All language subtitles for No.Subtitles.Necessary.Laszlo.And.Vilmos.2008.1080p.WEBRip.x265-RARBG

- Hey Laszlo this is Vilmos.

* Happy birthday to you

* Happy birthday to you

* Happy birthday dear Laszlo

* Happy birthday to you

- Hey Julie Christie called
to wish you happy birthday

so I'm telling
you okay, alright.

- And Sandra Bullock also.

Also Peter Fonda,
and Dennis Hopper.

Who, no Dennis Hopper?

- I remember there was a
party sequence at the house

where I come down on a
cable down into the party

to arrive at the party
and it's just a shot

in the picture which becomes
part of the action later.

- In Five Easy Pieces I said
I don't want the camera ever

to move when it's outdoors.

It was a still
picture and then you

would cut to another
shot over here

and he'd get up and
walk into that frame.

Only for the exteriors.

For the interiors
everything was in movement.

One point in turned
to Laszlo I said

you move the camera
and I see you do it,

you lose a finger.

And no he didn't
appreciate that.

- You think about movies
like Close Encounters

and you think about that light

coming out of that space ship.

I mean sure everybody
goes oh yeah

of course there's light
coming out of a space ship

and of course the aliens
came off the space ship.

But you think about the
way that it impressed you,

I believe now and
always there are aliens

and there are space ships and
that's what they look like.

- I thought if we shot
it in color it would be,

everybody'd look to pretty,
everything would look

to pretty and I didn't
think we'd be able

to achieve the
depression very well.

And I said look I
want everything sharp,

everything sharp from
here see those kids

in the yard way back
there I want them sharp.

And we used filters
a lot of the time,

green or red filters to
strengthen the contrast.

- And I can remember when
deliverance came to town.

My mother actually let
me go see deliverance

and it struck me
about the colors

and the way the blues and
greens played within that film.

- The thing that was
unique about Long Goodbye

as far as Bob's and
Vilmos's relationship was

that they decided they would
always move the camera.

* Do you recognize the theme

I'm gonna go over
there and tell those girls

they're gonna catch a
cold.

Or as the grand cat goes, meow.

- I knew the name after awhile,

after I was in the
business for awhile.

But not until we were
actually looking for DP's

did I go back and say
who did this film?

Who did this film,
and who did this film?

And I realized two out
of the three were Laszlo.

It was Easy Rider and
it was Paper Moon.

- And I remember we used to go
to these mountain locations.

It would be John Boorman and
Vilmos, and it was me too.

And we'd climb up in
to these mountain areas

and the light would
just be starting

to come up over the mountains
and Vilmos would say,

and he would say this
almost every day.

Why we are not shooting?

- I've seen 1000 pictures
shot in Los Angeles,

and 1000 pictures
shot in Chicago,

and they all look alike to
me, but when Laszlo shoots

they look like Chicago
and Los Angeles.

- My mother had a girlfriend
who was running a little

corner store and also
the weekend cinema

which was consisted in a
school, the auditorium.

My job was to spread
the flyers out,

you know what the next
program is going to be,

and my mother said that
I can come in free.

I was about 11 or 12 years old.

I didn't know much
about the world.

It was just a little village,
a very simple education.

I was sitting in
the very front row

and I could hardly wait
until the light goes down

and suddenly you
see that rectangular

and something is whirling there.

I took a deep breath always.

Now I'm gonna see the
world through this

rectangular frame I
can see everywhere.

- I remember that we were living
under the communist system

and I could not even
go to Czechoslovakia

to visit my mother
who was living there.

And I hadn't seen her for
that time in 25 years.

And for us to travel in those
days was not possible because

the communist system
thought that if you

leave the country you
will never come back.

- I discovered that there was
a film school in Budapest.

3000 applicants in
that year for just

the cinematography
alone and I made it.

Just a dream came true you know.

Almost I didn't know
whether I'm dreaming or not.

- I wanted to go to
college and I realized

that they wouldn't accept
me because my parents

were not really
accepted by the regime.

So then it came to
me this idea that

yeah I will teach
them photography

and the party sector
really was very happy

because never happened
before that somebody

would teach photography
for the working class.

- Briefly I met
Vilmos because he was

in that class and
he was involved with

the selection of
the next film class.

