Biography
Often credited with breathing new life into the once floundering Bablesberg Studios in Berlin, enthusiastic art director Rainer Schaper was well renowned for his infectious optimism and ability to create and inspire creativity in others.
Leaving his hometown of Hanover at the tender age of 13 to seek fame and success as a musician in England, Schaper achieved minor notoriety before returning three years later and harboring his dreams in a career in construction. With his work in construction soon piquing an interest in architecture, Schaper began to realize previously dormant dreams of creative design. Seeking to educate himself in his newly found interests, Schaper studied art history and set design in addition to architecture in cities across Europe, soon finding work in theaters throughout Germany. Working in prestigious theaters in Hamburg and Berlin brought Schaper the experience and the confidence he needed, and eventually led him to work in film.
Quickly developing a talented eye for film design, Schaper would serve as production designer and art director for over 40 films. In 1987 Schaper won the German Film Award for his work on
Jean-Jacques Annaud's In the Name of the Rose. Joining Babelsberg Studios in 1994, Schaper took over as art director and gained recognition for his visionary abilities to fully realize projects and attract lucrative international business. Soon drawing in such luminous filmmakers as
Roman Polanski and Annaud, the later '90s found Schaper managing to reinvigorate the failing studio, which had previously suffered the effects of expensive renovations and highly salaried crews. Schaper was often noted for his inspiring words and trustworthy nature, two key components in drawing new business to a studio that desperately needed it.
Becoming studio manager in 1997, along with Friedrich-Carl Wachs and Arthur Hoffer, Schaper would soon become chief of production after the departures of Wachs and Hoffer in 2000. Brining such projects as Annaud's
Enemy at the Gates (2001) and Polanski's
The Pianist to Berlin, Schaper proved that he still had the enduring characteristics that brought him recognition in the past. Many colleagues saw it as a tragedy that Schaper would not live to see the fruits of his labor. Suffering a stroke on March 2, 2001, Schaper died in Berlin on March 7. He was 51.
~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide