Goodbye, Master of the Light, Andrew Lesnie
Tuesday, April 28, 2015 at 4:41PM 
Glenn here with some sad news that broke late as America was tucking itself away in bed. Academy Award-winning cinematographer Andrew Lesnie has died of a heart attack at the age of 59. Most will know Lesnie as the man who photographed all of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies, but he will also be well-remembered by the local Australian industry for a 35-year-long career that covered the broad spectrum of scope and genre.
Lesnie got his start in the Australian film industry just after the new wave of the 1970s. Unlike fellow countrymen and Oscar-winners John Seale, Dean Semler and Russell Boyd, Lesnie more or less remained in Australia and New Zealand. He only ventured over to work in America once his work on Middle Earth gained him a level of industry respect that would bring him to I Am Legend and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
His early career was made up of low-budget indie works and 'ozploitation' films like Fair Game. He lensed Kylie Minogue’s big screen debut in the delicately shot The Delinquents, and eventually found international acclaim working on Babe. He won an “Australian Oscar” for his superb sun-drenched work on Doing Time for Patsy Cline and would bring the visual extravaganza of Babe: Pig in the City to life before shuffling over to New Zealand to work on no less than eight Peter Jackson movies. Despite his newfound global success, he kept working locally on the indigenous pop-musical Bran Nue Dae, anthology film The Turning with Cate Blanchett, and last year’s ex-con drama Healing.
Devastating news from home. The master of the light, genius Andrew Lesnie has passed on.
Russell Crowe
Andrew Lesnie was a treat to work with. I am blown away by all he achieved. He'll be missed greatly. RIP.
Jamie Bell
Lesnie died on Monday (Australian time). His final work was for Russell Crowe’s directorial debut, The Water Diviner, which was a giant success at the start of the year in Australia and has just opened in America. Perhaps it was his stubbornness to remain at home in his corner of the world that saw him never receive another nomination after winning in 2002 for The Fellowship of the Ring, but he won more than enough awards for the trilogy to make up for it. At only 59 he's far too young, but he leaves behind an admirable dedication to his home country's industry and an enviable roster of work.
Reader Comments (9)
A Great Loss! I cherished also his work in period flick The Temptation of a Monk, directed by Clara Law and featuring the usually sensuous Joan Chen
I've never been able to see that Clara Law film, but I've heard it's great and that his work in it is fantastic.
Ooooh, such a shame. I always thought his work in the Jackson/Tolkien films was underrated even. Maybe that was due to the all the special effects, but I felt that in spitee of his Oscar he didn't really get the credit he deserved..
RIP. Hopefully he mentored several to pick up the mantle.
Has anyone seen Water Diviner?
Russell's first time as Director is a so-so debut but Lesnie gave it a great assist!
Loved his work on all of the Middle Earth Films and for someone to die so young is always a shame. R.I.P Lesnie.
Lesnie is indeed the greatest asset of The Water Diviner and does a neat dramatic trick of making Australia and Turkey appear bathed in the same light, which hints at the sympathetic similarities I think the audience is meant to find.
It's actually remarkable how good the LOTR cinematography is that the CGI is so perfectly integrated. I only saw the first Hobbit, but found that to sadly not be the case there. It's harder than people think.
"Babe" may be the most beautifully photographed picture I've ever seen. (Have you done a Best Shot of that one yet?) He will be truly missed.