It was fate they call it.

Like the
fate was telling us

that we have to be
together for 50 years

and working together
basically you know.

- It wasn't a bad time you
know, nobody complains.

- Their trip from
Hungary is world famous

within our industry
and their relationship

'Cause I mean these
are two brothers,

strange last names and
different last names.

This
is Hungary calling.

This is Hungary calling.

The last remaining stating
forward to the United Nations

Early this morning
the Soviet troops

launched a general
attack on Hungary.

We are requesting you to
send us immediate aide.

For the sake of God and
freedom help Hungary.

- You have the same
routine, turn on the radio,

and shower and all that stuff.

I turn on the radio and
it's quiet you know.

I hit it, maybe
it's not working.

There was no broadcast.

- Well we wanted actually
to get a delegation

brought to the radio
station and read

the declaration of this
revolution, what's happening.

The radio station
was controlled by

the AVO which was
the secret police.

They were actually
up in the rooftops

and started to shoot at the
demonstrators in the street.

And then people
started to run away

and then some people of course

died right there in the street.

And then that's when basically
the revolution started.

- People we're mad at
these guys 'cause that was

the center of the
area and they were

shooting at people from
up from the fifth floor

and they're killing
people from the building.

And then finally they
attacked the building,

they caught those guys
and they lynched them

and then hanged
them up on the tree.

Which was a sad
thing for us because

our revolution was
really very clean

and we didn't want
to kill anyone

without putting
them into the court.

But this was something you
could not control the people.

The were so angry they
could not believe these guys

because they killed so
many people in the square.

- And one morning
again we're standing

on a corner of the film
school and the main avenue,

and the Russian
tanks were coming

back and forth and
firing everywhere.

We looked at each other
and he said let's go.

And we knew exactly
what he meant.

We went up to the camera
department of film school

got an Arriflex loaded up
we buried in a shopping bag.

And we started
walking the streets.

- They all think it was
shot by Laszlo and Vilmos.

They were about 25
cameramen working on this.

- Whoever took these films
like the freedom fighters

they photographed risked their
lives to compile this record.

- When we were
shooting the movie

we didn't realize that
we could have been shot

right there in
the street because

they killed people
right and left

just because they
were doing stills.

- Camera was considered
a weapon by the Russians.

They shot you on the spot.

- In those instances they
could have been really

got shot and who knows
what to do with us.

But at that time we were a
little bit more courageous then

we should have been probably but

we were lucky nobody caught us.

- There was one shot,
a medic is running into

the firing line and there
was a wounded person.

And just as he almost got behind
a tank, the medic got shot.

He was killed right there but
he saved the wounded person.

- I feel naturally the
areas where we saw some

freedom fighters dead on
the street from that event,

and there was this Hungarian
flag with a hole in it.

The hole was because
the people cut out

the hammer and sickle which
was symbol of communism.

That flag was in a way that I
could shoot through the hole

and see the freedom
fighters face through that

which became a symbol basically.

- The big question was what
do we do with the film?

- I just over waiting for
the knocking on the door.

And then somebody would
come and take us away

or something like
that and that was,

that's when we
had to think a lot

what we should do
with our lives now.

- I mean it's okay
if we leave you know.

But we didn't want to
leave the film behind.

- I finally went up to my
teacher Elaus, a good man

he was always happy
everybody, and he said

you know what I think you're
right, I think you're right.

I absolutely think that you
are making the right choice.

I don't think that I would
even try to go alone myself.

I don't know anybody who
tried to go by himself.

- So we left off the next day,

walking and carrying the film.

It was the most incredible
sight I'm never gonna forget it.

It was a plowed field but
frozen, very hard to walk on it,

and very heavy fog
but you could see

from the right to all
the way to the left

little tiny figures
going the same direction.

They all was going to
the Austrian border.

The image itself, it haunts me

and follows me the
rest of my life.

We finally got into this
canal inside the levy

and there was hundreds
of people lined up.

About 300 yards or
something like this

about six or eight
Russian soldiers just

jump us on a bridge, they
start yelling and waving

the submachine gun
shooting at the air.

- Some people tried to run
away and then next remember.

And we are still marching
towards the soldiers there.

