Paul Thomas Anderson’s close-ups are widely regarded as the best in the business and second only to the director’s own filmmaking hero Jonathan Demme (there are no shortage of essays and video compilations devoted to Anderson’s use of close-up shots).
So imagine how Barry Jenkins must have felt when Anderson admitted to being jealous of the close-ups in “Moonlight” and “If Beale Street Could Talk.” The two directors appeared on a recent episode of the DGA podcast “The Director’s Cut,” where Anderson called Jenkins the current master of cinematic close-ups.“I’m very jealous of your close-ups,” Anderson told Jenkins.
“There’s a long line of people who have really tried to do Jonathan Demme close-ups and I try all the time, but I have to say, you got it right better than anybody…I’m like how is he doing that? I’ve tried so hard.
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