Greengrass. There is shaky-cam cinema and then there is Paul Greengrass. His handheld camera visceral style is a brilliant example of auteur cinema working within the Hollywood blockbuster. He has a patented visual approach and a top 500 of all-time film (barely) and there just aren’t many of those left at slot #213 on my best director list here. He already has six archiveable films and counting too—a strength as well.
Best film: The Bourne Ultimatum
- The film’s narrative is slim- it is essentially Bourne protecting 3 people: Paddy Considine, Julia Stiles, and (with a twist)- Joan Allen- it’s a great example of style over substance- such a great exercise and no other films have the feel and style of a Greengrass film
- Notable for its handheld camerawork and purposefully shaky style
- European police sirens- when I hear them now I almost just think of Bourne movies
- Action sequences are made for Greengrass’s form- I’m not sure it would work in other genres
- Dazzling final shot and even that is interrupted with yet another Greengass montage of the presuming fallout
Dazzling final shot and even that is interrupted with yet another Greengass montage of the presuming fallout
- Mid-shot zooms purposefully unfocused
- Superb cast from Strathairn to Finney to Scott Glenn
- Won, and justifiably so, the Oscar for best editing
- Washed out flashbacks in film form
- Certainly reminds me of The Conversation and is a meditation on surveillance
- The waterloo train station set piece is a jaw-dropper and makes for one of the best single sequences of 2007
- I’m sure the ASL (average shot length) is really low
- Consistent shallow focus dialogue sequence where the background dominant talking party is shot crisply but the foreground receiver of the dialogue is in shallow focus
total archiveable films: 6
top 100 films: 0
top 500 films: 1 (The Bourne Ultimatum)
top 100 films of the decade: 1 (The Bourne Ultimatum)
most overrated: Nothing here in the overrated category. Greengrass doesn’t have a film yet that lands on the overall TSPDT consensus top 2000—but does have four films on the TSPDT top 1000: Bloody Sunday, Bourne Supremacy, United 93 and Bourne Ultimatum
most underrated : 2007 is long enough in the rearview- Ultimatum should be tracking somewhere on the TSPDT 2000 climbing up. Captain Phillips needs to be there as well.
gem I want to spotlight : Captain Phillips is already forgotten by too many critics. It is a perfect example of a fully realized cinematic style.
Captain Phillips is already forgotten by too many critics. It is a perfect example of a fully realized cinematic style.
stylistic innovations/traits:
- You know you have a great auteur on your hand when you can basically take my review of Ultimatum above and copy and paste the stylistic traits here: handheld camerawork, low ASL (average shot length), mid-shot edits into zooms, washed out photography, loud ambient noise, shallow focus frame, multiple cameras used at multiple angles always kinetic (feels like a Tony Scott Unstoppable a bit)
- A masterful mongatist—an editor in the lineage of Eisenstein where that film is built in the editing room (a political filmmaker as well)
- Moral stories in political real/docudrama subtext- The Battle of Algiers feels like an important text to understanding Greengrass
mise-en-scene isn’t a strength of Greengrass so take the frames here with a grain of salt- he’s an editor with handheld shaky-cam approach- it’s hard enough to find a still image in focus- haha – and that’s intentional
top 10
- The Bourne Ultimatum
- Captain Phillips
- The Bourne Supremacy
- Bloody Sunday
- United 93
- Green Zone
By year and grades
| 2002- Bloody Sunday | R |
| 2004- The Bourne Supremacy | R |
| 2006- United 93 | R |
| 2007- The Bourne Ultimatum | MS |
| 2010- Green Zone | R |
| 2013- Captain Phillips | HR |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
The Lost Bus (2025) – initial thoughts
McConaughey is finally back! His portrayal of deeply struggling Frank sees him go through the same motions he’s done before playing other depressed or unprosperous characters, but he’s still a great fit for the role.
What impressed me most about this film was Greengrass basically filming hell on earth, while this film isn’t on the level of Letter Never Sent there is a seriously apocalyptic atmosphere that builds and builds as things rapidly escalate – this is like Tony Scott’s Unstoppable set in a wildfire version of George Miller’s Fury Road wasteland – harrowing work. Cinematographer Pål Ulvik Rokseth shot the wildfire scenes during magic hour and it paid off really well.
Trademark low average shot length and rapid editing from Greengrass, but didn’t catch any particular standout editing moments. Two storylines weaved together here, one more ‘on the ground’ and the other a more distant managing the situation perspective. I think the visuals trump the editing which is out of the ordinary from what I’ve seen from Greengrass.
R/HR, leaning up.
@Harry- McConaughey’s comeback began with The Rivals of Amziah King. From the director of Vast of Night (2019) which is still yet to find distribution.
https://thecinemaarchives.com/2020/06/07/the-vast-of-night-2019-patterson/
The camera movement deserves praise too, throughout the film the camera ravages through the air and open space, mimicking the volatile nature of the wildfire and following the destructive path.
@Drake-Didn’t you think 22 July in 2018 was worthy of the archives?
@Anderson- it is fine- no big beef if someone wants to have it in- but did not make the archives after the first viewing
Yes! I love the recognition for Captain Philips! It feels so weird listing it on my top 100 films list along with other more “well-renowned” films, but it’s one of my favorites