The Images of ‘Nightmare Alley’: Guillermo del Toro on His Noir Vision

The camera is always moving in Nightmare Alley—following Stan (Bradley Cooper), a man running from a brutal past, into the darkest corners of wherever he’s stumbled. Adapted from the 1946 novel, the film embraces the chilly, striking visuals and characterizations of classic noir, its cinematic language determined by the brutal, full-circle journey of the narrative.

The film, nominated for best picture and cinematography at the Critics Choice Awards, is the latest collaboration between director Guillermo del Toro and director of photography Dan Laustsen (Crimson Peak, The Shape of Water). It also marks the next stage of their work together: more risks taken, a more precise and tricky stylistic conception. Indeed, it’s the only movie in recent memory, if ever, to have both a color and black-and-white version playing in theaters at the same time. (The latter, more recently released, is subtitled Vision in Darkness and Light.) But as Del Toro and Laustsen reveal in our…