC is an American cinematographer, known for his collaborations with director Marc Forster.

Claudio Miranda, ASC is a Chilean cinematographer. He is best known for his work on the Ang Lee-directed film Life of Pi (2012), for which Miranda won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, and for the David Fincher-directed film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which was the first film shot entirely digitally to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and the American Society of Cinematographers Award. He is also known for his collaborations with American director Joseph Kosinski. He is the second Chilean person to win an Academy Award.

The Pierre Angénieux ExcelLens in Cinematography is an annual award that pays tribute to a prominent international director of photography at the Cannes Film Festival. The award originated in 2013.

James Hawkinson is an American cinematographer known for his work in television, music videos, and film. He is best known for his critically acclaimed work on the Hannibal and The Man in the High Castle television series', for which he has received numerous accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award and a nomination for an ASC Award.

Florian Hoffmeister, B.S.C., is a German cinematographer and director, best known for his work on Tár, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography. Projects he has worked on include Five Days, House of Saddam and AMC's The Terror. He has collaborated with director Terence Davies on two occasions, working on The Deep Blue Sea and A Quiet Passion. His other credits include In Secret, Mortdecai and Johnny English Strikes Again.

References

  1. "PETER SUSCHITZKY". www.cinematographers.nl. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  2. Burgess, Steve, Salon.com (30 November 1999). "David Cronenberg".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. "Ronit Elkabetz, President of the 2015 Critics' Week Jury". Semaine de la Critique de Cannes. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  4. "Peter Suschitzky". Peter Suschitzky. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  5. cinematographers.nl. "Peter Suschitzky, ASC".
  6. "Peter Suschitzky Biography (1941?-)".
  7. "Moving to Holland and working as a photographer".
  8. "PETER SUSCHITZKY". www.cinematographers.nl. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  9. "Rocky Horror Picture Show - Blue Mouse Theatre". bluemousetheatre.com. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  10. "TRHPS Official Fan Site: Participation". www.rockyhorror.com. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  11. Aftab, Kaleem. "DP Peter Suschitzky on The Empire Strikes Back, Collaborating with David Cronenberg and the New Wave's "Boring Light" | Filmmaker Magazine". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  12. "From a Certain Point of View: Is The Empire Strikes Back Really the Best Star Wars Film? | StarWars.com". StarWars.com. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2017.