Biography

Bruno Delbonnel was born in 1957 in Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France. He is a cinematographer and director, known for The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), A Very Long Engagement (2004) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013).

Often uses stylized color palettes featuring prominent warm tones (such as yellow and green) which tint the whole image.

Often uses film stock with a very apparent, well-defined grain structure.

His work on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) earned the film a nomination for the Best Cinematography accolade at the Academy Awards. It was the only film in the series to be nominated for such an award.

During post production on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), he was instructed by Warner Bros. to add more colors to the film, as his extensive use of color grading and de-focussing made it difficult to see things on screen. He and director David Yates were at first reluctant to do so, as they didn't want to lose the "very European" look that Delbonnel brought to the film. However, after the alterations were made they ultimately were satisfied with the results.

Graduated from ESEC Film School - Paris 1978.

Member of AFC (Association Française des directeurs de la photographie Cinématographique) and ASC (American Society of Cinematographers).

[on Darkest Hour (2017)] There were in fact two things which were really interesting. The first one was Churchill's personality. He's just like a guy who has a lot of doubt, and on the other hand he's a bully. So, it was the first thing. How can we show something like that? Showing with light and composition, you see. And then the second thing was the actual spring of 1940 which was the sunniest in a decade in Europe. So, it was playing with those elements... Almost like a black and white movie. That's kind of how we started and then [we] pushed it a bit further. [2018]

[on the lighting concept of The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)] Sometimes the light doesn't follow any natural reason. It's a shape that either follows the lines of emotion or was in contradiction with it. [2021]