Acclaimed Austrian cinematographer Martin Gschlacht’s most recent works include „The Devil’s Bath“, „Club Zero“ and „Kafka“. Here he talks about different approaches and his identity as a creative.
Congratulations on winning the award at the Berlinale. Is „The Devil’s Bath“ a special project? What was the special challenge for you?
Martin Gschlacht: „The Devil’s Bath“ was a special project for me right from the start. I had already worked with Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala on „Ich seh, ich seh“. So I knew that the new project would also be a very special, very challenging, but predictably also very beautiful piece of work. For their second film, „The Lodge“, which they shot in Canada, we unfortunately couldn’t get together because of scheduling problems. That was somewhat due to the American system, because suddenly it’s like: We start in three months. At the time, I was filming a series with David Schalko. It was clear to me that when Veronika and Severin were shooting in Europe again, the preparation and scheduling would surely be better. In this respect, I did everything I could to keep the shooting period for „The Devil’s Bath“ free. Severin and Veronika’s preparation is usually quite long, and they work on several projects at the same time. I had known the script for „The Devil’s Bath“ for a few years already and knew that I was in for something special, both in terms of content and realization. And so it was.
What characterizes the directing duo Franz/Fiala? To what extent have they changed since „Ich seh, ich seh“? What is special about working with them?
Martin Gschlacht: They have certainly developped. Not only had they shoot „The Lodge“ in North America, but they also directed several episodes of a series and wrote various scripts. As far as the approach is concerned, we worked on „The Devil’s Bath“ in a similar way to „Ich seh, ich seh“. The three of us prepare the visual and content-related realization of the film very precisely over several weeks, and on the day of shooting Veronika and Serverin then work out the scenes very intuitively with the actors. There is no written dialogue, nor should there be any scripts lying around on set. The actors are put into situations, the conditions are explained to them, they are given the space to act and react. The working method is very special. Nothing has changed.
But there were certainly differences because they are two completely different films…
Martin Gschlacht: Sure, atmospherically they are completely different, on „The Devil’s Bath“ we also had historical locations, it was winter and it was cold. „Ich seh, ich seh“ was made in summer and it was hot. Of course, these are also things that affect the way we work. In preparation for the filming of „The Devil’s Bath“, for instance, we spent the night in this historic house with our leading actress Anja Plaschg, in sub-zero temperatures, with only candlelight and cooking over an open fire. For Veronika and Severin, such joint activities are important elements. Anja did prepare a lot, much more intensively in this direction, so that she doesn’t just portray the character of Agnes, but is truly Agnes. An incredible achievement considering this particular character.
Anja Plaschg succeeds exceedingly well…
Martin Gschlacht: Anja was pure luck for this project. Not only because of her physicality, but also because of the way she allowed her soul to flow into the character of Agnes, the way she internalized Agnes. Everything you see, this emotional and physical feat of strength, she has lived through in this role. That’s the quality of the directing duo, who don’t just try to create something through staging, but strive to create a filming situation in which everyone involved can act as truthfully as possible.
Also, your latest collaboration with Jessica Hausner, “Club Zero”, was released in German cinemas a few days ago – a filmmaker with whom your name is inextricably linked, and a film that could hardly be more visually different from „The Devil’s Bath“. Which of the two films is more Martin Gschlacht – „The Devil’s Bath“ or „Club Zero“?
Martin Gschlacht: Perhaps the good thing about Martin Gschlacht is that both are possible and both are a lot of fun. I’m very privileged to be able to work with such different people and on such different stories and projects in my job as a cinematographer. You are right when you say that it could hardly be more different when you compare „Club Zero“ with „The Devil’s Bath“. What is interesting, however, is that the filmmakers in question – Jessica, Veronika and Severin – have one significant thing in common: They all three attach great importance to very precise preparation. That’s why their feature films are each made with a relatively large gap between them. When I get into the process of this meticulous method, it always takes a while before the actual filming preparations start and the shoot really gets underway. For example, a storyboard is drawn with Jessica, shot by shot, and this then serves as an all-important template on set. It’s not dissimilar with Severin and Veronika. We also think very carefully about the cinematic resolution in advance. In the case of „The Devil’s Bath“, Severin and Veronika spent days acting out a number of scenes in various roles on the set and I filmed everything on my cell phone. The film exists in two versions, one is the final product and one on my cell phone with Veronika and Serverin in the leading roles. It’s incredibly funny. Of course, it’s also an interesting approach to try everything out physically. You get a feeling for what it feels like to play something, what closeness feels like, physicality…
You have more in common with Jessica Hausner than just your collaboration on film projects. Together with filmmakers Barbara Albert and Antonin Svoboda, you were also founding members of coop99. You started the company at the end of the nineties with the intention of being a „platform for a new generation of filmmakers in Austria“. What is your view of coop99 25 years later?
