With the year drawing to a close, it is time to look back at some of the best work in film in 2015. Latin Post entertainment writers David and Francisco Salazar have both compiled their personal favorites of the year. They begin with best cinematography, a look at the film that pops most beautifully onscreen from a visual perspective.

Nature's Splendor: Emmanuel Lubezki's Work for 'The Revenant'

By Francisco Salazar

It's hard not to admire the cinematography of Edward Lachman in "Carol," which makes sure to box the lead role in clustered spaces, or Adam Arkapaw's dynamic work in "Macbeth." John Seale's deserts in "Mad Max: Fury Road" are astonishing as is Roger Deakin's final sequence in "Sicario." Mátyás Erdély's work on "Son of Saul" is also incredible as he shoots the movie from the lead character's perspective, giving the masterful work a claustrophobic feel, while Sturla Brandth Grøvlen does the impossible in "Victoria," shooting the movie is one take.

However, for the third straight year, Emmanuel Lubezki's works continue to mesmerize. Yes it is commendable that he shot "The Revenant" with natural light and without the use of lights. However, the true achievement is how he is able to juxtapose the natural beauty of the terrain with the harshness of humans. On one hand there are numerous landscapes of the snow and the rivers, which emphasize nature and its tranquility. The snowy terrain is calm while the rivers move at a slow pace going through their cycles.

On the other hand, when humans are present Lubezki shows multiple close-ups displaying the pain and grittiness of humans' behavior. Every time Tom Hardy's Fitzgerald is on screen, Lubezki shoots him from close-ups and emphasizes his eyes. Meanwhile, when Leonardo DiCaprio's Glass is on screen, Lubezki tries to pay attention to every part of his body whether it's his hands, his feet or, of course, his face.

As with his work for Terrence Malick, Lubezki's camera work is meditative and slowly moves through each environment always with a sense of discovery. Take for instance one of the opening shots in the film. Lubezki opens on a meandering river and slowly moves forward. As the camera moves with the river, men start walking into frame and soon the camera begins to follow these men through there adventure through the wilderness.

"The Revenant's" work is truly a contrast from last year's "Birdman" or "Gravity," which showed the cinematographer working at a very different tempo and experimenting with the long take. Here he is clearly working on discovering the beauty of nature and feeling out his environments. With such a contrast in styles, "The Revenant" shows one new facet of Lubezki's genius.

Inhumanity at Its Most Brutal & Claustrophobic - Mátyás Erdély's Work on 'Son of Saul'

By David Salazar

The opening shot of "Son of Saul" puts the viewer in a rather uncomfortable position, a feeling that will never change throughout its 97-minute running time. Looking out into an unknown world with our only vantage point a blurred-out image. Slowly but surely people come into view until eventually our main character Saul completely takes over, making us follow him around from a very constrained and partial point of view.

The visuals of the film, often staged in longer takes allow for both a insightful point of view on the main character while also feeling the emotional pain of the world around us.

Seeing only parts of the image from over Saul's back for a large portion of the film emphasizes his own seeming disengagement from the suffering of his fellow men as a member of the Sonderkommando. His own search to bury the body of an ambiguous figure adds to this sense of separation, a hint at his own emotional trauma at being in hell.

The 4:3 framing keeps the viewer feeling claustrophobic throughout the proceedings, emulating to some degree the imprisoned feeling of the Holocaust survivors.

While Saul showcases some rather painful imagery, particularly when we follow characters dragging naked corpses around the floor, director Lazlo Nemes and cinematographer Mátyás Erdély opt for avoiding overly explicit violent imagery onscreen. It makes for comfortable viewing on some level, though watching a Holocaust movie filled with as much suffering as this one can never truly be comfortable.

The visual highlight for me is undoubtedly the sequence in which Saul follows a group of prisoners to the crematoria as he seeks out a rabbi. The sequence is delivered in a single take following Saul through the parade, the raging flames ever present in the background, adding suspense and anguish to the experience.

The final sequence is also rather powerful, leaving Saul's perspective for the first time, offering a devastating conclusion to a harrowing film experience.