Juraj Jakubisko’s Birds, Orphans and Fools, Volker Schlöndorff’s The Tin Drum and Andrzej Wajda’s Danton are just some of the major films shot by Slovak cinematographer Igor Luther, who is the subject of the new documentary Igor and After.
Its director, Ivan Ostrochovský, who also presented his new feature film Only Beautiful Things to Look At at the 60th KVIFF, originally wanted the renowned cinematographer to work on the biopic. At the same time, Ostrochovský wanted to help Luther, who was struggling with loneliness and alcohol. “I’m fascinated by people who have achieved something in the film industry. Then we became friends. And in the end, we had to turn it into a film of sorts,” the director explained.
Work on the film began two years before Luther’s death in June 2020. Ostrochovský later filmed interviews with other filmmakers, including Agnieszka Holland and Lubor Dohnal. “For a long time, I’d hoped to film with his family as well, but it was too painful for them,” explained the Slovak director.
He sees emigration and Luther’s devotion to cinema as the main themes of his documentary. “I wanted to show what happens to people when they take their work so seriously.” Ostrochovský understands why, during discussions, people mainly ask about the protagonist’s private life. “We all have a private life; people understand that better than they understand filmmaking. And it’s not just filmmakers who drink.”
One professional question did, however, come up: what made Luther so original as a cinematographer? “He was good with a handheld camera. As a young man, he had to take ballet classes, and that gave him good body control. In fact, his career came to an end with the development of technology. In the past, when directors couldn’t immediately see what was on camera, they had to have a closer relationship with the cinematographers and trust them more. That changed later on. What’s more, Igor was incredibly complicated, and when you want to have more control over someone, you choose someone less complicated,” explained the film’s director, whose documentary captures precisely that complexity.
