Miroslav Ondricek obituary
Czech cinematographer renowned for his work on such classic films as Amadeus, Ragtime and O Lucky Man!
He was not on the list.
The Czech director of photography Miroslav Ondříček, who has died aged 80, became internationally renowned mainly for his work with the director Miloš Forman, for whom he shot seven feature films and two shorts, including Ragtime (1981) and Amadeus (1984), both of which gained him Oscar nominations for best cinematography.
Ondříček and Forman got to know each other when working as assistants at Barrandov Studios, in Prague, and while attending Famu, the Prague film school. Famu’s summit of fame was reached during the Prague Spring in 1968 when directors such as Forman, Ivan Passer, Jiří Menzel, Jan Němec, Vera Chytilová and Ján Kadár, and cinematographers including Jan Curik, Jaroslav Kučera and Ondříček emerged from the school, becoming associated with the Czech New Wave.
Ondříček and Forman’s fruitful collaboration began in 1963 with two amusing short films, one on a talent contest (Audition), and the other on a band competition (Why Do We Need All the Brass Bands?), which gave documentary material fictional form. Their first feature together, the sharply observed and satirically affectionate A Blonde in Love, aka The Loves of a Blonde (1965), gave fictional material documentary form. By using mostly non-actors, improvised dialogue, and by shooting in the streets, the film brought a new vitality into Czech cinema. Ondříček, a football fan, believed that filming a number of matches had honed his skills in working with non-actors who could not be expected to hit their marks for lighting.
The Fireman’s Ball (1967), Ondříček’s first film in colour, brought Forman and Ondříček into disfavour with the authorities for its wicked sideswipes at petty bureaucracy, causing it to be banned. When the Russian invasion ended the Prague Spring, several film-makers left the country, Forman for the US and Ondříček for the UK, where he was invited by Lindsay Anderson to shoot a short, The White Bus (1967), and If... (1968).
Anderson had gone to Prague having attended the Karlovy Vary film festival where his first film, This Sporting Life (1963), was shown. “He visited us at Barrandov while we were filming A Blonde in Love,” recalled Ondříček. “He planned to stay only one day, but he stayed with us a whole week. He played billiards with us and drank beer. We changed our schedule. One day we were shooting, the next we were together the whole day. So he asked me: ‘Can you come to London and make a movie with me?,’ and I said OK and goodbye Prague.”
Ondříček went on to shoot O Lucky Man! (1973) for Anderson, after having rejoined Forman in New York to film Taking Off (1971), the director’s first American film. While in the US, he also shot Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) for George Roy Hill. “I never felt I had to change my ways to make films in America,” Ondříček told American Cinematographer magazine. “A person can have the American feel even if he or she is born in Warsaw or Moscow or Prague. It has to do with the way you think, the way you express freedom in how you approach life; it’s a combination of this and the willingness to work hard. That’s what I appreciate and love about America.” Ondříček could easily have had a lucrative career in the US, but he decided to return to Czechoslovakia in the 70s after turning down the offer by Hill to shoot The Sting (1973). “He loved his country,” his son told me.
Born in Prague, Ondříček was four years old when he saw his first movie. He was so captivated he tiptoed behind the screen “to find out how these pictures were made”. After graduating from high school, Ondříček landed an apprenticeship in the laboratory at Barrandov Studios while attending Famu.
Ondříček’s creative association with Forman lasted from 1963 to Valmont in 1989. “On most of my pictures, I only use two lenses,” Ondříček said. “On Ragtime, I used a 55mm and an 85mm for the whole movie. On The Firemen’s Ball, I only used a 75mm and a 25mm. On Hair, I used a Panavision zoom because of the music and dancing.”
For Amadeus, the film that brought Forman home after 16 years in exile, Ondříček lit several sets mainly with candles. One sequence in an opera house was lit by 11 700lb chandeliers, each burning 40-60 candles. “We were trying to create an atmosphere of soft candlelight all over and all the time,” Ondříček explained. This was augmented by 250-watt Chinese lanterns. In 1990, Ondříček began a successful four-picture relationship with Penny Marshall, starting with Awakenings (1990) and continuing with A League of Their Own (1992), The Preacher’s Wife (1996) and Riding in Cars with Boys (2001).
Ondříček, who established his own film school in the town of Písek, about 50 miles from Prague, and returned to teach at Famu from time to time, expressed his reservations about contemporary cinematography. “When we started, the creation of the film was done basically by one pair of eyes. Today the process is influenced by hundreds of different contributors. The creative process is in danger of being diluted by so many hands. The imprint of one person who brings a certain style is often completely lost. My generation of photographers broke new ground in cinematography, by drawing films out into reality.”
Ondříček’s wife, Eva, died in 2014. He is survived by his son, David, a director and producer.
Selected filmography
Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)
The Preacher's Wife (1996)
Let It Be Me (1995)
A League of Their Own (1992)
Awakenings (1990)
Valmont (1989)
Funny Farm (1988)
Big Shots (1987)
F/X (1986)
Heaven Help Us (1985)
Amadeus (1984)
Silkwood (1983)
The World According to Garp (1982)
Ragtime (1981)
Dark Sun (1980)
Hair (1979)
The Divine Emma (1979)
O Lucky Man! (1973)
If.... (1968)
The Fireman's Ball (1967)
Loves of a Blonde (1965)
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