R.I.P. Dick Pope, Mike Leigh’s Oscar-nominated cinematographer
Pope’s final film, the Mike Leigh-directed Hard Truths, opened this month.
Photo by Tim P. Whitby (Getty Images)
Dick Pope is dead. The Oscar-nominated cinematographer best known for his 34-year collaboration with Mike Leigh was 77.
Pope’s death was announced in a British Society of Cinematographers statement. “Dick had a reputation for being a wonderful collaborator and someone who was passionate about the artform of Cinematography,” the BSC wrote. “He was keen to embrace new technologies and ideas while also ensuring the skills and crafts of those that came before him weren’t lost. To this end, Dick would guest tutor at schools such as the National Film and Television School.”
Inextricably linked to director Mike Leigh, the pair began their relationship with 1990’s Life Is Sweet, a bittersweet comedy about a working-class family in North London. Leigh’s contradictory slice-of-life narrative fits neatly with Pope’s fly-on-the-wall photography. Pope’s ability to create intricate and textured frames out of everyday life gave Leigh the cinematic edge for his sincere and hostile narratives. The cinematographer captured working-class life with a painter’s eye, turning the lives of Lee’s characters into emotionally rich tableaus.
Pope continued to work with Leigh for the next 34 years, including Leigh’s latest, 2024’s Hard Truths. In between, the pair made the cutting Secrets & Lies, the madcap Gilbert and Sullivan biopic Topsy-Turvy, and the pair’s breakthrough, Naked, each film revealing a versatility that seemed as natural as ambitious.