Нестор Альмендрос: Мастер света и правды в кино

Spanish cinematographer

Néstor Almendros Cuyás, (30 October 1930 – 4 March 1992) was a Spanish cinematographer. One of the most highly appraised contemporary cinematographers, "Almendros was an artist of deep integrity, who believed the most beautiful light was natural light he will always be remembered as a cinematographer of absolute truth a true master of light".

Néstor Almendros Cuyás was born in Barcelona, Spain, but at the age of 18, he moved to Cuba to join his exiled anti Francisco Franco father. In Havana, he wrote film reviews. Then, he went on to study in Rome at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. He directed six shorts in Cuba and two in New York City.

After the 1959 Cuban Revolution, he returned and made several documentaries for the Castro regime. But, after two of his shorts (Gente en la playa and La tumba francesa) were banned, he moved to Paris.

Starting in 1964, he became the favorite collaborator of French New Wave director Éric Rohmer. In the early seventies, he also started working with François Truffaut, Barbet Schroeder and other directors. Almendros’ collaborations with Rohmer would prove particularly fruitful, and are considered amongst the finest works of both men. These include the four feature length works from Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales series, La Collectionneuse (1967), My Night at Maud’s (1969), Claire’s Knee (1970), and Love in the Afternoon (1972), in addition to La Marquise d'O (1976), Perceval le Gallois (1978), and Pauline at the Beach (1983).

Almendros began his Hollywood career with Days of Heaven (1978), written and directed by Terrence Malick, who admired Almendros' work on Truffaut’s The Wild Child (1970). Almendros was impressed by Malick's knowledge of photography and his willingness to use little studio lighting. The film's cinematography was modeled after silent films, which often used natural light. In 1979, Almendros won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Days of Heaven. Almendros received three further Academy Award nominations for his work on Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), The Blue Lagoon (1980) and Sophie's Choice (1982), making him the most nominated Spanish person in Academy history as of the 93rd Academy Awards in 2021. Almendros was the cinematographer for the John Lennon documentary, Imagine: John Lennon (1988), directed by Andrew Solt.

In his later years, Almendros co directed two documentaries about the human rights situation in Cuba: Mauvaise Conduite (1984) (Improper Conduct) about the persecution of gay people in Cuba; and Nadie escuchaba (Nobody Was Listening), about the alleged arrest, imprisonment and torture of former comrades of Fidel Castro. He also shot several prestigious advertisements for Giorgio Armani (directed by Martin Scorsese), Calvin Klein (directed by Richard Avedon) and Freixenet.

Human Rights Watch International has named an award after him by establishing the Nestor Almendros Award for Courage in Filmmaking and it is given every year at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival. In 1980, Almendros won the César Award for François Truffaut's The Last Metro.

In 1992, Néstor Almendros died of AIDS related lymphoma in New York City at the age of 61.

Year Title Director Notes 1967 La Collectionneuse Éric Rohmer 1968 The Wild Racers Daniel Haller 1969 More Barbet Schroeder My Night at Maud's Éric Rohmer The Gun Runner Richard Compton With Arch Archambault 1970 The Wild Child François Truffaut Paddy Daniel Haller Uncredited Bed and Board François Truffaut Claire's Knee Éric Rohmer 1971 Two English Girls François Truffaut 1972 La Vallée Barbet Schroeder Love in the Afternoon Éric Rohmer 1973 L'oiseau rare Jean Claude Brialy Poil de carotte Henri Graziani 1974 The Mouth Agape Maurice Pialat Femmes au soleil Liliane Dreyfus Cockfighter Monte Hellman My Little Loves Jean Eustache 1975 The Story of Adele H. François Truffaut 1976 Maîtresse Barbet Schroeder Die Marquise von O Éric Rohmer Des journées entières dans les arbres Marguerite Duras 1977 The Man Who Loved Women François Truffaut Change of Sex Vicente Aranda La vie devant soi Moshé Mizrahi 1978 The Green Room François Truffaut Days of Heaven Terrence Malick Goin' South Jack Nicholson Perceval le Gallois Éric Rohmer 1979 Love on the Run François Truffaut Kramer vs. Kramer Robert Benton 1980 The Blue Lagoon Randal Kleiser The Last Metro François Truffaut 1982 Still of the Night Robert Benton Sophie's Choice Alan J. Pakula 1983 Pauline at the Beach Éric Rohmer Confidentially Yours François Truffaut 1984 Places in the Heart Robert Benton 1986 Heartburn Mike Nichols 1987 Nadine Robert Benton 1991 Billy Bathgate