HeadScratcher question: What do these movies have in common?
Two Weeks Notice
Ghostbusters
Say Anything
My Best Friend’s Wedding
Paper Moon
Five Easy Pieces
Easy Rider
HeadScratcher answer: They were all shot by wide-ranging Hungarian-born director of photography, Laszlo Kovacs, who died on Saturday at 74. Alongside Vilmos Zsigmond (a pal of Kovacs’ since their childhoods in Hungary) and Haskell Wexler, Kovacs was one of three exotically-named master DPs who helped turn ‘70s cinema into the grungy-gorgeous body of work we fondly recall today. And while Kovacs probably isn’t as well-known as Zsigmond or Wexler (amazingly, he never got nominated for an Oscar), he does deserve a tad more cool-cred from the under-35 crowd, because Kovacs is the guy who shot the iconic image of John Cusack serenading Ione Skye with the boom box from Say Anything (pictured).
Personally, my favorite little bit of Kovacs is the bleak, startling, and near-silent long shot at the truck stop that closes that great rust-colored classic,Five Easy Pieces. And his black-and-white photography for Peter Bogdanovich (a frequent collaborator) in Paper Moon is dustier than we usually find in black-and-white movies, and perfect for that movie’s Depression-era setting. Then, of course, there’s his most lauded work, Easy Rider, as fine and colorful a pairing of shiny chrome and outstretched asphalt that the movies have ever seen. YouTube really doesn’t do justice to his camera work; go put these movies on your Netflix queue right now.
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Ah yes, the cinematography in “Two Weeks Notice” was breathtaking.
Seriously though, farewell Laszlo Kovacs, you’ll be missed. I love Say Anything, think it’s a fantastic movie (and I’m not even a huge fan of the “In Your Eyes” moment), so thanks for helping turn Lloyd Dobler into an icon.
that’s not the shot from the movie.. in the movie it was at night….
thanks for this paper moon clip! it’s always been one of my favorite movies.
Laszlo Kovacs who has worked on so many great films we have enjoyed such as Easy Rider and Ghostbusters. Laszlo Kovacs has never received an Oscar for his work. Yet his Cinematography changed the way we see films.
Laszlo died in 2008, he never received an Oscar for his lifetime of work to bring us the entertainment we so enjoy.
The Academy owes him a lifetime achievement Oscar, for his work as a Cinematographer and Director of Photography on so many of our favorite films.
Here is just a partial list of his work, read it it will amaze you that one person could have done so much work of such high quality.
Mask, Ghost Busters, Torn from the Flag: A Film by Klaudia, Kovacs,
Two Weeks Notice, Miss Congeniality, Return to Me, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Multiplicity, Copycat, The Scout, Cyndi Lauper: 12 Deadly Cyns… and Then Some, Jack Frost, Ruby Cairo, Radio Flyer, Crackers, The Toy,
Frances, The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Inside Moves, Heart Beat, Shattered, Say Anything, Little Nikita, Legal Eagles, The Runner Stumbles
Paradise Alley, F.I.S.T, New York, New York, Nickelodeon, Harry and Walter Go to New York, Baby Blue Marine, Shampoo At Long Last Love, Freebie and the Bean, For Pete’s Sake, Slither, Huckleberry Finn and Paper Moon.
Just to name a few!!!
He deserves recognition… start blogging everywhere you can think of if you want copy and past this… only we can make it happen… the fans of his work
I saw Laszlo’s last work, “Torn from the Flag” at a film festival recently. This sensational film was made in close collaboration with Hollywood legends Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond and includes footage by both. It’s about the 1956 Hungarian freedom-fight. It was Laszlo Kovacs’ last work as Director of Photography. The producer Klaudia Kovacs (no relation), did an amazing job depicting a truthful reflection of history while still keeping the film artistic, fast paced, emotional. Seriously, I’ve been telling everyone I know to go see this film. It deserves a higher recognition.
Let’s get Laszlo Kovacs the recognition he deserves with an OSCAR!!! “Torn From the Flag”, which contains his “early work” is a great start.