László Kovács (cinematographer)

László Kovács ASC (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈkovaːt͡ʃ ˈlaːsloː]; 14 May 1933 – 22 July 2007) was a Hungarian-American cinematographer who was influential in the development of American New Wave films in the 1970s, collaborating with directors including Peter Bogdanovich, Richard Rush, Dennis Hopper, Norman Jewison, and Martin Scorsese. Known for his work on Easy Rider (1969) and Five Easy Pieces (1970), Kovács was the recipient of numerous awards, including three Lifetime Achievement Awards. He was an active member of the American Society of Cinematographers and was a member of the organization's board of directors.

László Kovács
Kovács in 2006
Born(1933-05-14)14 May 1933
Died22 July 2007(2007-07-22) (aged 74)
NationalityHungarian-American
OccupationCinematographer
Years active1964–2007
SpouseAudrey (1984-2007) (his death) (2 children)[1]
ChildrenJulianna and Nadia

Early life

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Born in Cece, Hungary, to Julianna and Imre Kovács,[2] Kovács studied cinema at the Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest between 1952 and 1956.[3] Together with Vilmos Zsigmond, a fellow student and lifelong friend, Kovács secretly filmed the day-to-day development of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 on black and white 35 mm movie film, using an Arriflex camera borrowed from their school.[3][4] In November that year, they smuggled the 30,000 feet (9,100 m) of film into Austria to have it developed, and they arrived in the United States in March 1957 to sell the footage.[3][4] By that time, however, the revolution was no longer considered newsworthy and it was not until some years later, in 1961, that it was screened on the CBS television network, in a documentary narrated by Walter Cronkite.

Kovács decided to settle in the United States, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1963. He worked at several manual labor jobs, including making maple syrup and printing microfilm documents in an insurance office, before making several "no-budget" and "low-budget" films with Vilmos Zsigmond, including The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies.[5] At the time Kovács would be credited as Leslie Kovacs and Zsigmond as William Zsigmond.

Film career

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Kovács' breakthrough came with the 1969 film Easy Rider, starring and directed by Dennis Hopper. Kovács was reluctant to work on this film at first, having already worked on a number of B movie biker films, such as Hells Angels on Wheels. Hopper ultimately convinced Kovács that this film would be different and Kovács signed on as the film's director of photography. He earned second place for the Best Cinematographer Golden Laurel at the 1970 Laurel Awards. In 1970, he again worked with Hopper on the film The Last Movie. That same year, Kovács filmed Five Easy Pieces, for which he received the third place Golden Laurel for Best Cinematographer.

Kovács filmed more than 70 motion pictures. Among these were six films for director Peter Bogdanovich: Targets, What's Up, Doc?, Paper Moon, At Long Last Love, Nickelodeon, and Mask. Bogdanovich worked with Kovács more times than any other cinematographer.[6]

Other notable films Kovács photographed include For Pete's Sake, Shampoo, New York, New York, Ghostbusters, Ruby Cairo, Say Anything..., Radio Flyer, My Best Friend's Wedding, and Miss Congeniality. He also did additional photography on Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Last Waltz and The Rose.

When working on The Last Waltz, camera operators were instructed to turn their cameras off at different intervals, in order to save battery life. One of these instances was during Muddy Waters' set, but Waters' outstanding performance led director Martin Scorsese to spontaneously change his mind, and ordered all cameras to be turned on. Because the cameras took several minutes to fully warm up, most caught only the last few bars of Waters' performance. Kovács, however, either did not hear or disregarded orders to shut down his camera, and was the only cameraman on set who managed to film Waters' entire performance.

Kovács' final work appears in Torn from the Flag, a 2006 feature documentary about the 1956 Hungarian Revolution which incorporates original footage he and Zsigmond shot as film students before fleeing to the United States.

Personal life

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On July 22, 2007, Kovács died at his home in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 74. At the time of his death, Kovács had been married for 23 years to his wife, Audrey. He had two daughters, Julianna and Nadia, and a granddaughter, Mia.[6]

Awards and honors

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In 1995 he was a member of the jury at the 19th Moscow International Film Festival.[7]

Kovács was honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards from Camerimage (1998), WorldFest (1999), and the American Society of Cinematographers (2002). The Lifetime Achievement Award from the ASC is the organization's highest honor. In addition, Kovács received an Excellence in Cinematography Award from the 1999 Hawaii International Film Festival and a Hollywood Film Award at the 2001 Hollywood Film Festival.

The American Society of Cinematographers dedicated the 2008 Heritage Award for top student filmmakers in memory of Kovács.[8]

The 2008 documentary film No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos explores the 50-year friendship between Kovács and Zsigmond and their influence on filmmaking. Film critic Leonard Maltin said that, without Kovács and fellow cinematographer Zsigmond, "the American New Wave of the late 1960s and early '70s wouldn’t have flowered as it did."[9]