- We still had the film with us.

- We didn't want them
to catch the film

because they will
kill us right there.

- The men they were
lined up on a dirt road.

A Russian officer comes and
he's body searching everybody.

So the officer's getting
closer and my hand is up,

Vilmos' hand is up and
I said Vilmos the film.

And he said what film?

I have a negative, those 35
still pictures are rolled up.

It's in my ski pants you know.

And he said oh my God
I forgot, you're crazy

and he starts arguing
and cussing me

and the officer's over
there, typical Vilmos.

I said we can be shot here
but he's still cussing me out.

And I'm soaking
wet by this time.

So Vilmos had a plastic watch,

you could see
inside the movement.

And also an Omega
watch which was given

to him by his father
on graduation.

And he pulls his Omega
watch and he said,

and he shoves it
my hand and said

you take it you give it to him.

- But it was a stop watch and
it looked a little bit old

so it was almost like it had--

- The crystal was
a little scratched.

- And then he said (speaking
in foreign language)

not good, give it to me back.

Then he let us go.

- We knew the boat it was
about three miles away.

So with all the
heavy baggages on

we determined on and
we started to run.

- It suddenly got
to me you know,

and it got to all of us that
we're leaving the country

and probably maybe
never come back again.

I leaned down and I
got a handful of dirt

and put it in my pocket
I said this is my country

this is what I have,
and I had that dirt

for many many years in
that same old rain coat.

- When you're making film as
if your life depends on it,

and it does depend
on it as Vilmos did.

When you think about
what he did and Laszlo

coming out of a
country with footage

that could them
killed and tortured

and all the kinds
of nasty things

that those people
did then and now

then almost everything
else for them

I guess was a form
of art because

they'd done with the politics.

- Vilmos ended up in East Coast.

I ended up upper state New York

in a maple syrup
forest working there.

And I said if this is
America I don't want it.

I mean this is worse
than communism.

It's tough like I
was in a labor camp.

It was very clear as long as
we are out of our country,

can't go back, let's
just go Hollywood.

- To the state of dreams.

- First we needed
to okay make a list.

We have to join the union,
we have to join the ASC,

we have to join the Academy,

and all these things
in order to get jobs.

So we started with
the union and the guy

looks at us and
drops his feet down

and stands up, a
huge guy and said

you know what come back
when you speak English.

- And they really thought
they were gonna meet

one of their heroes
like Gregg Toland

who was Orson Wells
cinematographer on Citizen Cane.

Two of those guys
walked up to the

ASE club house for
the first time.

And here's these two
guys with long hair.

- He's look inside,
totally dark you know,

and suddenly this voice comes.

May I help you?

My God.

- And here you just
asked them to leave

the ASE club house which was
like a castle to these guys.

They go up there
and want to meet

all their people they
been reading about,

these books and magazines, I
mean what a shock that was.

- So okay Vilmos no
union, no this, no that.

We have to get to work somehow.

Our first job was
picking up trash in the park.

- Walking with a
bag on our shoulder

and we're picking
up trash and paper.

Well I just say that
wasn't very good either.

- We've done all kinds of jobs.

Baby photography,
and occasionally

we got something
which was closer.

- We did whatever we
had to do the two of us,

you know a little nudie cuties.

Horror
pictures, they got into

some of the like
the zombie stuff.

Their crew?

They didn't have any crew
they just had the two of them.

You know one time
Vilmos would be the DP

and the Laszlo'd
be the electrician

and the grip and
everything and then

they'd switch off and do that.

If you looked at what they
had in their station wagon

they were the crew,
to me at that age

it looked like a
bunch of gypsies.

- They learned so
much from each other.

I've done interviews with
Laszlo and Vilmos together.

And none of them ever
finished a sentence.

Laszlo would start talking about

something Vilmos did
that was wonderful

and Vilmos would
interrupt him and tell me

how wonderful Laszlo
is at what he did.

- Gosh they were great.

I knew them as Willy and Leslie.

I'm talking about Vilmos
Zsigmond and Laszlo Kovacs.

But when I knew them they
were Willy and Leslie.

The Incredibly Strange Creatures

Who Stopped Living and
Became Mixed-up Zombies.

