"Visions of Light" is not just for film buffs. In fact, if the presentation of the Oscar for Best Cinematography is your cue to take a bathroom break from the Academy Awards, then this exhilarating documentary will help you see movies in a whole new light. Named Best Documentary by the National Society of Film Critics as well as several film-critic associations, "Visions of Light" traces the history and illuminates the art of cinematography. It profiles the cameramen who pioneered the visual language of cinema (such as D.W. Griffith's cameraman Billy Bitzer and Gregg Toland, who shot Orson Welles's "Citizen Kane"), as well as the masters they influenced, among them Néstor Alemendros ("Days of Heaven"), Vilmos Zsigmond ("McCabe and Mrs. Miller"), and Gordon Willis, the affectionately nicknamed "Prince of Darkness" who shot the "Godfather" films.
From "Birth of a Nation" to "Blade Runner", from "Gone with the Wind" to "GoodFellas", this feast for the eyes spans nearly a century with sequences from more than 125 movies made immortal by the artful use of light and shadow to realize the director's vision. William Fraker, who shot "Rosemary's Baby", recalls filming the scene in which Ruth Gordon's sinister character is seen in a bedroom talking on the phone at the far end of a corridor. Director Roman Polanski suggested that Fraker move his camera so her body would be concealed by a door and audiences could only see her back. Fraker remembers later watching this scene in theaters and seeing the audiences shift in their seats trying to peek around the door. "--Donald Liebenson"