First we lost H.R. Giger, now we’ve lost another visual innovator. Gordon Willis, the legendary cinematographer of The Godfather, has passed away at 82 of unspecified causes.
Willis’s bold use of shadow in that film earned him the nickname The Prince of Darkness, a role he embraced with fervor. He took his love of negative color to its logical extreme, shooting Woody Allen’s Manhattan in black and white. He also shot Annie Hall and All the President’s Men. He was no less than a visual poet, and his influence can be seen in the work of Emmanuel Lubezki and Robert Elswit.
Willis wasn’t a name known to most, if any, casual moviegoers. But were it not for him, some of the best films ever made would look drastically different. The last film he shot was 1997’s The Devil’s Own, so at the very least he was able to enjoy almost two decades of retirement. He will be missed.
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