Filmography

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Film

Year Title Director Notes
1964 Kiss Me Quick![I] Peter Perry
1965 The Wonderful World of Girls[II]
1966 The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill[II]
A Smell of Honey, a Swallow of Brine[II] Byron Mabe
Single Room Furnished[III] Matt Cimber
1967 Hells Angels on Wheels Richard Rush
1968 A Man Called Dagger
Psych-Out
The Savage Seven
Mantis in Lace[IV] William Rotsler
Targets Peter Bogdanovich
1969 Mark of the Gun[III] Wally Campo
Walter Campos
Easy Rider Dennis Hopper
Blood of Dracula's Castle[III] Al Adamson
That Cold Day in the Park Robert Altman
1970 The Rebel Rousers[V] Martin B. Cohen With Glen R. Smith
Getting Straight Richard Rush
Hell's Bloody Devils[III] Al Adamson With Frank Ruttencutter
Five Easy Pieces Bob Rafelson
Alex in Wonderland Paul Mazursky
1971 The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker Lawrence Turman
The Last Movie Dennis Hopper
1972 Pocket Money Stuart Rosenberg
What's Up, Doc? Peter Bogdanovich
The King of Marvin Gardens Bob Rafelson
A Reflection of Fear William A. Fraker
1973 Steelyard Blues Alan Myerson With Stevan Larner
Slither Howard Zieff
Paper Moon Peter Bogdanovich
1974 Huckleberry Finn J. Lee Thompson
For Pete's Sake Peter Yates
Freebie and the Bean Richard Rush
1975 Shampoo Hal Ashby
At Long Last Love Peter Bogdanovich
1976 Baby Blue Marine John D. Hancock
Harry and Walter Go to New York Mark Rydell
Nickelodeon Peter Bogdanovich
1977 New York, New York Martin Scorsese
1978 F.I.S.T. Norman Jewison
Paradise Alley Sylvester Stallone
1979 Butch and Sundance: The Early Days Richard Lester
The Runner Stumbles Stanley Kramer
1980 Heart Beat John Byrum
Inside Moves Richard Donner
1981 The Legend of the Lone Ranger William A. Fraker
1982 Frances Graeme Clifford
The Toy Richard Donner
1984 Crackers Louis Malle
Ghostbusters Ivan Reitman
1985 Mask Peter Bogdanovich
1986 Legal Eagles Ivan Reitman
1988 Little Nikita Richard Benjamin
1989 Say Anything... Cameron Crowe
1991 Shattered Wolfgang Petersen
1992 Radio Flyer Richard Donner
Ruby Cairo Graeme Clifford
1994 The Next Karate Kid Christopher Cain
The Scout Michael Ritchie
1995 Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home Dwight H. Little
Copycat Jon Amiel
1996 Multiplicity Harold Ramis
1997 My Best Friend's Wedding P. J. Hogan
1998 Jack Frost Troy Miller
2000 Return to Me Bonnie Hunt
Miss Congeniality Donald Petrie
2002 Two Weeks Notice Marc Lawrence

^ I Credited as "Lester Kovacs"
^ II Credited as "Art Radford"
^ III Credited as "Leslie Kovacs"
^ IV Credited as "Leslie Kovacks"
^ V Credited as "Leslie Kouvacs"

Short film

Year Title Director
1969 A Day with the Boys Clu Gulager
1978 Mummenschanz James Talbot

Television

Year Title Director Notes
1976 Family Mark Rydell Episode "Pilot: The Best Years"

Documentary works

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Film

Year Title Director Notes
1957 Ungarn in Flammen Stefan Erdélyi With Vilmos Zsigmond and Franz Vass (credited as "Ferencz Vass")
1967 Mondo Mod[V] Peter Perry With Vilmos Zsigmond (credited as "William Zsigmond")
1971 Directed by John Ford Peter Bogdanovich With Brick Marquard, David Sammons, Gregory Sandor,
Eric Sherman and Patrick Alexander Stewart
2000 Ljuset håller mig sällskap Carl-Gustav Nykvist
2007 Torn from the Flag Endre Hules
Klaudia Kovacs
With Zoltan Honti, Justin Schein and Vilmos Zsigmond

^ V Credited as "Leslie Kouvacs"

TV series

TV movies

Year Title Director Notes
1968 Making of the President 1968 Mel Stuart
Robert Abel
Fritz Roland
With Dick Blofson and Vilis Lapenieks
1969 Los Angeles: Where It's At[III] Jerome Jacobs
Gary Schlosser
With Robert Cirace and J. Barry Herron
1980 Making Xanadu: The Musical Fantasy Movie Alan Metter With Vilmos Zsigmond

^ III Credited as "Leslie Kovacs"

References

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  1. ^ "Cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs dies at 74". The Hollywood Reporter. 24 July 2007.
  2. ^ "Laszlo Kovacs Biography (1933?-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
  3. ^ a b c Bob Fisher, "Laszlo Kovacs, ASC... It’s a Wonderful Life" Archived 2005-03-10 at the Wayback Machine, ICG Magazine, International Cinemaographers Guils, December 1998
  4. ^ a b Schaefer, Dennis; Larry Salvato (1986). "Vilmos Zsigmond". Masters of Light: Conversations with Contemporary Cinematographers. University of California Press. p. 311. ISBN 978-0-520-05336-6.
  5. ^ Ray Zone, New Wave King: The Cinematography of Laszlo Kovacs, ASC, ASC Holding Corp (2002), pp9-11, ISBN 0-935578-19-6
  6. ^ a b Dennis Mclellan (2007-07-24). "Laszlo Kovacs, 74; cinematographer shot key New Hollywood films such as 'Easy Rider'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2013-01-27. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
  7. ^ "19th Moscow International Film Festival (1995)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-03-22. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  8. ^ "ASC Dedicates 2008 Heritage Award to Kovacs" Archived 2007-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, The American Society of Cinematographers Magazine, September 20, 2007, retrieved 2009-02-27
  9. ^ "Documentary About Kovacs And Zsigmond To Premiere At Cannes" Archived 2009-02-28 at the Wayback Machine, The American Society of Cinematographers Magazine, May 8, 2008, retrieved 2009-02-27


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