Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs Dies at Age 74

This is topic Cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs Dies at Age 74 in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=005180

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 07-23-2007, 07:28 PM:

There are cinematographers and then there are cinematographers like Laszlo Kocacs... He was one of the true greats of our time! I for one will miss his style in future films. Fortunately his style will live on in the films he worked on long after all of us are gone....

Mark

Link To Article

Cinematographer Lazlo Kovacs dies at 74 By Carolyn Giardina
Mon Jul 23, 2:38 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Laszlo Kovacs, one of Hollywood's most influential and respected directors of photography, died Saturday night in his sleep. He was 74.

ADVERTISEMENT

Kovacs lensed the landmark cinematic achievement "Easy Rider" and compiled about 60 credits including "Five Easy Pieces," "Shampoo," "Paper Moon," "New York, New York," "What's Up, Doc," "Ghostbusters," "My Best Friend's Wedding" and "Miss Congeniality."

The Hungary-born cinematographer also carried during his career a remarkable story of courage that occurred 50 years ago during his country's revolution.

Kovacs was born and raised on a farm in Hungary when that country was isolated from the Western world, first by the Nazi occupation and later during the Cold War. Kovacs was in his final year of school in Budapest when a revolt against the Communist regime started on the city streets.

He and his lifelong friend Vilmos Zsigmond made the daring decision to document the event for its historic significance. To do this, they borrowed film and a camera from their school, hid the camera in a paper bag with a hole for the lens and recorded the conflict.

The pair then embarked on a dangerous journey during which they carried 30,000 feet of documentary film across the border into Austria. They entered the U.S. as political refugees in 1957.

Their historic film was featured in a CBS documentary narrated by Walter Cronkite.

Against the odds, Kovacs and Zsigmond went on to become two of Hollywood's most influential directors of photography.

Kovacs was an active member of the American Society of Cinematographers, and in 2002, he received the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award, the organization's highest honor.

In 1998, he received two lifetime achievement awards for cinematography: one at the Hawaii International Film Festival and one at CamerImage, the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography, in Torun, Poland.

Kovacs was a member of the ASC's board of directors and demonstrated a deep commitment to education by leading the ASC Education Committee.

Kovacs is survived by his wife, Audrey, and two daughters, Jullianna and Nadia.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 07-23-2007, 07:46 PM:

Sad news indeed. While I loved many of the films he did, he did live a long and fruitful life. He will live on in my mind thru his great films like "What's Up Doc?" and others...

RIP...

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-23-2007, 09:56 PM:

Ghostbusters is one of my favorites films on László Kovács' filmography. He really used the super-wide frame at a time when many other DPs just weren't doing it when shooing in 'scope. He wasn't afraid to spread the actors completely across the frame. Of course, that made the movie just about unwatchable in VHS pan-and-scan. But then that's a movie that's meant to be seen BIG.

Say Anything is another really great film on Kovács' filmography.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 07-24-2007, 10:01 AM:

Sorry to hear this. Laszlo Kovacs was one of my favorite cinematographers. The 35mm footage in Easy Rider was very bright and sharp... a style I like and tried to emulate in many of my trailers.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-24-2007, 12:03 PM:

What Bobby said about Ghostbusters. That movie is like a textbook example of how to use the entire Panavision frame. The pan-and-scan version is pure evil and looks horrible. Just ask Ernie Hudson! [Wink]

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-24-2007, 12:03 PM:

I remember Roger Ebert praising Kovacs' cinematography work once when he was demonstrating the bad effects of pan-and-scan on TV once. They used footage from Ghostbusters in which Ernie Hudson was completely cut out from several shots! Ebert went on at length about adventurous filmmakers like Kovacs who use the whole frame.