Calendar Girls

It is a film I have seen several times before, but it is sometime since I last saw it and was most certainly before I started studying photography.  It is such an amazing film and story. On watching the rerun recently, I saw the film through photographers eyes for the first time. And I was impressed with the cinematography. There is one shot in particular I recall that said so much more than the individual elements (I have tried to get a screen grab, but google came up with a variety of alternate scantily clad calendar girls!!).  Anyway, it is the scene in Hollywood at the end, where Julie Walters has stormed out of the washing powder set and Helen Mirren follows her. They are standing in their white bathrobes and slippers, outside, but absurdly within a western film set. There are long shadows created from two overhead street lights.  The lighting, atmosphere and composition are exquisite but combined, the overall effect is elevated further. There are other superb moments too frequent to mention here.

It also made me think how brave the ladies and indeed the photographer, Terry Logan, a former professional photographer, were at the time. He was the husband of 'Miss April' I think. It could so easily have turned out badly.  He must have shown significant technical skill in the first instance, but more importantly confidence and conviction in his own ability to have the vision to pull it off creatively and authentically. And also, to make the ladies feel at ease in his company must have been quite a challenge. Presenting the ladies with dignity and pride was handled masterfully.

It does add another dimension of interest watching films these days.  There aren't many spare hours in the day to wile away time in front of a good film, but when I do, I am increasingly enjoying observing how the film makers make best use of photography.