Robby Müller, NSC, BVK, (4 April 1940 – 3 July 2018) was a Dutch

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

. Known for his use of natural light and minimalist imagery, Müller first gained recognition for his contributions to West German cinema through his acclaimed collaborations with

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker and photographer, who is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among the honors he has received are prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, Venice International Film ...

. Through the course of his career, he worked closely with directors

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch ( ; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director, screenwriter and musician. He has been a major proponent of independent film, independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films such as ''Stranger Than Paradise'' ...

, Peter Bogdanovich,

Barbet Schroeder Barbet Schroeder (born 26 August 1941) is an Iranian-born Swiss film director and producer who started his career in French cinema in the 1960s, working with directors of the French New Wave such as Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette and Eric Rohm ...

, and

Lars Von Trier Lars von Trier (né Trier; born 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. Beginning in the late-1960s as a child actor working on Danish television series ''Secret Summer'', von Trier's career has spanned more than five decad ...

, the latter with whom he pioneered the use of

digital cinematography Digital cinematography is the process of capturing (recording) a film, motion picture using digital image sensors rather than through film stock. As digital technology has improved in recent years, this practice has become dominant. Since the 200 ...

. His work earned him numerous accolades and admiration from his peers. He died on 3 July 2018, aged 78, having suffered from

vascular dementia Vascular dementia is dementia caused by a series of strokes. Restricted blood flow due to strokes reduces oxygen and glucose delivery to the brain, causing cell injury and neurological deficits in the affected region. Subtypes of vascular dement ...

for several years.

Life and work

Müller was born in

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

in 1940, and moved to Amsterdam in 1953. He studied at the Netherlands Film Academy from 1962 to 1964. He worked as cinematographer on a number of shorts before collaborating with Wim Wenders on his first feature, '' Summer in the City'' (1970). They made many more films together, such as '' Alice in the Cities'' (1974), ''

Kings of the Road ''Kings of the Road'' (, "In The Course of Time") is a 1976 German road movie directed by Wim Wenders. It was the third part of Wenders' " ''Road Movie'' trilogy" which included '' Alice in the Cities'' (1974) and ''The Wrong Move'' (1975). It wa ...

'' (1976), '' The American Friend'' (1977) and '' Paris, Texas'' (1984). Apart from the movies with Wenders, Müller contributed to both mainstream U.S. productions and independent films. His other work included Joan Micklin Silver's '' Finnegan Begin Again'' (1984), the hazy, yellow-tinted cinematography of

William Friedkin William David Friedkin (; August 29, 1935 – August 7, 2023) was an American film, television and opera director, producer, and screenwriter who was closely identified with the "New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in doc ...

's '' To Live and Die in LA'' (1985), Sally Potter's '' The Tango Lesson'' (1997), Dom Rotheroe's ''My Brother Tom'' (2001),

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (né Trier; born 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. Beginning in the late-1960s as a child actor working on Danish television series ''Secret Summer'', von Trier's career has spanned more than five decad ...

's starkly shot films ''

Breaking the Waves ''Breaking the Waves'' is a 1996 psychological romantic melodrama film directed and co-written by Lars von Trier and starring Emily Watson in her feature film acting debut, and with Stellan Skarsgård, a frequent collaborator with von Trier. ...

'' (1996) and ''

Dancer in the Dark ''Dancer in the Dark'' is a 2000 musical psychological tragedy film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It stars Icelandic musician Björk as a factory worker who suffers from a degenerative eye condition and is saving for an operation to p ...

'' (2000), and

's gritty-looking films '' Down by Law'' (1986), '' Mystery Train'' (1989), ''

Dead Man ''Dead Man'' is a 1995 American acid Western film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. It stars Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Michael Wincott, Lance Henriksen, Gabriel Byrne, Mili A ...

'' (1995) and '' Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai'' (1999). He died on 3 July 2018 at the age of 78. On 4 September 2018, the movie ''Living the Light - Robby Müller'' premiered at the Venice Film Festival. This documentary by Claire Pijman is a visual essay about the life and work of Robby Müller. On 4 October 2019, the documentary was awarded a Golden Calf for Best Long Documentary at the

Netherlands Film Festival The Netherlands Film Festival () is an annual film festival, held in September and October of each year in the city of Utrecht. During the ten-day festival, Dutch film productions and co-productions are exhibited. Besides feature films, the prog ...

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

Interview with Robby Muller (Dutch and English)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muller, Robby 1940 births 2018 deaths Golden Calf winners Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Dutch cinematographers People from Willemstad Deaths from vascular dementia Deaths from dementia in the Netherlands Burials at Zorgvlied Cemetery