Dutch cinematographer Robby Müller, best known for his collaborations with the cream of European filmmaking including Wim Wenders and Lars Von Trier, has died at age 78. His family confirmed his death, following a long illness, in Amsterdam earlier today.
Müller began his career behind the camera with Wenders’s first feature, Summer in the City, in 1971. From there he collaborated with Wenders on over a dozen films, including the Palme d’Or-winning Paris, Texas (1984, pictured above). He was celebrated for his striking use of light and colour.
He also worked with American arthouse darling Jim Jarmusch on Down by Law (1986), Dead Man (1995), Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai (1999) and Coffee and Cigarettes (2003).
He was Director of Photography for Lars Von Trier’s Breaking The Waves (1996) and Dancer In The Dark (2000), for which he was nominated and won numerous awards for his stark, naturally-lit cinematography.
The Dutch cinematographer was born in Curaçao in 1940, moving to Amsterdam in 1953. There, he studied at the Netherlands Film Academy, which also counts Paul Verhoeven amongst its notable alumni.
Besides his work with Wenders, Jarmusch and Von Trier, Müller has a successful English-language career lensing features including William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) and Alex Cox’s cult classic Repo Man (1981).
A recent retrospective at the EYE Film Museum in Amsterdam, titled Master of Light — Robby Müller, provided an overview of Müller’s work, from Summer in the City to Michael Winterbottom’s 2002 Factory Records docudrama 24 Hour Party People.
