Joey Magidson
Phedon Papamichael loves to work with James Mangold. Now, he also obviously loves to work with Alexander Payne, but to hear him talk about Mangold, the cinematographer clearly is on the same page with the director. You can see it in all of their collaborations, but the simple yet obviously complex elegance of A Complete Unknown is their best evidence of it yet. They combine to make it look so easy, when it clearly is not. I previously spoke to cast members Monica Barbaro (here), Boyd Holbrook (here), and Edward Norton (here), plus editors Andrew Buckland and Scott Morris (here), as well as filmmaker Mangold (here). Today, it’s Papamichael’s turn, who I previously chatted with about The Trial of the Chicago 7 (here). Now, it’s time to focus on A Complete Unknown.
In my review of the movie (here), I spoke about the filmmaking like so:
Co-writer/director James Mangold just knows how to make a damn good picture. Co-writing the adaptation with Jay Cocks, Mangold doesn’t fall into any biopic traps, instead having the genre work for him. The same goes for his direction, which combines with the script to have a folk feel, while still looking at its protagonist in a properly curious manner. There’s confidence on display from Mangold, which allows it to stand alongside his best works to date.
Below, you can hear my chat with Papamichael. He’s very forthcoming with his process, as well as how he collaborates with Mangold. This is the sort of conversation where I’m more than happy to sit back and listen to an expert tell me what’s what. If you’re curious about cameras, lens, and the like, this is the discussion for you. Plus, he’s very complimentary of the cast, led by Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan. If you haven’t seen A Complete Unknown yet, it looks great, it is great, and it’s in theaters now, so give it a look!
Here now is my interview with A Complete Unknown cinematographer Phedon Papamichael. Enjoy:
A Complete Unknown is in theaters now!
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