A remarkable number of the best filmmakers in the world work exclusively with the same director of photography, movie after movie. This fact isn’t remarkable in or of itself; what’s interesting is the debate it might—and probably should—spawn: an auteurist chicken-or-egg argument. If Wong Kar-wai films look fantastic, as I imagine we can all agree they do, who deserves the credit: Wong or Christopher Doyle, who’s served as DP on every Wong effort save his debut? Russian Ark is a supremely thoughtful meditation on Russian art and history, but its spot in the canon is forever reserved as the longest single take in movie history. Who gets the props there: director Alexander Sokurov for orchestrating the pageant or cinematographer Tilman Büttner for mustering the sheer athleticism to pull off the crazy stunt? (In the making-of doc included on the DVD, Büttner, who also shot the physically demanding Run Lola Run, confesses that he suffered back pains for months after filming wrapped.)

The obvious answer in such instances is “both,” but which name appears on these film’s main IMDB pages, while the other you have to click “more” to find, above costume design and “production management” (whatever that means) but well below the implied auteur, literal author, and cast?

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