“The White Devil” got the red carpet treatment on the sixtieth edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) on Sunday. Legendary cinematographer and three-time Oscar winner Robert Richardson received the Czech festival’s highest honor, the Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contributions to world cinema, in its eightieth 12 months. And handing him the award was none aside from Hollywood legend Harvey Keitel.
Nicknamed “The White Devil” for his long white hair and relentless pursuit of cinematic perfection, Richardson arrived on the stage of the Grand Hall of Karlovy Vary’s Hotel Thermal to an enormous ovation.
“I’m not an actor,” the cinematographer began off saying. He then lauded the love for the art of film he has experienced on the town. “I look out into the streets here, and I see so many individuals and so many here inside this hall, and there are such a lot of young people. What I believe this particular award represents is a singular future, the long run that all of us need and need. I like that this festival opens the chance for seeing movies that we rarely see, and holding movies as [an] art [form].”
He shared this vision of the long run where more smaller movies can travel around the globe, including from such places because the Czech Republic: “What I’m hoping for someday in the long run is that more countries will be reached through streaming or whatever for gratis for everybody to give you the chance to see what we cannot see and to see all of the work that a lot of you’re going to do.”
Richardson also praised the KVIFF award and Keitel: “It is a very special gift … coming from an awfully special man, Harvey Keitel, who’s, for my part, truly one among the best in cinema history.”
The cinematographer then shared an anecdote: “Once I first saw Mean Streets, everyone spoke a couple of must-see performance of Bob De Niro, and the movie was over, and I used to be like ‘great!’ … Time passes, I’m talking in regards to the movie, and the person I assumed was Bob De Niro was Harvey Keitel. His performance was so commanding.”
As some within the audience broke out into laughter, Richardson emphasized: “It’s to not say anything about Bob’s performance – it’s sensible, and he’s also a superb friend.” Quipped Keitel: “Are you attempting to get me killed?!”
The actor had introduced Richardson following a highlight reel of his work. “I’m holding a bit of paper with something to say upon it,” Keitel said after the reel ended. “But seeing Bob’s work speaks for itself. We’ve before us one among the world’s biggest cinematographers. So, that’s all I actually have to say.” He then ripped up the paper and threw away its pieces.
Richardson received the KVIFF award on the world premiere of Czech filmmaker Jana Hojdová‘s Robert Richardson: The White Devil, a feature documentary dedicated to the life and profession of the cinema icon. The entire crew joined the honoree on stage, with director Hojdová giving him a bracelet. Explained Richardson: “I actually have a practice – each time I start a movie, I actually have one bracelet, and I wear it for your entire movie. … After they come off, which means the film’s gonna die.”
Afterward Sunday, the cinematographer will sit down in Karlovy Vary with THR’s Scott Feinberg to record an episode of the Awards Chatter podcast.
When KVIFF unveiled that Richardson would receive the consideration, it emphasized that he’s “some of the respected cinematographers of the past 4 a long time and one among the few people alive to have received a best cinematography Oscar 3 times,” namely for JFK, The Aviator and Hugo, KVIFF highlighted. “Richardson’s work has helped lend a particular atmosphere to movies starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Foxx, and Margot Robbie.”
Richardson is an element of a star-studded lineup of honorees and guests at KVIFF’s double anniversary edition. Other big names who’ve already been honored this weekend are Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jesse Eisenberg.
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