Angelina was used as clickbait and also to underscore that her exceptional performance should have been nominated along with Lachman. And they both deserved to win.

How Angelina Jolie's 'Poetic Understanding of Film Acting' Helped 'Maria' DP Land an Oscar Nom https://t.co/TEZFRYzDjm

— TheWrap (@TheWrap) February 5, 2025

Ask Ed Lachman about the use of color and the cinematographer provides a perfect layman’s primer in art education.

“Why are hospitals blue and green? Those are restful, peaceful colors. Why are fast food restaurants red and orange? Because those activate our passion and our appetite,” Lachman said in his laid-back, easygoing voice. “Theoreticians on painting, like Goethe in his book in 1810 or Josef Albers in the 1960s, have talked a lot about how color affects the viewer. It’s all very primitive and emotional and I love to play around with that.”

Lachman, for sure, plays with color, as well as four different film formats, in Pablo Larraín’ “Maria,” which depicts the final days of opera star Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie). The work has earned Lachman his fourth Oscar nomination, following nods for “Far From Heaven,” “Carol” and “El Conde.”

“I thought Pablo might want to work with a European, since this was shot in Budapest and Paris,” said the New York-based Lachman. “But he called and said he’d really like me to do it. I have to acknowledge Pablo’s vision. Thinking of this film’s aesthetics in the form of an opera really created what my images were. And in addition to the work of the production designer, the costume designer. And the other major aspect is Angelina Jolie and her exquisite, nuanced, heartbreaking performance. I was just very fortunate to fall into a very creative group of artists.”