Martin Gschlacht: A nice one. I would say that we have actually worked very well and collaboratively here for 25 years. Which wasn’t and isn’t easy, because coop99 doesn’t make TV films or commercials, only feature films. It is of course extremely difficult to survive as a production company that way. But we succeeded. Also because our bread and butter is not producing, but our artistic work. We could therefore afford to run our company without outside influence and do what we consider artistically valuable. The company’s filmography speaks for itself. Many important productions have been made, which fortunately have also been successful internationally. If we as a company had only had to survive on the Austrian theatrical market, we wouldn’t have lasted three years. The Austrian market is simply far too small. The coop99 system works because we set ourselves up for the international market from the outset, both in terms of content and commercial release.
Your involvement with coop99 suggests that you see yourself as more than just the man who supplies the images. How do you view yourself as a filmmaker?
Martin Gschlacht: I want to tell stories. I try to be the viewer when I read the script. At least the first time I read through the script. At some point, I reach the stage where I also have to read technically, with questions about the shoot, the perspective, the rhythm and the lighting design. But at the beginning, I read as if I were a moviegoer watching this film, not thinking in images at all, but following a story. After the preparatory work, I am the one who is allowed to provide the images for the story during the shoot. There are so many people involved in a project, an incredible number of colleagues work together and everyone contributes their part to conveying one story. That’s why it’s important to me to say that the Silver Bear, which took me so happily by surprise, is clearly an award for the entire „The Devil’s Bath“ team. You can’t win such an award with images, but only with a movie.
You have also worked with German filmmakers time and again, but have remained primarily loyal to your native Austria. Do you see yourself as an Austrian filmmaker?
Martin Gschlacht: I am Viennese with a passion. I love this city, I love living here. That’s why I’ve never had any particular ambitions to try my luck as a cameraman anywhere in the whole wide world. What’s more, since I’ve been working in the Austrian film industry for 25 years, there’s been an extremely exciting generation of filmmakers working here, making great projects, so there’s no reason for me to move anywhere far away. The cinematic output of this small film country with its relatively small amount of funding is quite successful in comparison to other nations. Nevertheless, these films are mostly made in a European context. I would say I consider myself an Austrian filmmaker in European film.
The series „Kafka“, in which you collaborated with David Schalko – another of your long-time companions – was also recently launched. Excursions into television are not very common in your filmography. Are you more reserved when it comes to television material?
Martin Gschlacht: I look out for good projects. I don’t differentiate between television and cinema at first. For me, it’s about the director/screenplay/cast package, a fundamental interest. Whether it ends up on TV or in the cinema is not a quality criterion for me. I would never allow myself to say „… it’s only for TV…“. Of course there are certain differences in the way we work. In TV productions you generally have less time, you have to work faster, you have to deliver more minutes of footage per day. In terms of the visual language, you can rethink shot sizes and editing rhythms a little and take into account the viewer’s situation in a bright living room instead of a dark movie theater when it comes to lighting. On the other hand, these boundaries are becoming blurred anyway; every movie has a secondary life on TV and/or streaming.
Someone like David Schalko definitely delivers cinematic images in his television work…
Martin Gschlacht: Working with David Schalko is a very good example of this fluid transition between TV and cinema. He has high standards, which then have to be delivered at a certain speed. You also have to bear in mind that the quality level on TV and with streaming platforms in general is already very high and you have to orientate yourself as well as possible there. Our previous collaborations, „M“, „Me and the Others“, and now „Kafka“, all began their lives on the big screen at the Berlinale.
What’s up next? Your second collaboration with Evi Romen after „Hochwald“ should be finished.
Martin Gschlacht: My second collaboration with her, „Happyland“, has been shot and is currently in post-production. For the cinema, I will next be shooting a very strong film in the Tyrolean mountains with the Dutch director Mike van Diem, who won the Oscar for best international film in 1997 with „Karakter“. After that, I’ll be doing the picture design for „Die Blutgräfin“, the new film by Ulrike Ottinger. This project has been on my mind for a long time and it looks like the long development work will bear fruit and, if everything works out, we can shoot around the turn of the year 24/25. First of all, I’m shooting a new mini-series by David Schalko for the ARD Mediathek this spring.
Cinema certainly still has the same appeal for you as it did when you started out. But how can you manage to get a new generation, who primarily consume moving images on youTube or TikTok, interested in movies?
Martin Gschlacht: It would be great if film and cinema could play a greater role in the basic socialization of children and young people at school. While in France film education is anchored in theory and practice in the classroom, we can be happy here if the teachers watch a film with the pupils once every six months – and then often not even in the cinema, but via a projector in the classroom and usually only as part of foreign language lessons. But watching films in the cinema and talking about cinema as a medium hardly ever takes place. That would at least be a good start.
Barbara Schuster