When I made this
movie I had to have

Vilmos Zsigmond on it, there
was no doubt in my mind

because we both were into faces,

portrait photography, all
kinds of odd angles and stuff.

- I called those movies
basically not a low budget

but a no budget film basically.

- Then I put Willy
on ice skates.

He said he could
skate a little bit.

- And I cannot
stand on the skates.

I mean it's not even
skating I can't stand on it.

So then they said
alright that's okay,

just hold camera and we
will push you around.

- And I put a rope to him,

and tied the two
actors with the rope.

And when we did all the flares
came from the spotlight.

And Willy says there's
too many flares,

there's too many flares.

And that's when I
made a remark I says

Willy those flares will win
you an Academy Award sometime.

And I said to Willy I said we're

gonna need another
camera operator,

so he said I'll bring
my friend Leslie.

Then I remembered seeing this
guy over there in the corner

and everywhere he
went there were girls.

I mean it was amazing.

- Laszlo is very
good looking guy.

Sure Laszlo was
always a charming guy

and everybody
loved him you know.

- I want you to make
sure Laszlo that you get

this nice two and three shots
of the girls all the time.

He says I come from Hungary
we don't miss the shot.

We miss the shot we get shot.

- They were illegitimate.

They were living on the
outside of the studio system,

on the outside of
the conventional

movie making process and limit.

- Johnny!

- They seemed to be
more adventurous to me

and to my partners and
to my fellow workers

in temperament than
what you would have

expected to find on the
lots working at the studios.

- In '66 I was working
in picture after picture,

you know all these
low budget films.

And we working with this Paul
Lewison, production manager.

And Paul called
me one day he said

there's this young film
critic from New York.

- Come on in I was just watching
a relic I had a hand in.

- Who is going to
do his fist feature.

And he's look for just like you,

cheap, fast, you know
all the qualities.

- Roger Corman
said well we have a

very good guy named
Leslie Kovacs.

He just did The Girl
in the Invisible Bikini

for us and he's very good.

I just liked him right away,
he was really good looking,

smart and fun to talk with,
I liked everything about him.

I said that's not your
real name Leslie is it?

He said no, my name is Laszlo
but I changed it for American.

Laszlo Kovacs I mean
that's a great name.

He said yeah but
when I make a picture

I'm proud of I use my real name.

We shot things in
Targets you're just

not allowed to do at
all, we just did it.

We shot in the freeway,
we shot on the freeway,

we shot at the freeway,
you're not allowed to that.

It's all against the law.

Boris played a horror
movie star who's retiring

because his kind of
Victorian horror isn't

horrible enough anymore, as
opposed to the real horror

of this kid in Texas
who, all American boy

who went and killed everybody.

- When the picture was over
Danny arranged a screening

and everybody in young
Hollywood was there,

Dennis Hopper, Peter
Fonda, Jack Nicholson.

We ran the picture and not
a sound during the picture.

When it was over
nobody said anything,

nobody came over to me,
nobody said anything.

Nobody said shit, good, nothing.

Except Jack Nicholson came
over sat down next to me

and says good picture
Bags, he called me Bags.

He said how'd you do it
and so on, he was terrific.

- It's alright.

- Gonna clean up, is
this the new script?

- Nevertheless came
to make Easy Rider

which was made
shortly after that.

They hired my entire crew.

- And the real Hollywood release

was coming at me in
the shape of another

motorcycle picture
called Easy Rider.

- Peter and I decided we wanted
to make a movie together.

He wanted to produce
a movie I was gonna,

he want me to direct and we
both wanted to act in it.

- Come on it's check out time.

Hey Billy.

- Oh man don't do that.

- Think we have already
done enough bike movies.

You need one more?

- And we saw a
whole bunch of films

that Laszlo had shot,
and they were great.

Exactly the kind
of stuff we wanted.

- His talent was somewhat
unproven and immense.

That there wasn't an opportunity

for him to show it
in his other movies.

But we knew that he could do it.

- So you hear all this racket
going down the hallway.

And it's obviously
Dennis is carrying on

yelling and all that
stuff and the surprise

is that he's already
in full wardrobe.

And he had a roll of
paper under his arm

and he grabs it and
throws it up in the air.

So all the pages
like snow flakes.

