American Cinematographer - February 2007 - 60
Full Circle
photography was Christian Matras.
He didn't speak a word of German
and the gaffer didn't speak a word of
French, but they could still commu¬
nicate with each
great
other, and it
or
watching them work. They
10K. I
fascinated
was
how all of the
to
know
machinery worked
tracking shots."
with all of the
Indeed, Ballhaus feels that his upclose observation of Ophuls'
gliding
have influenced his
own
style. "When the movie came
out, I saw it many times, and I just
loved the way he moved the camera.
camera
may
I also loved what he did with color."
After
studying photography
and becoming "an offi¬
cially certified 35mm photogra¬
pher," Ballhaus moved with his wife,
Helga, to Baden-Baden, where she
had landed a job at a nearby theater.
"I started looking for a job, and I
eventually got an offer to be an assis¬
tant on a
documentary about
Greece," he recalls. "I kept telling the
for two years
Above: The
cinematographer's
parents, stage
actors Lena Hutter
and Oskar
Ballhaus, actively
headquartered in an old castle near
Coburg. I was going to school, but in
my free time I did everything I could
to help out at the theater. It was a lot
of fun."
encouraged their
Ballhaus' love of cinema took
son's artistic
pursuits. Below:
Ballhaus' late
wife, Helga, was
also
an
actor.
Here, she appears
as
Viola in
a
production of
Shakespeare's
Twelfth Night, in a
photo taken by her
husband.
in his teen years.
After develop¬
interest in still photography,
he had an opportunity to visit a fam¬
ily friend, renowned director Max
Ophuls, on the set of Lola Montes. "I
was there when
they shot the big cir¬
cus scenes, and it was
amazing to see
root
ing
an
300 extras and all of these cameras,
cranes
and
lights. The director of
director
to move
the camera, but he
old-fashioned guy, and I
don't think he appreciated my sug¬
was
for these big electronic
and I worked in
TV for almost nine years in BadenBaden and Munich." After gaining
experience shooting TV movies on
cameras.
was
would hold up five fingers or 10 to
indicate whether they would need a
5K
ed operators
an
gestions very much!"
Ballhaus hoped to find work
on feature films but
initially had no
luck. "Then this TV station opened
up in Baden-Baden, and they need¬
I got a job,
film, he shot his first theatrical fea¬
ture, Der
was
Klassenaufsatz, when he
just 25. "I learned that making a
movie
involves
director and I
teamwork.
The
well
prepared. I
good operator, thanks to my
work with those big TV cameras, but
I needed help with the lighting. I
were
was a
knew what I wanted, but I didn't
know
exactly how to achieve it. The
gaffer helped me, but if
they did something I didn't like, I
assistant and
told them
so.
I couldn't tell them
exactly how to use a 5K or 10K, but I
doing it."
After mastering the basics of
his craft, Ballhaus began honing his
learned while
skills. Fate intervened while he
was
producing, directing and shooting a
documentary in Ireland. He received
a phone call from a friend, Ulli
Lommel, who was in Almeria, Spain,
preparing to produce and act in a
Western titled Whity (1970). "Ulli
asked me, 'Do you like Fassbinder?' I
said, 'Yes, why?' And he replied, 'Do
you want to shoot a movie with
him?' I answered, 'Sure, when does it
start?' He said, 'You should be here in
two
days!' Two days later, I arrived in
Almeria
to meet Mr.
Fassbinder."
Now ranked among the great¬
est German directors, Fassbinder
was
much less
Ballhaus
at
well
on
was
utation
a
as a
experienced than
the time. However, he
the way to earning a rep¬
brilliant filmmaker with
mercurial and often abusive per¬
sonality. Working at an almost
superhuman pace, Fassbinder would
ultimately direct 43 films before
dying of an apparent drug overdose
in 1982, at age 37. He took a jaded
view of human nature and could be
downright sadistic with colleagues
nearly every picture,
he worked with the same group of
people, over whom he exerted a
Svengali-like influence and control.
and friends. On
60
February 2007
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