On the Waterfront: Boris Kaufman

boris kaufman

One of the most renowned aspects of On the Waterfront is the intense neo-realistic cinematography accredited to the esteemed cinematographer Boris Kaufman.

Kaufman was born in Bialystok, Poland on August 24, 1906.  He was the youngest of 3 brothers, with both his older brothers David Abelevich Kaufman (pseudonym  Dziga Vertov) and Mikhail Kaufman going on to be successful in the film industry in the Soviet Union.  After the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Poland regained its independence and Boris along with his parents moved to Poland.  He then moved to Paris to study at the University of Paris and worked with French director Jean Vigo on a number of projects.   He then served in the French army against the Nazis.  After France fell to the Nazis, Kaufman escaped to Canada and eventually the United States in 1942.

Due to his Soviet ties, Kaufman was not permitted to work within unions in Hollywood initially.  So, he spent several years doing U.S. and Canadian documentaries and government films before being allowed to make films.

His first Hollywood feature film was On the Waterfront (1954) for which he won an Academy Award.  The film established Kaufman’s style of stark, naturalistic black-and white photography.  Kazan had selected Kaufman due to his roots in documentary film making because he believed he could inject realism into the film and use the Italian neo-realist style of filmmaking.  He was also responsible for convincing Kazan to film On the Waterfront completely on location.  Some have argued that through Kazan had showed by testifying his anti-Communist stance, he was able to bring in Kaufman who had Soviet ties.

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Following On the Waterfront, Kaufman made a series of other films including his Oscar-nominated work on Baby Doll (1956), his use of color in Splendor in the Grass (1961), before entering into a series of films with director Sidney Lument which included work the films: 12 Angry Men (1957), Long Day’s Journey Into the Night (1962), The Pawnbroker (1965) and many others.

Kaufman retired after working on Otto Preminger’s Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970).  He then died in New York City in 1980.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/96891/Boris-Kaufman

http://www.cinematographers.nl/GreatDoPh/kaufman.htm

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