Cinematographer John Seale Talks Turning Down ‘Furiosa’ and Capping His Career With ‘Three Thousand Years of Longing’

variety.com:

J. Kim Murphy John Seale was considering retirement a decade ago — then fellow Australian George Miller convinced the cinematographer to shoot “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Now, their partnership continues with the fantastical romance “Three Thousand Years of Longing.” During production, Seale decided the two-hander, starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton, would be a “fascinating” film to cap his career, electing against reuniting with Miller for “Furiosa,” the filmmaker’s upcoming “Fury Road” prequel, which is currently in production. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” Seale recalled. “George said, ‘Well, I’m not going to ask you to do it.’ I thought to myself, ‘Ah great, now I don’t have to go through it all.’ Then he said, ‘I’m going to invite you.’ That one word — ‘invite’ — changed the whole thing and made it even harder.” Seale has been a studio filmmaking staple since the 1980s.

He earned an Oscar nomination for lensing “Witness,” his first Hollywood feature, and later won for “The English Patient.” Now at the tail-end of nearly five decades as a cinematographer, Seale finds his new life “liberating,” traveling with his family to places like Machu Picchu and the Galápagos Islands.

But his work still finds a way back to him. “One of the greatest compliments you can get is your granddaughter ringing and whispering in the phone, ‘Papa, guess what we’re watching in school! ‘Dead Poets Society,’” Seale said, mentioning his work with Peter Weir.

In a conversation with Variety, Seale detailed his working relationship with Miller, reflected on his illustrious career and explained why he stayed out of retirement to shoot “Three Thousand Years of Longing.” When did you decide that “Three Thousand Years of Longing”