9.Sergei Urusevsky

1908-1974

Though nowhere near as prolific as others on this list, Urusevsky has earned an almost mythic status among cinematographers due to his work with Russian director Mikhail Kalatozov on such films as I am Cuba and The Cranes are Flying. His nearly unbelievable combination of deep focus, acrobatic tracking shots, subjective perspective and other remarkable cinematographic trickery was so ahead of its time that it wouldn’t be seen in the west until over a decade later. Unfortunately, his Kaltozov collaborations were largely buried by the Soviet propaganda machine, and have only recently been restored thanks to acknowledged admirers such as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. His spectacular camerawork, which often distracted from the proper focus of the scene, was defended by Urusevsky, remarking that, “It has never interested me, as cameraman, to just register what is going on in front of the camera.””

The above, much celebrated, clip is perhaps the most famous scene in Urusevsky’s repertoire, a balletic tracking shot from the opening of I am Cuba shows off his blistering and original camerawork.

Notable films: The Forty-First (1956), The Cranes are Flying (1957), The Unsent Letter (1959), I am Cuba (1964)