APSA for Achievement in Cinematography

Lee Mogae for ‘Joheunnom Nabbeunnom Isanghannom’
(The Good, the Bad, the Weird)
Republic of Korea

Lee Mogae first worked with director Kim Jee-woon on his 2003 feature Janghura Hongryeon (A Tale of Two Sisters). He has shot films for several high-profile Korean filmmakers including Ryu Jangha on 2004 feature Ggotpineum bomi omyeon (When Spring Comes), Hur Jin-ho on the 2005 feature Oechul (April Snow) and Kim Dae-seung on 2006 feature Gaeulro (Traces of Love).

“The photography is so bravura that I think it was irresistible.  There were enormous battles scenes, chase scenes, scenes in trains and it's just photographed with fabulous flair and the staging of all the action is not only staged well, but captured brilliantly by the cameraman and it really makes films like Indiana Jones positively amateurish.” - Bruce Beresford (Jury President)

“It's really quite stunning, the cinematography is stunning.  I don’t know how they achieved all that.  It really was very, very you know full of virtuosity.” - Aparna Sen (Jury Member)

“Well my comment in the deliberations was that the cinematographer did things … I’ve done many, many action films and used just about every trick you can use in those films, but I felt that the cinematographer achieved shots that, to this day I don’t know how he did it. It was just so brilliantly and seamlessly done with a huge amount of style and I just felt that because of his ability to produce these shots that haven’t been seen before but also worked in completely with the director’s vision, I mean it was a pretty much a hands down choice.” - Richard Rothschild (Jury Member)

“A lot of hard work, a lot of creative and inventive collaboration on a big epic piece and I think there was a lot of contribution from the cinematographer. Dealing with all the constraints of shooting in China and the physical you know pressures, I think he did a really good job.” - Hanna Lee (Jury Member)