If you were to ask me what the best-shot movie of all time is, I would think for a long while and reply “Ingmar Bergman’s Winter Light.” I made this quite difficult decision a few hours ago, whilst skimming through the film and taking images out of it for this post. Every shot in that movie is perfect. Sven Nykvist, whom I’ve always believed is the best cinematographer/photographer to ever live, captures stunningly perfect images in every frame. There is a well known story that he and Bergman sat and watched the sunlight move across the inside of a building for an entire day while researching how this movie was going to be shot. It’s true, and it paid off. The use of sunlight (or artificial light) in the film is strikingly powerful, and the contrast between black and white (though the film is very bright and not physically that dark) is stunning in several key scenes. See for yourself in these images I’ve taken from the movie, which is also my favorite Bergman film and my third favorite film of all time.
Film: Winter Light (1962)
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Cinematographer: Sven Nykvist