Top 27 Movies Photo Fans Need to See
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- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartGrace KellyWendell CoreyA house and wheelchair-bound photographer, his fashion model girlfriend and his visiting Nurse spy on neighbors from his courtyard window. Despite skepticism by his PD Detective friend, they're convinced one of his neighbors is a murderer.You might remember a jolly Jimmy Stewart running through the streets yelling something about Christmas, but in Rear Window, he’s a total badass. Jimmy plays a photographer whose keen, observing ways get him wrapped up in a murder mystery. Dun dun DUN!
Fun Fact: Alfred Hitchcock was inspired by the romance between real life war photographer Robert Capa and actress Ingrid Bergman. - DirectorJean-Pierre JeunetStarsAudrey TautouMathieu KassovitzRufusDespite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love.This movie makes us want to spout off every silly French phrase we know. It also makes us want to take photos! Amelie is full of all kinds of photo fun. Photobooth scrapbook (that sometimes talks)? Check. Traveling Gnome Polaroids? Check. Memories of her first camera? Check. Flirtation via photo? Check!!
Fun Fact: The photobooth photo collection is based on a real collection of director Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s friend. He even credited him at the end: D’après la collection originale de Michel Folco. - DirectorMark RomanekStarsRobin WilliamsConnie NielsenMichael VartanA mentally unstable photo developer targets an upper middle-class family after his obsession with them becomes more sick and disturbing than any of them could imagine.WARNING: This movie is scary. We picked this up thinking it was going to be the photo-themed equivalent of Patch Adams, but oh, how we were wrong. Robin Williams plays a creepy photo lab technician that’s a little too photo-obsessed. (even more than we are!) We can’t say much more without giving it away, but if you’re into thrillers, you’ll be pleased.
Fun Fact: Some of the characters’ names, including Robin Williams’, are real photographer’s names, like James Van DerZee, Nobuyoshi Araki, Bill Owens, Ellen von Unwerth, Aaron Siskind, and Paul Outerbridge. - DirectorChristopher NolanStarsGuy PearceCarrie-Anne MossJoe PantolianoLeonard Shelby, an insurance investigator, suffers from anterograde amnesia and uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife, which is the last thing he remembers.If you haven’t seen Memento, photo movie night is the night! Guy Pearce plays Leonard, a guy who wakes up not knowing who he is or why he has a pocket full of photos. You’ll soon notice Leonard tends to forget things…constantly. Okay, so he basically has no long term memory. He spends the entire film looking at polaroids and notes to figure out what the heck is happening. (which turns out to be a lot of crazy stuff!)
Fun Fact: Leonard uses a Polaroid 690 to keep track of his memories. Extra fun fact: Memento only took 25 days to shoot! - DirectorJohn WatersStarsEdward FurlongChristina RicciBess ArmstrongA talented young photographer, who enjoys snapping photos of his satirical, perverted Baltimore neighborhood and his wacky family, gets dragged into a world of pretentious artists from New York City and finds newfound fame.A young, unknown photographer finds fame after taking photos of his weirdo family and small-town folk. Don’t we all secretly wish this would happen to us? But, Pecker‘ll teach you that things aren’t so easy when you become a famous photographer. Turns out his subjects aren’t all too happy with the results. (wompwomp)
Fun Fact: Pecker’s camera is a Canonet, made mostly in the 60s and was the equivalent of a point-and-shoot. Today, it’d be worth about $20 - DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsDavid HemmingsVanessa RedgraveSarah MilesA fashion photographer unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park.Blow Up is another tale of murder, but this time it’s paired up with the usual 60s shenanigans (sex, fashion, and maybe drugs). Michaelangelo Antonioni whipped up this mod mystery film in which a fashion photographer might have accidentally photographed a murder. He blow ups his photos to figure it all out.
Fun Fact: Famed 60s swingin’ photog David Bailey was considered for the main character’s role. - DirectorFernando MeirellesKátia LundStarsAlexandre RodriguesLeandro FirminoMatheus NachtergaeleIn the slums of Rio, two kids' paths diverge as one struggles to become a photographer and the other a kingpin.This amazingly shot, epic movie tells the story of two friends who grow up in Rio de Janiero. One becoming a news photographer, while the other gets involved with some shady business.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMartin SheenMarlon BrandoRobert DuvallA U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.Dennis Hopper plays a photojournalist who was inspired by famed Vietnam photographer Tim Page. Also an epic which stars Marlon Brando!
- DirectorIrvin KershnerStarsFaye DunawayTommy Lee JonesBrad DourifFashion photographer Laura Mars, whose photographs contain violent images, develops the ability to see through a killer's eyes. Those around her include her driver Tommy, her manager Donald, her ex-husband Michael, and policeman John.A super scary flick about a commercial photographer who can see through the eyes of a murderer.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsKarlheinz BöhmAnna MasseyMoira ShearerA young man murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror.Thriller about a crazy serial killer who captures his victims terror with a moving camera.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsJames WoodsJim BelushiMichael MurphyA burnt-out photojournalist becomes involved in a Central American revolution.A photojournalist travels to El Salvador to shoot the military dictatorship in place but gets into trouble with rebels!
