Critics Rave About Deakins' Work on
Man Who Wasn't There

Roger Deakins' latest collaboration with the Coen brothers, The Man Who Wasn't There, has earned rave reviews for its daring use of black-and-white. The cinematographer has been widely lauded for creating the visually stimulating images that bring the Coen brothers' story to life. Here's what some of the critics are saying:

A.O. Scott, The New York Times - Oct. 31, 2001
"At times the movie seems like a collaboration between the actor [Billy Bob Thornton] and Roger Deakins, the cinematographer who has shot the last five Coen brothers movies. Mr. Deakins' mastery of the focal and textural possibilities of black-and-white recalls old Hollywood masters like Gregg Toland, who shot Citizen Kane and The Best Years of Our Lives. He is as eclectic as the Coen brothers themselves. In one breathtaking sequence a family reunion in the Northern California countryside transports us from the gloom of film noir into the bleached sunshine of Italian neorealism. But his camerawork is especially tailored to the lines of Mr. Thornton's face and the comb tracks in his silvery hair. The rest of the movie, with its corkscrew
plot and whiplash reversals, may fade quickly and pleasantly from memory, but that faces remains emphatically there."

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times - Oct. 31, 2001
"While their last effort, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, successfully mixed Greek and movie mythology with American roots music, this one uses Roger Deakins' crystalline wide-screen black and white photography (a first for the Coens) to smartly reconstruct a claustrophobic world inspired by hard-boiled writer James M. Cain and starring Billy Bob Thornton.

Exquisitely lit and photographed by Deakins (who actually shot with color negative film), The Man Who Wasn't There is first of all a lovingly done recreation of the classic, brooding film noir visual style, reeking with atmosphere and gloriously black and white."

Desson Howe, The Washington Post - Nov. 2, 2001
"The movie, starring Billy Bob Thornton and Frances McDormand, is wonderfully spirited, as far as it goes. There are many things to savor: Thornton's theatrically understated performance; the compellingly film noirish setting (1949, by way of The Postman Always Rings Twice); Roger Deakins's satiny, black-and-white images; the eccentric character moments; and the persistent sense that something unusual is always around the corner. What's not to like, except wanting a bit more?"

Joel Bergen, Daily Trojan - Nov. 2, 2001
"The actors, who have never looked better on celluloid, owe a great debt to six-time Coen Brothers cinematographer Roger Deakins. The Oscar-nominated cameraman has outdone himself with this breathtaking monochromatic photography. Every single shot is beautifully composed and lit. Production designer Dennis Gassner and costume designer Mary Zophres, also Coen veterans, do such an incredible job of recreating 1949 that, combined with Deakins' cinematography, it's easy to forget this is a contemporary motion picture."

Charlotte O'Sullivan, The Independent (London) - Oct. 26, 2001
"Generally Neanderthal, flubby or greasily smooth - Thornton here looks like Humphrey Bogart and Jesus rolled into one. Transformed by Roger Deakins black-and-white cinematography, which creates vast amounts of cold, shadowy, purifying space a la Kubrick's The Killing, his face is a thing of loveliness and we explore it as excitedly as astronauts taking first steps on the moon."