Chris Menges
Chris Menges BSC, ASC is an English cinematographer and film director. He is a member of both the American and British Societies of Cinematographers.
Life and career
Menges was born in Kington, Herefordshire, the son of the composer and conductor Herbert Menges. He began his career in the 1960s as camera operator for documentaries by Adrian Cowell and for films like Poor Cow by Ken Loach and If.... by Lindsay Anderson. Kes, directed by Ken Loach, was his first film as cinematographer. He was also behind the camera on Stephen Frears' first feature film Gumshoe in 1971.After several documentaries and feature films like Black Beauty, Bloody Kids, The Game Keeper, Babylon and Angel he became notable for more ambitious works for which he was critically acclaimed.
In 1983 he received his first BAFTA nomination for the Bill Forsyth film Local Hero and only a year later won his first Academy Award for the film The Killing Fields about the genocide in Cambodia. He continued his work with helmer Roland Joffe and he won his second Oscar in 1986 with the historical drama The Mission. He also shot a television play titled "Made in Britain", starring Tim Roth in 1983.
In 1988 he gave his directional debut with A World Apart. This film was celebrated at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival and won three major awards.
His second film as director CrissCross with Goldie Hawn received critical acclaim but was a box-office flop. In 1996 he moved back behind the camera to shoot the award winning films The Boxer and Michael Collins. For the latter he received his third Academy Award nomination in 1997.
Menges also made documentaries. In the early 1970s he went to Burma with British film maker Adrian Cowell to shoot The Opium Warlords, a film about the drug trade. After the release of the documentary in 1974 the Burmese government was said to have put a price on their heads. He is mentioned in the book Conversations with Cinematographers by David A. Ellis, published by Scarecrow Press.
Filmography
Film (as cinematographer)
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1969 | Kes | Ken Loach | |
| 1971 | Gumshoe | Stephen Frears | |
| 1980 | The Gamekeeper | Ken Loach | |
| 1981 | Looks and Smiles | Ken Loach | |
| 1982 | Battletruck | Harley Cokeliss | |
| 1983 | Local Hero | Bill Forsyth | Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography |
| 1984 | Comfort and Joy | Bill Forsyth | National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography |
| 1984 | The Killing Fields | Roland Joffé | Academy Award for Best Cinematography BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematography |
| 1986 | The Mission | Roland Joffé | Academy Award for Best Cinematography Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography Nominated – New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematography |
| 1987 | Shy People | Andrei Konchalovsky | |
| 1996 | Michael Collins | Neil Jordan | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Academy Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography |
| 1997 | The Boxer | Jim Sheridan | Nominated – ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography |
| 2001 | The Pledge | Sean Penn | |
| 2002 | Dirty Pretty Things | Stephen Frears | |
| 2002 | The Good Thief | Neil Jordan | |
| 2005 | The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada | Tommy Lee Jones | |
| 2005 | North Country | Niki Caro | |
| 2006 | Notes on a Scandal | Richard Eyre | |
| 2008 | The Reader | Stephen Daldry | Co-cinematographer with Roger Deakins Nominated – Academy Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography |
| 2008 | Stop-Loss | Kimberly Peirce | |
| 2008 | The Yellow Handkerchief | Udayan Prasad | |
| 2010 | Route Irish | Ken Loach | |
| 2010 | London Boulevard | William Monahan | |
| 2011 | Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close | Stephen Daldry | |
| 2019 | Waiting for the Barbarians | Ciro Guerra |
as director
- 1988: A World Apart
- 1992: CrissCross
- 1994: Second Best
- 1999: The Lost Son