Cameraperson

Much has been said about this film. It's not your typical documentary on a specific issue or topic. It's also not a completely straight-forward autobiography, but I do think it's some type of autobiography that, while unique, still very much reveals something about the subject. The subject in question here is Kirsten Johnson, and all of the images and footage chosen to be shown to us do tell us something about her. Despite not really talking about her own life or only appearing on camera for a few seconds, the images and her interactions with those around her do give us a glimpse as to who this person is. That is why in that respect it is an autobiography of some sort, the type that shows rather than tells. It's a fascinating picture through and through and highly recommended.

Kirsten Johnson's 2016 visual memoir. Johnson, a camera woman (or person to be fair) who has worked for years on documentaries compiles a series of scenes from the films she's shot to deliver a personal travelogue which ranges in locations as Gitmo, Africa, Bosnia & even her own homestead featuring unique glimpses of people like Bosnian survivors of their genocide from the recent past, child birth in Africa, & even her own young twin children at an early age. Perhaps one of the lingering moments from the film is footage from her mother (who passed away from Alzheimer's complications) still alive & while not being mentally vibrant, the image of her still walking among the living (at a time when she had long passed) is heartfelt & gripping. Nothing resembling a traditional narrative can be found here but if you're in interested in the visual mind of an artist & where they were at a given time, this is one for you.

Kirsten Johnson has been working in the camera department and as cinematographer, producer and director for decades; her first credit, according to the Internet Movie Database, was in 1996. This movie is a series of excerpts from the movies she has handled the camera on, all over the world, from Afghanistan to Serbia, to Brooklyn, to her family. She calls the results onscreen an album, and a betrayal: that you may have someone's permission when filming, but later.... in some ways it is a betrayal: particularly when she films her mother in the grip of Alzheimer's.

But even an album requires organizing. Even if you include everything, the order of each sequence's inclusion affects its meaning; that's the point of the Kuleshov Effect. So what does this movie add up to, what does it say, what does it mean?

That is a question that can only be answered by the audience, the often unremarked component of cinema. A good film maker, a good editor, can often estimate what that result is, but only the audience can say what it is. Theory and practice: try it out and see what the result is. It's experimental cinema. The creator may have an opinion, but, well, at that point, it's no longer Miss Johnson's movie.

'CAMERAPERSON': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A critically acclaimed documentary, based on the life work of veteran cinematographer Kirsten Johnson. The movie is a collage of samples from all of the different films she's worked on (over several years, in multiple different countries). Johnson also served as the director of the movie, while Doris Baizley and Lisa Freedman are credited as the writers. It has 100% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and it's considered one of the most critically acclaimed movies of 2016. I think it's a tad overrated, but it is a well made (and beautiful looking) film.

The movie cuts together clips from several different films, all shot by Kirsten Johnson. It cuts back and forth, through the different movies (and through many different scenes), and it takes place over several years, and in several different countries. Johnson uses all of the different selected footage, that she's filmed, to tell a broad story about her life as a cinematographer. She even interviews her mother in it.

I think the film does a good job of showing a very wide selection of many different people's lives, all around the world (and in many different walks of life). It actually reminds me (quite a lot) of the YouTube documentary 'LIFE IN A DAY' (I did like that movie a lot more though). This film feels more aimless; but the individual scenes, on their own, are always interesting. It definitely does a good job of showing how a veteran cinematographer (like Johnson) gets to view the world; and now, thanks to her, so do we.

Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' review at: https://youtu.be/RO7ghqXHCCY

Kirsten Johnson's CAMERAPERSON is a documentary collage lovingly pieced together from outtakes of the many documentaries she's worked on in her long career as, well, a cameraperson. Intermingled with these outtakes are snippets from Johnson's personal life: playing with her twin toddlers, poignant flashes of her mother succumbing to Alzheimer's, sweet moments with her father & the twins at her parents' home in Beaux Arts, WA. In the vein of Koyaanisqatsi or Fast, Cheap & Out of Control, the seemingly unrelated clips are woven together until patterns begin to emerge. In the Q&A afterward, Ms. Johnson said that in most every Q&A an audience member discovers a new pattern or theme--pointing to an editing process that is both intentional & subconscious. The pacing & structure of the movie invokes the essence of fleeting memories. As an audience, we are given a behind the scenes look at what it takes to make documentaries. In a clip that illustrates the difficult balance between objective observer & compassionate storyteller, we watch a Bosnian toddler attempting to play with an axe. As his tiny fingers come perilously close to the blade, the audience cringes & we hear an off-camera exclamation of "Oh, Jesus!" from Johnson. An intimate portrait of a cameraperson, illustrating the delicate balance between the personal & the professional.