Mr. Mălaimare, can you remember when you first realized the power of visuals and lighting?
Growing up in Romania, my father was an actor and a stage director, he had his own theater company; he did a lot of pantomime and experimental theater, a lot of shows without words. So lighting was a very big component. I remember a certain show of his, it had something like 180 lighting changes, and that really struck me. It was unbelievable to see what you can do with light in such a small space, on a small stage. That really opened my mind, seeing that you can have all these simple tools like lighting and images and use them to communicate emotions.
Is that a moment you carry with you in your work as a cinematographer for the likes of Paul Thomas Anderson, Francis Ford Coppola, and Taika Waititi?
Absolutely, yeah. It was one of the most important things, just to see how the audience reacts to an image. I pretty much grew up in theater in Romania — but what was really interesting for me was the difference between the classic theater and the theater that my father was doing, which was more about communicating with images, it was something closer to film.
“Photography is such a big part of the process. I think most cinematographers could be great still photographers!”
From there, still photography continued to play a key role in your education as a cinematographer, right?
Oh yes. When I was 15 and I decided I want to be a cinematographer, the first thing I did was attend a school program for still photography. We would learn the dark room and printing and all that. And then in film school, we used still photography so much because it was the cheapest way of learning. I was lucky because it was an exercise that I already understood, so we used stills and glued them together to create a scene. It’s such a big part of the process. I think most cinematographers could be great still photographers, actually!
Apparently still photography, rather than film, is the baseline for your research when you start a new project.
That’s right, I usually find a still photography reference, I shoot stills for each project first. I guess because in my mind, a still photo was meant to be looked at for hours. And even if a film frame can have the same qualities, sometimes the movie frame works better in conjunction with things that come before and after. Also because there are so many amazing still photographers, and it's great to be able to pick things from all of them: you find some for lighting, you find some for color, you find some for framing and so on. I really enjoy that process, I even print everything that I use and fill the walls in my production office with with those prints. And even if I’m not using a certain image as a reference, but I like the image, it stays on the wall because it could be useful for a later project.
I can imagine the Francis Ford Coppola epic Megalopolis had some very fantastical reference images.
Francis comes into a project with a lot of his own references. He this amazing ability to remember specific scenes from movies from the forties, for example. There are so many things I discovered working with him, references that I never knew about… I remember the first time I saw The Red Shoes, we were watching that as a reference for Tetro and that really blew my mind.
You mentioned that Ford Coppola brings his own references — it seems like he’s the type of filmmaker that has quite a set vision for his own work. Even Megalopolis had apparently been in the works for decades before it came to fruition this year.
That’s actually how we met, because Francis was trying to make Megalopolis already back in 2001, it was the reason he came to Romania. But he couldn't do it back then, so he had to shift his focus a little bit, which is how he came to make Youth WithoutYouth. It’s a story based on a Romanian novel, so he came to Romania to shoot it, and that’s when we met and worked together for the first time. We’ve since made four films together. So although there were certain things established on this film already, he does like to experiment. For every single project, it's a different approach, everything is evolving for each project. It was trying to reinvent those or build upon something that was the foundation of our relationship.
“I know that big danger is to be in a comfort zone for too long and start repeating yourself. I really like to be pushed into a corner or forced into finding an interesting solution.”
How has your working dynamic grown over the years?
It’s a very interesting dynamic because for 20 years now, Francis will come to me and say, “Oh, I have this crazy idea that changes everything that we spoke about.” But I actually love that. Now I find myself waiting for those moments because I know that big danger is to be in a comfort zone for too long and potentially start repeating yourself. I really like to be pushed into a corner or forced into finding an interesting solution. And most of the times, it's a better solution. For Tetro, we did a black and white film where the flashbacks were in color. For Youth Without Youth, we filmed the dreams upside down. Those kinds of unique ideas pay off in the end, I think.
Would you say you seek out filmmakers who are experimental in that respect?
Well, the way I choose projects, the first thing for me is whether or not it’s something that I've done before. My biggest fear is to be put in a box and become like the cinematographer that does this best. I’m always attracted to things that I've never done, and because of that I was fortunate to work with a lot of directors that function that way. Thinking of Taika Waititi for JoJo Rabbit, I remember I was prepping a list with shots for the first day, and he came in and said, “Just watch the actors, see what they're doing and come up with a different plan.” It's great because no matter how much you plan ahead of time, it can all change on set, you’re forced into finding new solutions…
Does that part get easier as you gain more experience?
Sure, but each story is unique and each approach is unique. So the problem solving is different for every project. And because I don't like doing the same thing, I'm very rarely using the same camera package or the same lenses. So I put myself in that corner to begin, I always try to see what would be the best tool for for each story. Sometimes you’re fighting with somebody that will tell you, “Oh, the audience won't feel it if you use this camera trick, or if you use light and shadow and composition that way.” And sure, your intention might not always be understood exactly, but I think there is a certain communication, there’s certain feeling that you can transmit through your tools. You can make the audience be comfortable or uncomfortable… There’s always a trick up our sleeve, there’s always some way we can communicate. And that’s what movie making is all about.