And I said this many is crazy.

- And Dennis was extraordinary.

You could he say he
optimized the era emotionally

because he was going to
get the truth of that time.

- We wanted to talk
about the politics

of individuals and
the bigotry in racism.

- So I also saw
it as a commentary

on what was going on in
the country at the time.

The younger generation

was getting eaten up by Vietnam.

I mean it was a terrible thing.

- Chances are you'd never seen

anything quite like Easy Rider.

America had not seen a
film like Easy Rider.

- I thought I have
to do this picture.

I would be crazy not to.

- We just hit it off.

He was the best telephoto
operator I've ever seen.

There's no question about it.

The things he did
were just sensational.

Our camera car was a
'68 Chevy convertible

with the back seat out
and a pine wood floor.

We would put some sand
bags in the back and then--

- Put an area on a high
hat and a 10 to one zoom,

and a sandbag and
that was my weapon.

- From that he did all
of his telephoto work

off the wheels up and around
on Jack and Peter and myself.

- And Laszlo was able to
give us a sense of freedom

being able to be on
the road to be able to

experience America
for the first time.

And I really felt like I
was experiencing America

like he was
experiencing America.

And he was able to be
that metaphor for freedom.

- The rainbow color
just coming down

like heroes it sort of
romanticized the character.

I could start on the
sun and lock on a beam

and bring it into the characters

and let the sun, and the beam
was there, the split beam.

It was beautiful you know.

- Easy Rider was
very innovative.

It was carefully made
in an uncareful way.

- The movie was a
shock in many ways.

They were used to
seeing Dors Day kind of

knowing where the camera
was and in that sense

we know where the camera
is 'cause she's this.

And there's the camera,
there's he pink lips

and her little hair you know
what I mean, pillow talk?

- We blew it.

- And Billy says but I thought
that's what it was all about,

get rich and retire in
Florida, and like you know,

then he said no we blew it.

Good night man.

- Matter of fact that 20 minutes

from the cafe to the
time they kill him,

it's one unit and that's
when the core of the film is.

- Then when that camera
move pulled up abruptly it

was congruent with what might be

many peoples
experience in death.

- What a dangerous
like to do that because

I didn't have the
right helicopter.

I had a Mickey Mouse
little helicopter

which would not take more
than one person and a camera.

I mean it was very unsafe
the way Laszlo did that then

but luckily he
survived another one.

- And think God he
did 'cause he got this

shot that makes the movie
sing through the history.

- And all the money's
in the gas tank

which blows up on
the side of the road,

which is hopefully not
totally a prophecy.

- They were at the forefront of

the change in film making
from the studio system

to the independent
system and then maybe now

back to the studio
system frankly.

- In the mid '60's
Bert Schneider and
I formed a company.

And the intent of
the company was

to make independent movies.

We questioned why it
was that there was

an in independent movement
in so many other countries

like Italy, the new Vaudeville,

like the French,
like the English,

and yet we didn't have that
movement here in America.

So the group, it
was a natural place

for the Hungarians to gravitate.

- I don't know if anybody
ever coined a name for it

but you could call it
the American new way

* With their hair in
ribbons and legs in tights

* Hooray for Hollywood

- I was able to come up and get

the money to shoot
The Hired Hand.

I need a good cinematographer
whoa, Leslie/Laszlo.

Now is now longer
Leslie/Laszlo, is Laszlo.

And Peter I'm sorry I'm
shooting Alex in Wonderland

for Paul Mazursky,
and I can't do it.

But you remember that guy
who used to come with me

to see the dailies, he
had the little beard.

I said yeah.

Well that's my mentor,
his name is Bill Zsigmond

but you can call him Ziggy
and I recommend him highly.

And if Laszlo's going to
be recommending it, I'm in.

On one of those drives back
I was talking to Vilmos

about the next day's
shoot and about the shot

and what it means to
me, it's a metaphor.

Oh Jesus Christ Peter
don't need no metaphor,

just where you want
put the camera.

And I went on about it being
the metaphor and allegory.

I don't need to
know about allegory,

where to put the camera.

And I was back
and forth with him

and I said Vilmos
what'd you do with

the other directors
you've worked with?

What other directors?

