Making movies is like eating a banquet, explains the cinematographer Greig Fraser. “A really amazing banquet,” he adds, “of the finest food and ingredients.” In the sense that a lot of time and effort has gone into the preparation of this exquisite meal; many hands, including his own, have toiled to reach this point. “You get to the end of that banquet and go, ‘I’m pretty happy not to eat again for weeks,”’ Fraser jokes. “Generally, I will finish a film and turn that part of my brain off.”
Fraser relays this in January, a few weeks before his latest project, the sequel to 2021’s sci-fi epic Dune starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh and Austin Butler hits cinemas, after more than two years of breathless expectation. That first film was grand and expansive, a tale of heroes, prophecies and quests, filmed on location in Jordan and Abu Dhabi, and was so instantly arresting, and immersive, and just downright gorgeous, that Fraser was rewarded with an Oscar for his efforts.
This sequel, simply titled promises to be just as good. So much so, that Fraser couldn’t quit the banquet. “I started grading the “I love it,” he admits cheerfully, understanding exactly how he sounds. “I know normally when actors and directors do press, they always talk up how good it is. I don’t have to do that because I’m not one of those people,” he jokes. “I’m a ... you know.” Just a lowly, twice Oscar-nominated director of photography.
