Michael Ballhaus obit

Michael Ballhaus, ‘The Departed’ and ‘Goodfellas’ Cinematographer, Dies at 81

 

He was not on the list.

German cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, who shot Martin Scorsese‘s best picture winner “The Departed” and helped numerous Scorsese films achieve their singular visuals, has died at his Berlin apartment after a short illness. He was 81.

Ballhaus was nominated three times for the Academy Award for cinematography — in 1987 for “Broadcast News,” in 1989 for “The Fabulous Baker Boys” and in 2002 for Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York.” His publicist and the American Society of Cinematographers confirmed his death.

His other credits included five other films for Scorsese — “After Hours,” “The Color of Money,” “The Last Temptation of Christ,” “The Age of Innocence,” and “Goodfellas,” — along with Francis Ford Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” ”Working Girl,” “Postcards from the Edge,” “Primary Colors,” “What about Bob?” and “Quiz Show.”

Scorsese released a statement reading, “For over 20 years, Michael Ballhaus and I had a real creative partnership, and a very close and enduring friendship. By the time we met, he had already made film history with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and I revered him. He was a lovely human being, and he always had a warm smile for even the toughest situations—anyone who knew him will remember his smile. We started working together in the 80s, during a low ebb in my career. And it was Michael who really gave me back my sense of excitement in making movies. For him, nothing was impossible. If I asked him for something difficult, he would approach it with enthusiasm: he never told me we couldn’t do something, and he loved to be challenged. If we were running out of time and light, he would figure out a way to work faster. And if we were behind schedule and getting into a situation where we had to eliminate set-ups, he would sit down with me calmly and we would work it out together: instead of getting frustrated about what was being taken away, he would always think in terms of what we had. Really, he gave me an education, and he changed my way of thinking about what  it is to make a film. He was a great artist. He was also a precious and irreplaceable friend, and this is a great loss for me.”

Ballhaus began his career in 1971 with  Rainer Werner Fassbinder with “Whity” and he lensed more than a dozen films for the iconic German director including “The Marriage of Marie Braun” and “Lili Marleen.”

Working with Fassbinder on the film “Martha,” he developed the 360-degree tracking shot that became one of the signature elements of his style. An article on the Goethe Institut website described the distinctive look of a Ballhaus film, “Every film is stylistically innovative; and yet, in every Ballhaus film, we recognize the camera’s mobility, its unique dynamism, and the scene’s polish. It’s said that a Ballhaus film always looks more expensive than it really was.”

In 2014, Ballhaus released his autobiography, “Bilder im Kopf,” in which he discusses the gradual loss of his vision due to glaucoma. He also wrote about aspiring to work in the U.S. “At the beginning America was just a beautiful dream. Unreachable. And I thought myself naive to believe that it could ever come true. But it did. I’m still not quite sure how or why, but I consider myself very lucky.”

The Berlin Film Festival honored Ballhaus last year with an honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement.

He told Variety’s Ed Meza that his long collaboration with Fassbinder prepared him for his career in the U.S.

“It helped a lot because he was not an easy director. He was very hard on me and he was very pushy. He always cracked the whip to be fast and not to spend too much time. So I learned to be fast and still tried to be good. That was a big help later when I started shooting in the States. It was also a big help because he was so temperamental that from then on I knew I could handle every director in the world.”

He also said it was difficult working on “Goodfellas” because of his aversion to violence.

“Yes, I have a problem with violence. I must admit that. Marty (Scorsese) was used to violence; he knew it so well. It was very hard sometimes, but when you work with a guy like him, and he’s such a great director, you have to admit that it’s good that way, especially in a movie like “Goodfellas.” There was a lot of violence and that was sometimes hard for me. He always wanted ‘a little more.'”

Filmography

 

Year     Film            Director           Other notes

1971    Whity            Rainer Werner Fassbinder       

Beware of a Holy Whore            German title: Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte

1972    The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant            German title: Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant

1973    World on a Wire            German title: Welt am Draht

1974    Martha

1975    Fox and His Friends            German title: Faustrecht der Freiheit

Mother Küsters' Trip to Heaven German title: Mutter Küsters' Fahrt zum Himmel

1976            Summerfolk [de]            Peter Stein    

Satan's Brew            Rainer Werner Fassbinder            German title: Satansbraten

Chinese Roulette            German title: Chinesisches Roulette

1978            Germany in Autumn            German title: Deutschland im Herbst

Despair           

1979    The Marriage of Maria Braun            German title: Die Ehe der Maria Braun

The First Polka            Klaus Emmerich            German title: Die erste Polka

1981    Lili Marleen            Rainer Werner Fassbinder       

1982    Dear Mr. Wonderful            Peter Lilienthal          

1983    Sheer Madness            Margarethe von Trotta            German title: Heller Wahn

Baby It's You            John Sayles 

Edith's Diary            Hans W. Geißendörfer            German title: Ediths Tagebuch

1984            Reckless           James Foley   

Old Enough            Marisa Silver   

Heartbreakers            Bobby Roth    

Das Autogramm            Peter Lilienthal          

1985    After Hours   Martin Scorsese            Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography

1986    Under the Cherry Moon   Prince  

The Color of Money Martin Scorsese         

1987    The Glass Menagerie            Paul Newman         

Broadcast News   James L. Brooks            Nominated – Academy Award for Best Cinematography

1988    The House on Carroll Street            Peter Yates  

The Last Temptation of Christ   Martin Scorsese         

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels            Frank Oz       

Working Girl            Mike Nichols

1989    The Fabulous Baker Boys    Steve Kloves Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography

National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography

Nominated – Academy Award for Best Cinematography

1990            Postcards from the Edge    Mike Nichols

Goodfellas            Martin Scorsese            Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography

Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography

1991    Guilty by Suspicion            Irwin Winkler           

What About Bob?    Frank Oz       

1992    The Mambo Kings            Arne Glimcher          

Bram Stoker's Dracula            Francis Ford Coppola            Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography

1993    The Age of Innocence            Martin Scorsese            Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography

1994    I'll Do Anything            James L. Brooks        

Quiz Show            Robert Redford           

1995            Outbreak            Wolfgang Petersen      

1996            Sleepers           Barry Levinson          

1997    Air Force One            Wolfgang Petersen      

1998    Primary Colors  Mike Nichols

1999    Wild Wild West            Barry Sonnenfeld      

2000    What Planet Are You From?  Mike Nichols

The Legend of Bagger Vance            Robert Redford            Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Cinematography

2002    Gangs of New York            Martin Scorsese            Nominated – Academy Award for Best Cinematography

Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography

Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography

Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Cinematography

2003            Uptown Girls  Boaz Yakin  

Something's Gotta Give            Nancy Meyers

2005            Sonntagsluft    Frank A. Buecheler   

2006    The Departed            Martin Scorsese            Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography

2013    3096 Days    Sherry Hormann