And I locked up all four wheels

and the smoke of the tires just

filled up the cab
of this Blazer.

This is my first
outdoor color film.

I thought well this is far out.

- It was the tale end
of the studio system.

But there was a great
feeling of independence and

that small budget movies being
made outside of the studio,

and this is where Laszlo and
Vilmos sort of took the lead.

- I always worked on projects
which had to be real.

Real locations with real
people, believable acting.

Nowadays we call
this poetic reality.

- Somebody please help, stop!

Help us, help up please!

- Like the painters used to
do you know the Rembrandt,

Caravaggio, the Dutch
masters, Georges de La Tour.

I mean they are really real but
it's almost like super real.

- Harkens back to
that original training

of shooting real things.

We look now at what's
supposedly reality television

and it's such bullshit, there's
nothing real about that.

- I think there is probably
a 50/50 proposition

in terms of who's getting
across to the audience

what's going on I think
the actor provides 50%

but without the
correct camera angle,

without the right lighting wat
you're doing means nothing.

- Cinematography
like in printing is

an expression in a single image.

Cinematography
needs the beginning

and an evolution at the end.

You should never forget
the light this one

is practically an
energy, an energy

arriving from that source to me.

- In painting I
love impressionists.

And for me nothing
else is as good as

impressionistic painting
so for me the style of

what I call poetic reality
is the style for movies.

* I know that kind of man

* It's hard to hold
the hand of anyone

* Whose reaching for the

- I would say McCabe
and Mrs. Miller

was impressionistic in
effort, was real at one time

and now we are looking
at that from a distance.

* Why can't you feel
that he was watching

- I was asked to do that
film before Warren Beatty

was asked to do it and,

I just was close to it
I was flirting with it

with Bob Altman and
then we couldn't agree.

We came to a
disagreement however,

cut to me seeing it
and I'm looking at it

and it's Vilmos's work
that gets me into the film

and it's the authenticity
of it that makes it,

makes everything believable
and makes it remarkable.

- Vilmos did such a fantastic
job and it looked so

historically accurate
and Leon Ericksen

who was the production designer

basically built the
town from scratch.

There was nothing
there it was just

a hillside when
we moved up there.

- Yeah looking at faded
old antique images

and decide to recreate
a world which doesn't

exist anymore but in
those days it was real.

- Anyway we present
one part of our lives

with him Vilmos Zsigmond started

McCabe and Mrs. Miller
how to get he was able

to bring the Hungarian
culture into United States.

- So that was a
challenge to do it

and but luckily enough we found
the right tools to do that,

flashing the film,
and pushing the film,

we did everything
to make it look old.

- It kind of set the mark
for a certain kind of

grit in Western cinematography,
it was terrific.

- The film was largely
shot in sequence.

It had to be because
things were being built,

the town was supposedly going
up around us, which it was.

But they hade this
early snow storm

and Bob loved it and
we shot like crazy

for a few days until
it all I believe

if I remember correctly
that it didn't

stay around too long
because it melted.

- So we hiked through the
woods all the way around

to behind the set and
came out of the bushes

and here was this, this
perfect Western town.

So I was 14 it was like
that's the job I want.

I want that Vilmos guys
job that is so cool.

So cut to a year later
the move finally comes out

we have to lie about
our age to get in.

We're hearing about how
it's got nudity in it

and all this stuff
which my friend Dave

is very excited about,
I just wanted to see

what the pictures
were gonna look like.

And nothing could
have prepared me

for the difference between
how that set looked

and what that film looked like.

And of course years later I read

that he had flashed the film
against the studios wishes,

done all this other
amazing stuff to it

and it made me realize
that you weren't just

a guy taking pictures
that that guy who

I'd been admiring
and watching work,

really was a real artist.

It's a stunning
movie and I think

it stands up
perfectly well today.

- Very exciting era
when we did nothing but

low budget movies,
very simple movies.

To think about Scarecrow,
how simple that story is.

Two hobos, we call
them this hobos,

they meet on the road,
on the road side.

And two different totally
opposite characters.

And Pacino is playing one and
Gene Hackman plays the other.

In the beginning
they hate each other.

They just stopped on the road

and then they
continued together.

And the whole movie is about
how these two characters

get closer together
to the point that

they cannot live
without each other.

