Background
Almendros, Nestor was born on October 30, 1930 in Barcelona, Spain. Son of Hermino and Maria (Cuyas) Almendros.
(This book, translated the Spanish by Rachel Belash descri...)
This book, translated the Spanish by Rachel Belash describes the descriptions of techniques, solution and moviemaking by one of the world's leading cinematographers,(Nestor Almendros) including reflections on his work on over 40 films and sketches of major directors and actors.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374201722/?tag=2022091-20
(This is the story of the famous SPOT on the ceiling of Gr...)
This is the story of the famous SPOT on the ceiling of Grand Central Station.Read along and discover how it came to be and the inside story on what the beautiful constellations thought about this sooty little dark spot. How fame and recognition of the true story of how the spot became an important part of New York City history.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1492239828/?tag=2022091-20
Almendros, Nestor was born on October 30, 1930 in Barcelona, Spain. Son of Hermino and Maria (Cuyas) Almendros.
He studied at the University of Havana and recieved Doctor of Philosophy, Havana University, Cuba, 1955. Studied cinematography and film editingin City College of New York, 1956. Studied cinematoraphy and film editing in Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Rome, 1957.
He served several directors very well—Truffaut, Rohmer, Barbet Schroeder, Robert Benton.
There are two films where the photography is very forceful: Sophie's Choice (82, Alan J. Pakula), with the sickly-saintly paleness of Meryl Streeps face as she recollects; and Days of Heaven (78, Terrence Malick), with many miracles of natural light on the prairie, a movie in which photography has seeped into areas abandoned by the director. Days of Heaven is photographed to death. It is to the great credit of Almendros that he so seldom earned that rebuke.
He went to Cuba in 1948 and became an active cinéaste there, photographing and directing many short films in what was a time of creative ferment. From the early sixties on, he worked as a cameraman in Europe and in America.
He did these for Truffaut: The Wild Child (69); Bed and Board (70): Tuo English Girls (71); The Story of Adèle IT (75)—with a good sense of the Caribbean; The Man Who Loved Women (IT); The Green Room (78); The Last Metro (80); and Confidentially Yours (82).
Then for Rohmer: an episode for Paris Vu Par (64); La Collectioneuse (66); My Night at Maud’s (69); Claire's Knee (70); Love in the Afternoon (72); The Marquise of O (76); Perceval le Gallois (78); and Pauline at the Beach (82).
And for Benton: Kramer vs. Kramer (79); Still of the Night (82); Places in the Heart (84); Nadine (87); and Billy Bathgate (91).
Beyond those, Almendros worked on The Wild Racers (68, Daniel Haller and Roger Corman); The Valley (72, Sehroeder); La Gueule Ouverte (74, Maurice Pialat); General Amin (74, Sehroeder); Cockfighter (74, Monte Heilman); Mes Petites Amoureuses (75, Jean Eustache); Maîtresse (76, Sehroeder); Des Journées Entières dans les Arbres (76, Marguerite Duras); Madame Rosa (77, Moshe Mizrahi); Gain' South (78, Jack Nicholson); The Blue Lagoon (SO, Randal Kleiser); Heartburn (86, Mike Nichols); Nobody Listened (87, which he cowrote and codirected with Jorge Ulla); and the “Life Lessons” episode for New York Stories (89, Martin Scorsese).
(This book, translated the Spanish by Rachel Belash descri...)
(This is the story of the famous SPOT on the ceiling of Gr...)
Director documentary films for ICAIC, Cuba, 1959-1961. Films photographed include La Collectioneuse, 1966, My Night At Maud's, 1969 (Best cinematography award National Association Film Critics), The Wild Child, 1969 (Best Photography award United States Association Film Critics), Claire's Knee, 1970, The Story of Adele H, 1975, The Marquise of O, 1975, Madame Rosa, 1977, The Last Metro, 1980 (Best Photography award French Academy Motion Picture Arts and Techniques), Days of Heaven, 1979 (Best Cinematography award American Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States Association Film Critics), Kramer vs Kramer, 1980, The Blue Lagoon, 1980, Sophie's Choice, 1982 (Best Photography award New York Film Critics), Pauline at the Beach, 1983, Confidentially Yours, 1984, Places in the Heart, 1984, Heartburn, 1986. Co-producer, co-director documentary film Nobody Listened, 1988.Director photography Nadine, 1987, New York Stories (Martin Scorsese's segment), 1989, Billy Bathgate, 1991. Author: A Man with a Camera, 1980. Co-director, co-writer: Improper Conduct, 1984.
Member American Society Cinematographers.
Almendros was a beloved citizen of world film, a tender gentleman, a man of several languages, and an invaluable aid to many diverse directors. His book, A Man with a Camera, is as worthwhile as the movies he worked on, and so is the documentary Mauvaise Conduite (83), about gay life in Cuba that he photographed, cowrote, and codirected with Orlando Jimenez Leal. Yet Almendros is in this book because he was a very good director of photography, self-effacing yet inventive, and happiest if he could serve good directors.