In Remembrance: Laszlo Kovacs

     Laszlo Kovacs, the Hungarian born cinematographer who shot Easy Rider, The Last Picture Show, Ghostbusters and other classic films, has passed away on July 22, 2007 in Beverly Hills. He was 74.

     Born May 14, 1933 on a farm 60 miles from Budapest, Kovacs spent much of his childhood watching movies in a makeshift cinema in a school auditorium. He graduated Budapest College of Drama and Motion Picture Art in 1956. Fresh out of school, Kovacs and classmate Vilmos Zsigmond, shot footage of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution with a 35mm camera borrowed from their school and hidden in a shopping bag, before immigrating to the United States, smuggling their film out of the country. Unfortunately, upon arriving in 1957, the film footage was no longer considered newsworthy and Kovacs and Zsigmond were unable to sell it. It would finally air years later on the CBS television network.

     After working several odd jobs, Kovacs soon found work as a cameraman for two low budget comedies from producer Arch Hall Sr. – What’s Up Front! And The Nasty Rabbit (both 1964) – and also shot footage for some National Geographic Specials. Kovacs graduated to full scale cinematography work with the horror exploitation flick The Incredible Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!?. Work on several other low budget films such as The Notorious Daughter Of Fanny Hill (1964) and Hells Angels On Wheels (1967) followed.

     Kovacs first major film was 1969’s Easy Rider, a film he almost didn’t work on until talked into it by star Dennis Harper. Kovacs accepted as he relished the challenge of turning the vast exterior landscapes that the film would shoot in into its own character. Filmed almost entirely on practical locations over a 12-week period during which the production traveled from Los Angeles to New Orleans, Kovacs was limited to what equipment he could carry in one five-ton truck. He ultimately shot virtual the entire film with available light. To heighten the film’s realism, Kovacs utilized lens flares, at that time considered a “mistake,” in many shots. It’s a technique that has since become standard.

     Kovacs paired with Peter Bogdanovich for the director’s first film, Targets, in 1968. They enjoyed the experience of working with each other so much that they would collaborate on five more films- What’s Up, Doc? (1972), Paper Moon (1973), At Long Last Love (1975), Nickelodeon (1976) and Mask (1985). Kovacs’ black and white photography for Paper Moon is considered a masterpiece of modern cinematography.

     Over the course of his career, Kovacs continued to hone his craft, impressing moviegoers and his colleagues with his work on such films as Five Easy Pieces (1970), The King Of Marvin Gardens (1972), Shampoo (1975), New York, New York (1977), The Last Waltz (1978), Ghostbusters (1984), Say Anything… (1989) and My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997).

     Although never nominated for an Academy Award, Kovacs was awarded the American Society of Cinematographers’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.

     Most recently, Kovacs worked on the documentary Torn From The Flag (2006), which combined the Hungarian Revolution footage he shot in 1956 with new material.