Introduction

This week Talking Movies is going to be taking a look at the critically acclaimed 2008 motion picture The Wrestler. I’ll be poring over two carefully selected scenes from the movie and looking at how they’ve been carefully orchestrated and arranged in order to attack the viewer’s eyeballs and leave them with a visually arresting image. I’ll deconstruct the scenes and explain how you can make use of the techniques and tricks they employ when you’re out on the streets trying to create some great street photography. I will choose two of my own pictures to compare with the movie scenes, and discuss the ways in which my shots compare to those from the movie that have influenced me. For every previous installment of the Talking Movies series you can visit the Talking Movies section of the blog.

Introducing The Wrestler

Helmed by acclaimed director Darren Aronovsky, and starring Micky Rourke, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood, The Wrestler charts the travails of an over-the-hill pro wrestler Randy Robinson (Rourke), who has endured a sad fall from grace since the heady days of the 1980s when he enjoyed star billing as celebrity wrestling star “The Ram”. The movie won a brace of Golden Globes as well as a BAFTA award, and was also nominated for double Oscars for both its lead and supporting actors. Cinematography for The Wrestler was deftly handled by French cinematographer Maryse Alberti, winner of both Sundance and Independent Spirit awards, who is best known for her work on documentaries. She was chosen by Aronovsky on the basis of her documentary work, as he sought a “documentary style” look for the movie, an effect which is greatly emphasised by the widespread use of handheld 16mm cameras throughout the production.