- I get that cream.

- Yeah some, not much.

- That's okay because I got
enough to get us started.

- It's a beautiful story.

You say
they become brothers?

- Well they become
like brothers but

it's a lot of
humanity done in that

each of them realize
basically that

to live the life lonely,
alone is not really the answer

and that probably got
used to each other

and then decide to
help each other.

And I thought it was
a magnificent film

of the days, those days.

- Scarecrow is a film that maybe

isn't mentioned as
often as some of

the other films that
Vilmos worked on

but is really a striking film.

And if you just look at
the credit sequence alone,

you can see a real unique
way of looking at landscape.

- You know he learned how
to light in a war zone.

He was running through
war with a camera.

And that has sound
and it has power.

Light has quality to it that's
not just visual, it's tonal.

If you're really
listening it has energy,

it has sound, it has movement.

We had
girlfriends and so

we're having our dinner
and I told Vilmos I said

tomorrow I'm going back to
Hungary and get them out.

- I said are you crazy I mean

you just escaped from
there, now you want

to go back to Hungary
and escape again?

But he was in love with
Agnes I mean that's,

I could not talk
to him about it.

Also I was in love with
my girlfriend Elizabeth.

So I said but Laszlo if
you make it back here

I will be here exactly
December 19 I will be here

at five o'clock in the afternoon

and you better be there I said.

I took him to the border
and I said goodbye to him

and I thought I will
never see him again.

- I'm heading for my
girlfriend's house and

I knock on her door and
her mother opens the door

and then looks at me and
says what are you doing here?

She's already in Vienna.

- And the problem
was that by that time

it was almost impossible
to come to the border

because the Russians
controlled it.

And for the last three days
nobody came from Hungary.

And that was the time that
Laszlo should have arrived.

- So okay the next thing I had
to find Vilmos's girlfriend

who is living the others side of

the country near
the Russian borders.

So I hire a cab and arrive
at her place and she's there.

I'm here to pick you up
and take you to Vienna.

She says okay I'm gonna pack.

I said no you're not
packing you come as you are.

Put some warm clothes
on and we just leave.

- Laszlo now was the expert
how to go to West right.

So he took my uncle.

I said okay Uncle
can you make the whole trip?

He said oh yeah I'm
okay I'm in good shape.

- So I was still waiting
there, waiting there.

I go to a bar and
it's eight o'clock now

and nobody's coming
and then I really got

very pessimistic about
it started to drink

a little bit of butter palinka.

And I got a little
bit drunk you know.

Far away you
could see a low bare bulb.

And I knew that that
was Ocsa that was

the church in a cemetery,
and the the church

had this little bare
bulb in the front.

And this light was
getting closer and closer

and you sort of could
make out the tombstones.

Very spooky because I
knew that meant freedom.

If I be under that bulb
you know we got it made.

And so we start walking.

And we're walking
we break this fence

and right into the tombstones
and I start yelling run.

And we start zigzagging running
running running running.

- People are running
out from the street

into this bar and said
hey they are coming,

they are coming,
there's 100 of them.

So it's a bunch of
people that night

they made it to the border.

- Door opens and
Vilmos comes out

and he looks at us
and he says your late.

- He said I'll be there
at five o'clock right.

So that was funny I mean
he thought it was funny.

- And Laszlo and Vilmos
married their sweethearts

in the church were they escaped.

These guys were
like yin and yang.

Oh here this is the one I love.

The knew the same thing, they
had the same blood in them.

They had the same education,
they loved the same country,

the same foods, the same life,
and they had the same goal.

How could you separate them?

Look at that.

I like that, I've
never seen that one.

Who the hell goes up on
that thing like that?

Laszlo would.

- He was exceedingly inventive
and it all comes from

a life on the run from Hungary.

- I got hold of a map of
United States of America

and looked at all the 48 states

and tried to figure out
how huge this country is.

I thought the only
way I'll be able to

see the country if I sit
in a bus in the front row

and I have a window
in front of me

and I just gonna soak it up.

And I tell you this was my
first impression from America.

And it was a devastatingly
beautiful country.

And subconsciously it left
such impression in me forever

that later on I
didn't realize that

I was able to use
it in my movies.

