Interview: Cinematographer Christian Berger Unravels ‘The White Ribbon’

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CHICAGO – The international reputation of director Michael Haneke (”Caché,” “Funny Games”) is due in no small part to his longtime collaboration with cinematographer Christian Berger, who photographed Haneke’s latest film, “The White Ribbon.”

The White Ribbon is a sorrowful, arduous journey about a small village in pre-WW1 Austria whose rigid class structure becomes cracked as a result of a series of mysterious tragedies. With its critical overview of religion, morality, rich vs. poor and the lines crossed within the middle class, The White Ribbon is another exceptional statement in the filmography of Michael Haneke.

Shades of Gray: The Young Villagers in ‘The White Ribbon’
Shades of Gray: The Young Villagers in ‘The White Ribbon’
Photo credit: © Sony Classics

Side-by-side with this master filmmaker is cinematographer Christian Berger. After first collaborating with Haneke in 1992’s “Benny Video,” Berger has been the perpetrator of the director’s look and feel for four more productions including The White Ribbon.

HollywoodChicago got the rare opportunity to get within the inner circle of Michael Haneke’s cinema perspective in the following interview with Christian Berger. He spoke of the black & white look in The White Ribbon, his partnership with Haneke and his history and influences behind the lens.

HollywoodChicago.com: Congratulations on your American Society of Cinematographers first time nomination for The White Ribbon. How important is it for you to get that type of recognition within your profession?

Christian Berger: Very important. I heard it’s very rare that they consider a foreign film. There are many members in that society who I’ve always admired, so for me it’s very good company.

HC: This is your fifth collaboration with Michael Haneke. What have you noticed most about his development over the years of your working together?

CB: When we met for the first time, it was the beginning of the 1990s for ‘Benny’s Video.’ From that moment on, I worked very similarly to his technique and started to concentrate more on the camera, because at that time I was a director as well.

We’ve never have a problem with aesthetics or the shooting list. We shoot nearly without discussion today. He leads me over the lighting and creating the atmosphere for the scene and he’s very precise in preparation. He doesn’t like improvisation. He needs a precise shooting plan.

HC: What kind of description did Michael Haneke give you when you first teamed up for this film the led to the stark look of the black and white cinematography for The White Ribbon?

CB: The script was a few years old and I knew it from before. It was always going to be black and white, their was no further discussion on the look. For myself and Haneke it was two reasons – whatever you know about the time setting of the film, of course it is black and white. The second is we wanted to avoid a ‘recreated’ feel, to avoid that style. We didn’t want a nostalgic look.


Study in Black & White: Director Michael Haneke of ‘The White Ribbon’
Photo credit: © 2009 Sony Classics

The other benefit from black and white is that you extract much more, so its easier to imagine the story in the time it was set.

HC: What challenges do you have as a cinema artist when working with the rare black and white assignment. Did you work with B&W film or was the look achieved converting color?

CB: We had to shoot in color and digitally convert to black and white, because that was the best solution. In doing that technique, you have the best of both worlds. You use the film of today, and then you are able to have a rich, large scale of possibilities to treat your results afterward.

HC: Wide shot framing is an important mark in your collaboration with Haneke. What kind of mise en scéne [settings, surroundings within a single shot] do you want to push when you have a static, wide frame shot?

CB: If you look closer, it’s less static than you think. Michael is a master regarding planned sequences. In fact, he replaces editing with mise en scéne. Very often, not always. I like it very much because it keeps the look very organic, and the camera movement very precise. If you really synchronize with the actor’s movement, it seems very quiet, but in fact it is not. I never have a locked pan on the camera, it is always available to breeze with the actor.

HC: I want to ask you a general set question. How did Michael Haneke handle the actors in order to achieve the right attitude and truth as far as them playing people so remotely in the past?

CB: This is never a problem with him, he doesn’t work psychologically with the actors. The problem was more that for this film, most of the main roles were not actors by profession. The young girls, for example, had never acted before.

So it was long process of casting. He picked out that younger cast from about 7000 kids, he didn’t see them all, but that was the process. Even the older girl, Eva [Leonie Benesch] had never acted before. That’s just Michael’s natural talent for getting the right people, he doesn’t give them big lectures.

Cinematographer Christian Berger of ‘The White Ribbon’
Cinematographer Christian Berger of ‘The White Ribbon’
Photo credit: © 2009 Sony Classics

HC: In your opinion, what does the message of The White Ribbon have for society today?

CB: It’s really about the responsibility and kinship between the generations. And I think it works like that, otherwise it’s not explainable. It amazes me that it was so well received in the states, with no stars, black & white, a long running time, no action, no explosions and no music. Everything is wrong (laughs).

HC: You’ve directed four films. How has this helped you understand what directors go through when you are just working as a cinematographer on a set? Has it helped you as a cinematographer?

CB: I think it helps me. And what helps me too that I do a lot of documentaries, love them in fact. With Haneke there is a big contrast, because he hates unexpected things. And the quality of documentaries is to be ready for anything. It’s easier for me, because of that contrast, to breeze with the actor. If others only have studio experience, they don’t necessarily know that technique.

HC: In your previous collaboration with Haneke, “Cache,” how was the sense of detachment decided on and achieved when covering the look in the invasion of privacy of the characters?

CB: I think it is a question of following the shooting list and basically what you are formulating becomes the idea. And in technical terms, it was choosing the HD video format. This didn’t make us happy at the time. It was a terrible shoot, with constant breakdowns, this from the future-is-now machines (laughs).

We were happy with the result, because the feel was to separate the look from the tapes and the sense of reality. That part was okay.

HC: Since you are an old veteran of film, what is your feeling about the transition to High Definition Video and that sort of technology?

CB: I’m not religious about film, not a fundamentalist (laughs). It doesn’t matter to me in working with pixels or [film] grain. I just get impatient with liars who promise everything and deliver sh*t. That’s all. It’s just very energy sucking to have five ‘experts’ with five solutions for a HD camera problem, and none of them work. But it is better today.

HC: What films inspire you as a cinematographer? What movies do you remember in your youth that motivated you to get into the profession?

CB: We watched certain films before we approached the black and white thing, mostly those of Ingmar Bergman. I am a big fan of Roger Deakins, for his cinematography work on the Coen Brother’s ‘The Man Who Wasn’t There.’ He is a great colleague. I also like the contemporary work in Clint Eastwood’s films, especially ‘Unforgiven’ [Jack N. Green].

When I was a kid one of the motivations to get into film was because I was falling in love with the French actress Jeanne Moreau [Jules and Jim]. How she walked, how she looked, how she spoke. She was beautiful. It was funny because two or three years ago I had her in front of my camera, and I confessed to her my obsession, nearly blushing. And her answer was, “and today, not any more?” (laughs)

”The White Ribbon” has a limited release, including Chicago on January 15th. See local listings. The Golden Globe nominated Best Foreign Language Film features Christian Friedel, Leonie Benesch and Burghart Klaubner, directed by Michael Haneke. Rated “R”

HollywoodChicago.com senior staff writer Patrick McDonald

By PATRICK McDONALD
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2010 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

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