Director of Photography, Bruno Mondi, shot over 100 movies. He created
great silent movies in the 20ties, revue films in the 30s, propaganda
films in Nazi Germany of the 40s, anti-fascist films in the Soviet zone
of Germany in the 50s and entertainment films in West Germany in the
60s.
In 1918 he started his career as a trainee at the Bioskop-Film in
Berlin. By 1921 he was camera assistant on Der müde Tod (1921) by Fritz Lang. Between
1924 - 1932 German cinema was at the top, and Bruno Mondi shot 26 very
successful films like Die tolle Lola (1927) with superstar Lilian Harvey, or Das Girl von der Revue (1928), which
was highlighted in Berlin's Roaring Twenties.
In 1932 Bruno Mondi met Veit Harlan as an actor in _Unsichtbare Front, Die_. 1935 Harlan
directed his first film _Krach im Hinterhaus (1935)_ with Henny Porten in the main role and Bruno
Mondi at the camera. 3 years later Harlan became the most successful
director in Nazi Germany. Until 1945 Bruno Mondi and Veit Harlan made
11 films, including as films as Die goldene Stadt (1942), which was the first European
feature film in color, Der große König (1942) and Kolberg (1945), still the biggest
historical German war movie, and the anti-Semitic propaganda film
Jud Süß (1940), which will remain the most notorious film forever.
After World War II Bruno Mondi went on working at films without any
problems, whereas Veit Harlan has been accused of aiding and abetting
genocide. Mondi shot socialist-style re-education films in the Soviet
zone like Wozzeck (1947) and Rotation (1949). With huge effort they made the fairy
tale Das kalte Herz (1950), the first color feature film of the German Democratic
Republic, which got international recognitions for the fascinating
special effects. After that Mondi switched again and went to West
Germany to shoot another 33 movies, most of them entertainment feature
films, and a lot of them with tremendous success again, like the
"Sissi"-films with new Romy Schneider.
Bruno Mondi is a luminous example for a brilliant and inventive
cameraman and a frightening example for a perfect technician, not
asking for the aim of his work.
