This master cameraman did not disrupt his cooperation with Miloš Forman, even after Forman’s emigration to the United States.
Another director who helped Ondříček gain international renown was the England's Lindsay Anderson, with whom Ondříček shot three films (e.g. If…). In the United States, besides the films of Miloš Forman (Taking Off, Hair, Amadeus and others), he also shot films such as A League of Their Own (directed by Penny Marshall), The World According to Garp (directed by George Roy Hill) and others.
Ondříček’s style is deliberately simple, and precise in what it communicates. His images are perfect in composition and in harmony with the atmosphere of the story and what it imparts. He doesn’t distract from the story with showy images that are an end in themselves and avoids mannerisms (a conviction that probably comes from the aesthetic intentions of cinéma-verité)
He currently lives in the United States. His son David Ondříček is a successful film director (his best film so far is Grandhotel, which was made in 2006).
Important films:
- 1965 – Intimní osvětleníi (Intimate Lighting), directed by Ivan Passer
- 1965 – Lásky jedné plavovlásky (Loves of a Blonde), directed by Miloš Forman
- 1967 – Hori, ma panenko (The Firemen’s Ball), directed by Miloš Forman
- 1969 – If…, directed by Lindsay Anderson
- 1979 –Hair, directed by Miloš Forman
- 1986 –Amadeus, directed by Miloš Forman, for which Ondříček was nominated for an Oscar