Ralf D Bode

German-born cinematographer Ralf D Bode immigrated to the USA in 1954 and gravitated to filmmaking in the US Army Signal Corps. After working as a gaffer and lighting designer for director John G Avildsen, he graduated to director of photography duties on a spate of minor films before evoking the gritty, sweaty milieu of disco New York in John Badham's "Saturday Night Fever" (1977). His first collaboration with director Michael Apted, "Coal Miner's Daughter" (1980), brought him acclaim (and an Oscar nomination) for his effective use of Kentucky and Tennessee locations to evoke the hardscrabble beginnings of country singer Loretta Lynn. In his next pairing with Apted ("Gorky Park" 1983), he helped make Helsinki stand in for Moscow, presenting a plausible portrait of life in the then-current Soviet Union. Bode's films with Apted include two feature documentaries, "Bring on the Night" (1985) and "The Long Way Home," and he also made his directing debut in 1993 for (executive producer) Apted with an episode ("The Harvest") of the ABC series "Crossroads."

Bode's contributions greatly enhanced "Dressed to Kill," Brian De Palma's stylish 1980 exercise in ersatz-Hitchcock suspense-terror, helping maintain the fever pitch from start to finish. In addition to Apted and Avildsen, he has enjoyed multiple feature associations with directors Jack Fisk ("Raggedy Man" 1981, "Violets Are Blue" 1986), Jonathan Kaplan ("The Accused" 1988, "Love Field" 1992, "Bad Girls" 1994) and screenwriter Holly Goldberg Sloan ("The Big Green" 1995, "American Pie" 1999). Bode's best work during the 90s probably came on CBS' adaptations of "Gypsy" (1993, starring Bette Midler) and "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1995, with Jessica Lange and Alec Baldwin) and the spectacular, multi-ethnic "Wonderful World of Disney" presentation of "Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella" (ABC, 1997), starring Brandy in the title role and featuring Whitney Houston, Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg and Bernadette Peters, among others. He was also responsible for the hazy warm look of Anne De Salvo's hysterical 20-minute short, "Women Without Implants" (1997), shown as a segment of "The Lifetime Women's Film Festival."

Filmography

Life Events

1954

family emigrated to Vermont in the USA

1963

After college, attempted to pursue an acting career; appeared on stage in the Off-Broadway productions, "A Man's a Man" and "Best Foot Forward", the latter alongside Liza Minnelli

1966

Served in the US Army Signal Corps as a filmmaker and teacher of combat photography at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey

1972

Began his feature career as a gaffer and lighting designer for director John G Avildsen on "The Stoolie"

1974

First films as director of photography, "Foreplay" (co-directed by Avildsen), "Saturday Night at the Baths" and "There Is No 13"

1976

Did second unit photography on Avildsen's "Rocky", including the famous shot of Rocky running up the steps of the Museum of Art in Philadelphia

1977

Breakthrough feature as cinematographer, "Saturday Night Fever", helmed by John Badham

1978

Reteamed with Avildsen as director of photography on "Slow Dancing in the City"

1980

Received Oscar nomination for his cinematography on "Coal Miner's Daughter", starring Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn; first film with director Michael Apted

1981

Collaborated with art director-turned-helmer Jack Fisk (Spacek's husband) on Fisk's feature directing debut, "Raggedy Man", starring Spacek

1983

Reteamed with Apted for "Gorky Park"

1985

First documentary feature with Apted, "Bring on the Night", chronicled the formation of Sting's post-Police rock-jazz band, culminating in their first concert performance

1986

Reteamed with Fisk and Spacek on "Violets Are Blue"

1987

Played a judge in Apted's "Critical Condition"; also worked as director pf photography

1989

As one of four cinematographers, contributed to Apted's "The Long Way Home", a documentary about Soviet underground rock star Boris Grebenshikov; last feature collaboration (to date) with the director

1992

Worked as 2nd unit director on Jonathan Kaplan's "Love Field"; also served as cinematographer

1992

Crossed paths with Apted (executive producer) on ABC series "Crossroads", serving as director of photography on an untitled episode directed by Apted and directing the episodes "The Harvest"

1993

Was director of photography on two high-profile small screen projects: "John Leguizamo's 'Spic-O-Rama'" (HBO) and the CBS remake of the musical "Gypsy", for which he earned an Emmy nod