Alex Thomson BSC was, in every sense, a cinematographer’s cinematographer. Highly respected by his peers, he was chosen by celebrated cinematographer-turned-director Nicholas Roeg to photograph two of Roeg’s most visually distinctive films, Eureka (1983) and Track 29 (1988).
Thomson first worked with Roeg in the early 1960s, when both were part of a distinguished generation of British filmmakers. Thomson operated on Lawrence of Arabia (1962), with Roeg working on the second unit, and later continued as camera operator with Roeg on Roger Corman’s The Masque of the Red Death (1964) and François Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451 (1966).
Born in London in 1929, the son of a Bond Street tailor, Thomson entered the film industry at just 17 as a clapper boy at Denham Studios. Over the following two decades he progressed through the camera department, becoming a camera operator in 1960 and a director of photography in 1967.
His cinematography was distinguished by a sophisticated and often understated approach to lighting, with a particular ability to enhance production design and create atmosphere.
His first feature as director of photography was Clive Donner’s Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1967), followed by a diverse body of British and international productions. Among them were Alfred the Great (1969), Dr Phibes Rises Again (1972), and Norman Jewison’s Jesus Christ Superstar (1973). Thomson was seriously injured during the first week of filming on Jesus Christ Superstar and was subsequently replaced by Douglas Slocombe.
Thomson returned to establish himself among the leading cinematographers of his generation. John Boorman’s Excalibur (1981), for which he received an Academy Award nomination, brought his work widespread recognition. He subsequently won British Society of Cinematographers awards for Tony Scott’s Legend (1985) and Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet (1996).
Hamlet also marked Thomson’s first experience shooting in 70mm. The film’s producer, David Barron, valued Thomson’s extensive experience and his ability to support Branagh’s directorial vision through lighting and visual design.
Thomson’s final feature was Branagh’s Love’s Labour’s Lost (2000), a brightly stylised musical adaptation. His career spanned more than five decades and encompassed some of the most ambitious and visually memorable productions of British and international cinema.
Alex Thomson died on 14 June 2007, aged 78. He was survived by his wife, Diana Golding, and daughter, Chyna Thomson, who also worked as a camera operator.