Michael Ballhaus (1935-2017)
Thursday, April 13, 2017 at 6:24PM by Nathaniel R
It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of German cinematographer Michael Ballhaus. The 81 year old artist was a crucial figure in making me the movie maniac that I am today. Michelle Pfeiffer on the piano top in The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) -- hell the entire movie -- being a defining image in my life, after which I went from enthusiastic regular moviegoer to celluloid-devouring obsessive.
Ballhaus had retired after Martin Scorsese's The Departed (2006) making only one German movie in the last decade of his life and we had hoped each year that he'd be announced as an Honorary Oscar recipient. His three scant nominations -- The Fabulous Baker Boys, Broadcast News, and Gangs of New York -- do no justice to his long and gorgeous career. That's because they don't feel representative of his career as a whole and because, apart from his crowning glory (Baker Boys -- which ought to have walked away with Cinematography in just about any year, let alone 1989) aren't even his best work.
Ballhaus and Fassbinder worked together all through the 70s
Ballhaus got his start as a young man of 24 in German television but quickly graduated to features...
After shooting a documentary on Rainer Werner Fassbinder he became his go to DP from Beware of a Holy Whore (1971) through The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979) which won them both international attention. Soon American indies and minor efforts (Baby, It's You and Reckless), followed as well as Madonna music videos (True Blue era), and a Prince movie (the black and white beauty of Under the Cherry Moon). Then Big Hollywood came calling. By the mid to late 80s he was lensing films for directors as famous as Martin Scorsese (After Hours), Paul Newman (The Glass Menagerie) and James L Brooks (Broadcast News).
Directors who worked with him tended to latch on to him for dear life. He shot most of James L Brooks's movies, a huge chunk of Fassbinders, multiple films by Mike Nichols, and many Scorsese movies until his own retirement.
Ten of TFE's favorite Ballhaus efforts... in chronological order
THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT (1972)
FOX AND HIS FRIENDS (1975)
WORKING GIRL (1988)
THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS (1989)
POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE (1990)
BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (1992)
THE MAMBO KINGS (1992)
THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (1993)
QUIZ SHOW (1994)
THE DEPARTED (2006)
Which of his movies do you think were most beautifully lensed?
Reader Comments (13)
An artist of colours and a master of images.
One of those I'm surprised was only nominated three times. He probably should have won one too. No nomination for Goodfellas?
TAOI is so beautiful to look at,So glad you inc Working Girls best show.
One of the greats. It is inconceivable that he never won an Oscar (same goes for Gordon Willis).
Yesterday I was checking his IMDB profile when I learned that he shot Papa Don't Preach and True Blue, isn't that crazy/wonderful?
Definitely one of my favorite cinematographers as his work with Fassbinder often gets overlooked.
It's amazing that with that filmography, one of his noms was for Broadcast News.
Also, 87 Holly, 88 Melanie 89 Michelle 90 Meryl, he's always been after my Oscar-lovin' heart.
AND so many of Fassbinder's and Scorsese's greatest looks. RIP
Bram Stoker's Dracula is a visual masterclass of execution.
One key film I just have to add is Fassbinder's 'Martha'. Try to get a hand at that if you possibly can, it's absolutely terrific. It might be one of Fassbinder's lesser known films, but it certainly is not one of his lesser films. Ballhaus called it his favorite collaboration with Fassbinder once. It also is the first film that featured Ballhaus' signature, the 360 degree full circle.
In an interview, Ballhaus claimed he suggested to Fassbinder a shoot a half-circle around Margit Carstensen and Karlheinz Böhm in a key scene, and Fassbinder just said "Why not a full circle?", and made Carstensen and Böhm circle each other to boot - it's a magnetic scene, a hypnotic dance between two characters. And knowing that, without this scene, we'd never have Michelle Pfeiffer on the table top in 'Baker Boys' (at least not the way we have it now) makes it even more special.
He was not a master of light, like most great cinematographers. He was a master of moving the camera. That's why his work with Scorsese is easily his best. Goodfellas is his masterpiece (those travellings!), but I also love The Age of Innocence. In that movie it's like the camera is dancing a waltz.
His cinematography in The Fabulous Baker Boys is indeed magnificent. It captures the grime of the streets as well as the glamour and seediness of the clubs.
I also really like the look he brought to Working Girl. When one considers how bland a lot of romantic comedies look, one can see that Working Girl has a distinctive visual style.
That early '90s period of his - wow - Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Age of Innocence, and Quiz Show are all exquisite - to do that much excellent work in such a short time period was extremely impressive.
Co-sign basically all of the above. LOVE what he did on/for Bram Stoker's Dracula (Ballhaus + Ishioka = heaven), The Fabulous Baker Boys, Goodfellas, Postcards from the Edge, Working Girl, etc. I'd also like to interject with Primary Colors. I mean, say what you will about that one, but it was beautifully lensed, lit and framed as well.
On a side note Pfeiffer is being promoted as Supporting Actress at the Emmys this year for the Bernie Madoff biopic.