d264b2cd-e44d-49cf-a082-69c09babea81
ANTI-WAR FILM RESONATES WITH TODAY’S CRISES
ALEXA and CODEX facilitate a modern visual approach to WW2 story, Filip.
PUBLISHED
FEBRUARY 21 2024
Filip tells the semi-autobiographical tale of Leopold Tyrmand, based on his 1961 book. The main character is a Polish Jew posing as a French Gentile in 1943 Frankfurt. He works as a waiter whose determinedly devil-may-care attitude to life and love is eventually subsumed by the inescapable evils of the war.
The film met with tremendous acclaim, winning the Silver Lion and top cinematography honors at the 47th Polish Film Festival, and the Platinum Gorget at the III Festival of National Culture in Warsaw. Director of photography Michal Sobocinski, PSC was also nominated for the Golden Frog at the Camerimage Festival in Torun, as well as for a Golden Eagle Award, a.k.a. the Polish Oscar, for best cinematography in a feature film. The film was picked up by Netflix for international distribution, earning strong reviews.
Filip is an anti-war movie that resonates with meaning in today’s crises. The film is considered unusual for a Polish historical drama because it focuses on the point of view of a single character. The modern visual style and approach to coverage are accordingly unorthodox, with ramifications all down the line, including for shot design, editing and even locations and scheduling. Sobocinski and director Michal Kwiecinski envisioned very long takes, achieved with a variety of methods from handheld to ARRI Maxima stabilization rigs, orbiting around the main character to put the audience in his disintegrating world. There are essentially no establishing shots. One goal was to avoid a History Channel depiction of the war.
“In a way, it’s like a mix of third person and first-person perspective video game,” says Sobocinski. “Guns and action can actually make it harder to build emotions on the screen. The idea was that Filip is like the sun, and the planets orbit around him. The perspective is like human sight, so you don’t always see everything. Filip is a very physical and fast character – he needs to move. He gives motion to the camera, right from the very first shot. Filip is a survivor, and he’s losing the people around him. Somehow, he cannot be killed, even when he tries.”
"IN MY EXPERIENCE, NOT A SINGLE PRODUCER, REGARDLESS OF BUDGET, WOULD TAKE THE RISKS WE TOOK ON THIS FILM"
That thought process led in part to the choice of the relatively lightweight ARRI ALEXA Mini LF camera, which fits into smaller spaces while offering the unique lens architecture of a bigger sensor combined with wider focal lengths – mostly restricted to 27mm and 25mm, with a full frame sensor. Flexibility in exposure was also a plus, as the filmmakers worked with low light at real locations all over Europe. Some long tracking shots actually consist of shots stitched together from as many as five different cities, captured over the course of three seasons from May to October.
The Mini LF, with CODEX in-camera recording, dependably capture in ARRIRAW, a rich file format that brings more information into post production. The extra resolution allows for manipulation and matching without diminishing image quality.
“In my experience, not a single producer, regardless of budget, would take the risks we took on this film,” says Sobocinski. “Even the continuity of the actors’ emotions was difficult under these circumstances. This was still the time of the Covid crisis. We had 42 shooting days, and of course the weather and atmosphere varied widely between setups. Certain shots combined material photographed on day one and footage captured on the wrap day. It was impossible to cut anything together to see how the film was working. It’s partly the result of the director insisting on finding perfect spaces for each moment in a shot, and then making the right movements through those spaces – which my operator, Adam Lenart, executed masterfully.”
In spite of these challenges, grading was surprisingly quick and easy. “I use only one LUT on the set, and I want to make it as close to the final effect as possible,” Sobocinski says. “There’s so much detail in the image, with beautiful contrast and falloff. I think only the Mini LF, with the Panavision Primo Artiste lenses, could achieve that.”
"THERE’S SO MUCH DETAIL IN THE IMAGE, WITH BEAUTIFUL CONTRAST AND FALLOFF. I THINK ONLY THE MINI LF, WITH THE PANAVISION PRIMO ARTISTE LENSES, COULD ACHIEVE THAT"
The LF sensor served well in scene where Filip sits in bright sunshine at a café, with a woman who, unlike most of his lovers, gives him hope for the future. The depth of field is shallow, backlight is strong, but the faces are very soft and emotional.
Another, more intense scene is lit almost entirely by flares falling from the sky. A squadron of drones was sent up with remotely-triggered flares, which cast an undulating light. Sobocinski filled delicately with subtle, slightly blue HMI light, which helped avoid “crushed” reds. Faces in the scene feel sculpted with tension as the opposing army attacks the city. He adds that the uncut scene was done in a single take, and accomplished 95% tactically, with little or no digital effects work.
“In general, we wanted to bring a modern color palette into the WWII film,” Sobocinski says. “We didn’t want to go for a desaturated effect. I wanted the colors to be vibrant and to feel fresh. Nature doesn’t change, whether it’s the Middle Ages or today. The images are dense with detail – even when it’s a closeup or a small shot, you can see all the way down the street. So even the simplest shots require a huge amount of work. The set designers were amazing. To achieve this 3D effect, you have to care about every single frame.”
Looking back, Sobocinski compares the experience to being in a circus troupe, traveling the length and breadth of Poland through Wrocław, Toruń, Jelenia Góra, Pionki, Bożków and Warsaw. His most recent assignment took him to Paris for a ten-episode Apple miniseries titled The New Look. That film depicts the lives of Christian Dior and Coco Chanel and their associations with the Nazis.