Laszlo Kovacs Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Late, Great Cinematographer László Kovács to be Honored (Twice)
Filed under: Cinematical Indie »
Over the weekend I watched the last half of the World War II home front drama Since You Went Away in the background while I did some work. There's a sequence in a train station that is so stunningly dramatic it fills in the narrative gaps -- the black and white photography tells the story -- and it made me stop what I was doing and watch it again. Cinematographer László Kovács worked at the opposite end of the spectrum. His most memorable work from the late 1960s through the 1970s (Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Shampoo, F.I.S.T.) doesn't steal attention from the narrative or make you gasp at its unusual beauty. Instead, Kovács gracefully grappled with reality, using what other photographers would call "mistakes" (lens flares and the like) as a means to integrate the imperfections of life into the varied cinematic visions of the many directors with whom he collaborated. Even when the film as a whole falls short, the art of Kovács is consistent.
The latter part of his career (1980 to 2006) is filled with more populist fare (Ghostbusters, Say Anything..., My Best Friend's Wedding), but Kovács never treated any film as a "cash for hire" proposition, as a 2002 interview with ICG Magazine revealed. He was a consummate professional, always putting the aim of the story ahead of the art of the camera. He passed away on July 21 of this year; Jette Kernion wrote a lovely appreciation of his work.
Kovács will be honored by the Consulate General of the Republic of Hungary in Los Angeles today. Ray Pride at Movie City Indie has all the details. Kovács' friend and fellow cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond is scheduled to speak. Kovács will also be honored with a screening at AFI Fest next month. Torn From the Flag, on which he and Zsigmond served as executive producers, documents Hungary's struggle for national identity.
Cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs Dies
Filed under: Obits », Cinematical Indie »
When I was in high school and trying to teach myself about movies, the first cinematographer whose name I could remember and recognize was Laszlo Kovacs, as I saw his name associated with films I knew like Easy Rider, What's Up, Doc?, Ghostbusters and even that weird guilty pleasure of mine, Harry and Walter Go to New York. So I feel sadder than usual to read reports that Kovacs has just died at age 74. The Hungarian-born cinematographer has been photographing films in the U.S. since the early 1960s -- he was a student in Budapest with another impressive DP, Vilmos Zsigmond.Looking through film reference books in high school, it was fascinating to see a DP with such a wide range of credits -- someone who worked on both The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (he and Zsigmond are both credited on that one) and New York, New York. As I'm reading Kovacs's film credits on IMDb now, I'm simply impressed -- so many films I love are listed. He worked with Richard Rush on several films, including The Savage Seven (a biker remix of The Magnificent Seven) and Freebie and the Bean, with Bob Rafelson on Five Easy Pieces ... but my very favorite movie on his credits list may be his best work: the beautifully photographed Paper Moon in 1973. His black-and-white photography on the Peter Bogdanovich film (combined with Polly Platt's art direction) perfectly conveyed the tone of the Depression-era Midwest. His credits in the past 15 years weren't quite so impressive, and in fact I can't find a single film I really liked (Miss Congeniality, Two Weeks Notice), but Kovacs was definitely an influence on the style of 1970s films.
Is Taylor Lautner Our Next Superhero?
100 Greatest Films Beyond the Canon
'Entourage' Movie in the Works?
Spielberg Backs Out of 'Harvey'
Discuss: Should Gay Actors Stay in the Closet?
_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg)
