Shooting Kinski #6: Geoffrey Unsworth and Ghislain Cloquet

Halfway through the shooting of TESS, the acclaimed and much loved cinematographer of the film, Geoffrey Unsworth, would tragically pass away. Nearly 25 years after this when she was asked about Unsworth on the TESS dvd documentary Nastassja Kinski still teared up talking about it.
Academy Award winner Unsworth was born in London in 1914. He shot more than 80 films in his career from his first in 1943 up until TESS. Some of his greatest works include Peter Glenville's BECKET(1964), Stanley Kubrick' 2001(1968) and Richard Donner's SUPERMAN(1978).
Unsworth had a remarkable style about him and the range of films he shot is very impressive. It is hard to think of two more stylistically different films than say BECKET and 2001 and yet Unsworth gave them both a startling fresh and crisp look that worked incredibly well for each.
Unsworth's work on TESS was simply stunning and everyone in front of and behind the camera adored him. It is especially important to note that he had just finished up SUPERMAN when he came on board TESS, as a comparison between the shots of the Kent farm in SUPERMAN have a remarkable similarity to certain outdoor shots in TESS. They both remain two of the most striking looking films of the seventies.
The camera of Geoffrey Unsworth was in love with Nastassja Kinski and whether she is being shot from a distance or close up, outdoors or indoors...the effect remains entrancing and at times nearly overwhelming.
The production could have been in serious trouble when Unsworth died close to Halloween in 1978 but Polanski quickly placed the equally skilled Ghislain Cloquet in charge of the films look. It was a tricky assignment for the talented Cloquet who had to manage to match the shots Unsworth had already completed while not losing his own individual style.
The Belgium born Cloquet was ten years Unsworth's junior when Polanski handed him the mammoth task of completing TESS but he pulled through beautifully. While the dvd documentary details which one did certain shots, the film feels perfectly cohesive and the two very unique stylists managed to compliment each other perfectly.
Cloquet had already done some remarkable work before TESS including Bresson's astonishing UNE FEMME DOUCE (where his camera would bring some of the same brooding intensity that it gave to Kinski with the young Dominique Sanda) and Jacques Demy's DONKEY SKIN. The Oscar winning Cloquet would unfortunately also pass away just a few years after filming TESS in the winter of 1981.
Unsworth and Cloquet would win a whopping 5 international film awards for TESS including the Cesar and Oscar. They were two great individuals who were joined in a very tragic circumstance, and it is to both their credit that they managed to help create a film as beautiful and lasting as TESS.
Even the handful of critics who didn't fall under TESS'S spell never questioned how beautiful and well photographed it was. Nastassja Kinski under the lens of Unsworth and Cloquet remains one of the most stunningly beautiful images the screen has ever seen. Their photography in this film is among the most noblest in all of cinema and it remains the most beautifully shot of Nastassja's career.

For a more factual and knowledgable look at their work in TESS I highly recommend the following article at the Internet Enclopedia of Cinematagrophers.

http://www.cinematographers.nl/GreatDoPh/Extra/Tess.htm

Shooting Kinski: Witold Sobocinski

Award winning Polish cinematographer Witold Sobocinski has had a fascinating career behind the camera since beginning his career in the mid fifties. Originally starting out as a camera assistant after flirtations as a Jazz Musician and as a teacher, Sobocinski graduated to the role of Cinematographer in the late sixties and was soon working with such noted directors as Andrzej Zulawski and Roman Polanski. His work on Torrents of Spring, in which he shared photography duties with Dante Spinotti, marks one of his final features and it is a beautifully shot production that might not be among his greatest works but is a worthwhile addition to his filmography.
Born in Poland just before Halloween in 1929, Sobocinski is probably best known in The United States for his work with Roman Polanski on films like Frantic (1988) but it is Zulawski’s chilling and intense The Third Part of The Night (1971) that probably stands as his greatest achievement. His work is always marked with by a hyper-realistic edge that many key Polish directors have taken advantage of with the most notable probably being the two above.
Torrents of Spring would not be the first time Sobocinski had worked with director Jerry Skolimowski as the two had began collaborating as early as 1970’s The Adventures Of Gerard. Their most famous, or infamous, collaboration remains 1981’s Hand’s Up, a film that would garner them much controversy and would get them both in trouble with Polish authorities.
Torrents of Spring is a lovely and beautifully lit period based production that was done a major disservice on home video in the United States as the VHS didn’t capture Sobocinski’s photography the way it should have. Unfortunately this disappointing VHS copy is currently the only way to see the film right now in this country, and it has hurt the films reputation considerably.
Sobocinski’s son, Piotr, is just as talented as his father and his work with Kieslowski on such films Dekalog (1990) and Red (1994) is already the stuff of legend. Witold at near eighty years old is no longer working on films but his legacy behind the camera will continue to inspire for years to come…