Oscars Best Cinematography breakdown: Why ‘The Brutalist’ is poised to topple ‘Dune’
Even though film is primarily a visual medium and the cinematographer has such an influential role in the final product, the Best Cinematography Oscar rarely matches the Best Picture winner. Last year’s Oppenheimer was an outlier, landing both awards, and the 2025 Academy Awards could yield similar results. But before Oppenheimer, the Best Picture winner was awarded Best Cinematography only three times since 2000 (American Beauty, Birdman, and Slumdog Millionaire).
This year, the five Best Cinematography nominees include three Best Picture nominees: frontrunner The Brutalist, potential spoiler Dune: Part Two (which won in this category for the first film in 2022), and the incredibly fraught Emilia Pérez. The other nominees are Maria (giving legendary cinematographer Ed Lachman his fourth nomination and second in as many years) and Nosferatu (putting Robert Eggers‘s longtime friend and cinematographer Jarin Blaschke back in the category following his surprise nomination for The Lighthouse).
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Other data points to consider. Four of the five Oscar nominees received nominations from the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), with only Emilia Pérez as the outlier. Four of the five nominees were also BAFTA Award nominees, but at that ceremony, Maria was left snubbed (the other nomination went to Conclave). But no matter how it breaks down, there does appear to be a clear frontrunner here…
Frontrunner: The Brutalist
Lol Crawley is a first-time nominee and widely expected to become a first-time Oscar winner for his stunning lighting and camerawork on Brady Corbet‘s fictional biographical epic. Since its debut at the Venice Film Festival, The Brutalist has been praised for its cinematography, mainly because Crawley shot the project on film using 35mm VistaVision (a format not used in an American production since 1961). Whether or not Academy voters get through the film’s 216-minute runtime is another matter — although since the group bestowed 10 nominations on the film already, it seems likely they’ve seen it and responded to it positively — but it shouldn’t matter for Crawley, since the jaw-dropping visuals are evident from the film’s striking opening sequence. Gold Derby editors and experts have The Brutalist winning this category by a wide margin over the #2 contender.
Potential spoiler: Dune: Part Two
Considering that Greig Fraser already won an Oscar for his beautiful cinematography in Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune in 2021, it might make him feel like a shoo-in to win again, particularly with the film also receiving key cinematography precursors. The sequel looks even more impressive as it travels to new locations and includes several new sequences, such as the fantastic arena battle of Austin Butler‘s Feyd-Rautha, which has its distinct grayscale look. The film has the added benefit of having such an other-world-like quality that makes the cinematography stand out even more.
Underdog: Maria
The well-respected veteran Lachman has been nominated two years in a row for Netflix movies directed by Pablo Larraín that have received no other Oscar nominations. This nomination shows how much he’s loved within the Academy’s cinematography branch and his peers in ASC. This is his fourth Oscar nomination in a career that spans 50 years — his previous two nominations were for movies with his frequent collaborator, Todd Haynes — and some might feel that he’s more than due. Sadly, this probably won’t be his year.
This looks like one of the significant wins for The Brutalist, at least in the crafts categories, though Dune: Part Two looks so stunning that few will be surprised by a Greig Fraser repeat.
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