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsMel GibsonSigourney WeaverLinda HuntA young Australian reporter tries to navigate the political turmoil of Indonesia during the rule of President Sukarno with the help of a diminutive photographer.A somewhat handsome (and less crazy) Mel Gibson plays a reporter on a hot story in the tumultuous Indonesia. His trusty sidekick is a local photographer!
- DirectorRyûhei KitamuraStarsVinnie JonesBradley CooperLeslie BibbA photographer's obsessive pursuit of dark subject matter leads him into the path of a serial killer who stalks late night commuters, ultimately butchering them in the most gruesome ways.Bradley Cooper plays a photographer who helps save a woman who’s attacked. When she ends up missing, he becomes obsessed with finding her killer. Based on a Clive Barker story!
- DirectorStanley DonenStarsAudrey HepburnFred AstaireKay ThompsonAn impromptu fashion shoot at a book store brings about a new fashion model discovery in the shop clerk.A fashion photographer falls for a bookish Audrey Hepburn. (who wouldn’t?!) Inspired by Richard Avedon. p.s. There’s lots of singing in this, too!
- DirectorJocelyn MoorhouseStarsHugo WeavingGeneviève PicotRussell CroweThe life of a blind photographer who is looked after by a housekeeper is disrupted by the arrival of an agreeable restaurant worker.A blind photographer feels he must take photos to prove that what people describe around him is the truth. Also stars a young Russell Crowe!
- DirectorTom DiCilloStarsSteve BuscemiMichael PittAlison LohmanAn offbeat drama focused on a homeless youth, a pop music siren and a member of the paparazzi.Steve Buscemi plays a papparazzo!
- DirectorSam MendesStarsTom HanksTyler HoechlinPaul NewmanA mob enforcer's son in 1930s Illinois witnesses a murder, forcing him and his father to take to the road, and his father down a path of redemption and revenge.A thriller in which Jude Law plays a creepy Weegee-like character. You’ll see him frequently photographing murder scenes
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsNatalie PortmanJude LawClive OwenThe relationships of two couples become complicated and deceitful when the man from one couple meets the woman of the other.Julia Roberts is an art photographer who gets caught up in a dramatic love affair – with Jude Law, Clive Owen, and Natalie Portman! HAWT.
- DirectorHoward FranklinStarsJoe PesciBarbara HersheyRichard RiehleIn the early 1940s, an infamous New York paparazzo gets an assignment from a club owner to do a background search on a mysterious gangster, which leads him down a very dangerous path.Another noir-ish, Weegee-inspired movie. Joe Pesci is a crime-scene photographer who can’t help but get involved. His accent will totally flash you back to My Cousin Vinny.
- DirectorJan TroellStarsMaria HeiskanenMikael PersbrandtJesper ChristensenIn a time of social change and unrest, war and poverty, a young working class woman, Maria, wins a camera in a lottery. The decision to keep it alters her whole life.Watch this if you like period pieces…and photography! 1900s Sweden, Maria wins a camera in a lottery and finds empowerment through it.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsTobey MaguireKirsten DunstWillem DafoeAfter being bitten by a genetically-modified spider, a shy teenager gains spider-like abilities that he uses to fight injustice as a masked superhero and face a vengeful enemy.Spiderman is actually Peter Parker, a teenaged photographer who totally capitalizes on his double-identity by selling photos of Spiderman to newspapers.
- DirectorMasayuki OchiaiStarsJoshua JacksonRachael TaylorJames KysonA newly married couple discovers disturbing, ghostly images in photographs they develop after a tragic accident. Fearing the manifestations may be connected, they investigate and learn that some mysteries are better left unsolved.Like The Ring but with photos! This is the remake based of an original Thai version.
- DirectorZana BriskiRoss KauffmanStarsKochiAvijit HalderShanti DasTwo documentary filmmakers chronicle their time in Sonagchi, Calcutta and the relationships they developed with children of prostitutes who work the city's notorious red light district.A moving documentary about children in Calcuttta who are given cameras.
- StarsLindsay DuncanTimothy SpallLiam CunninghamA US property developer realises that he has a battle on his hands when he tries to renovate a London building containing a vast photographic collection and discovers that the library employees will resort to anything to thwart him.A story about a British photographic library that is on the verge of being shut down. Highly acclaimed, mixture of comedy and drama.
- StarsDavid McCulloughSam WaterstonJulie HarrisA comprehensive survey of the American Civil War.A Film By Ken Burns
Ken Burns makes historical documentaries that are heavily depict the past in photographs (think PBS). He’s made several of these, which are easy to find.