Robby Müller
Although born in Curaçao, Robby MÜLLER (1940-2018, Netherlands) spent his childhood in Indonesia and moved to Amsterdam at the age of 13. From 1962 to 1964, Müller studied cinematography and editing at the Dutch Film Academy, with notable classmates such as Frans Bromet, Jan de Bont and Pim de la Parra. As a camera assistant to cinematographer Gerard Vandenberg, Müller moved to West Germany and met Wim Wenders. In 1969, Müller shot Wenders’ film-school short Alabama (2000 Light Years). In the following decades, the iconic duo made the most important films of Wenders’ oeuvre, rediscovering the Americana aesthetic of neon, motels and sandy landscapes.
Müller found his second kindred spirit in Jim Jarmusch with Down by Law (1986). Müller taught Jarmusch to film without storyboards, to decide on the spot how a scene should be framed. With Jarmusch, Müller discovered how light could move: endless tracking shots predominate in films such as Mystery Train (1989) and Dead Man (1995). Müller exchanged analogue for digital with Lars von Trier, showing his technical inventiveness in Breaking the Waves (1996) and Dancer in the Dark (2000).
Due to vascular dementia, Müller was forced to prematurely quit making films around 2004. Despite losing his ability to speak, he was still occasionally interviewed and visited by filmmaker friends in his hometown of Amsterdam, helped by his wife and carer Andrea Müller-Schirmer. When British director Steve McQueen asked about the secret behind his phenomenal cinematography, Müller told him that you should film like a cat jumps on a table: with just enough effort. Nothing more, nothing less.
Filmography
Robby Müller at IFFR
Like Sunlight Coming Through the Clouds: 30 Years of Polaroid Photography by Robby Müller
The renowned Dutch cinematographer for Wenders and Jarmusch always carried a camera. This exhibition shows the Polaroid pictures he made along the way.
420'
IFFR 2020
Repo Man
Repo Man is both an absurd science-fiction comedy and a fascinating glimpse into the 1980s punk scene in Los Angeles.
92'
USA
IFFR 2020