It taught me one
major lesson that

the environment, the
background is so important,

where you embedded the
story and it has to be a

third character because it tells

so much about the
people who live it.

I think
you have a visitor here.

It's Karen Black.

- Oh my God Karen sweetheart.
- Hello sweetie.

How are you?

I tell you Five Easy
Pieces you're incredible,

your character and the way you
played it, it was so perfect.

* For that old
familiar glow you'll be

- I love it.

- You want me to
hold the chicken huh?

- I want you to hold
it between your knees.

Guess you all have to
leave I'm not taking

any more of your
smartness and sarcasm.

- Yeah this was Eugene,
Oregon as we were leaving

the town for the next location.

Which we actually had a system

that we were moving
in a caravan.

So if I found something
interesting on the road

that it would be good
for some of the scenes

I would pull over
from the highway

and they figured
that it's gonna be

something short and
interesting and improvised.

- Laszlo had to improvise
and tape things together,

tape lights on the
outside of the cars.

Once we stopped in the woods.

He went in the woods and
grabbed this old rotten log.

- Tied some shoe
leather around it

and some shoe laces and
attached the camera to it

so he could shoot
through the window.

There's still
termites coming out of it.

- Termites oh my
God good old days.

You see this is what happens
when you don't have money

and you don't have the time
and you have to get the shots.

You really improvise and
you have to save the day.

- Certain camera men are
able to create an atmosphere

on the set that is
quiet and efficient and

loving and caring, not
only about the movie,

but about the people
who are making

the movie, the director
and the actors,

there's something that
Laszlo had in this area

where the actors embraced
him and he embraced them.

- It was like a
most incredible blue

and Bob said listen
let's do the scene here.

I said Bob hold it hold it,
can I suggest something?

Why don't we put Susan
against the ocean

and Jack facing her you know?

And look at the water
and look at her eye.

Her eye is exactly the
same color as the water.

Let's shoot here closeup first.

Oh there's the director
looking through the camera.

Using the wrong eye.

- He used to have strapped
on the camera right over here

Laszlo's violin, did
you ever see that?

You pompous bastard.

But look how handsome he was.

I was lucky to have him.

He's lucky to have me too.

- It's fantastic that
people are beginning

to make inquiries into who the
people are behind the camera.

Like these two Hungarian
guys who escaped

from Hungary, lived
in exile in America

and changed the face
of American cinema.

- I first met Vilmos it
was in 1971 I believe

for Deliverance.

He didn't look like
anything from our industry.

He had this wonderful
I don't know

rough-hewn kind of thing
and if I saw him today,

he would look the same he
doesn't change, Vilmos.

He could still
climb Kilimanjaro.

- John Boorman was thinking
about doing this movie

and he saw my dailies of
McCabe and Mrs. Miller

and said wow this is
really something great.

And if a cinematographer
can do that,

I know that he can do my movie.

- When I Vilmos he
was tough and wiry

and the guy I needed 'cause
this was gonna be tough.

Shooting this picture
on this raging river

in very very difficult
circumstances

where you couldn't
have the kind of backup

that a camera man would
normally expect to have.

John Boorman
was so great to working.

I learned so much
from him.

Vilmos would be almost
the first one in the water.

And then we would
be in the canoes

and sometimes it
was pretty hairy

I mean it was pretty
dangerous for all of us,

because if the canoes
went out of control

and the camera was in the water

that would be
dangerous of course.

- So when you
travel boat to boat

it's not giving you much film.

But when you actually do your
long lenses it went very fast.

- When you get four young guys

and one of them is Burt Reynolds

you just are tempted
to do your own stunts

because Burt young
Reynolds was a stunt man.

So our hope
that the actors are going

to be able to do
their own stunts.

And because I
had an ego, a male ego,

and because I had a
girlfriend down there

I had to do my own stunts
and almost killed myself.

And they, they
did everything in the movie.

- There are many sequences
that are done in one take,

long takes where people come
in and out of foreground,

background where
focuses turn to bring

a person into the scene
in the background.

And the camera just
stays in one place

and moves, or the camera moves.

When we meet the mountain
men who are these

villainous characters
that come out of the woods

it's a scary scary
moment in the film.

Perhaps it's the key
moment in the film.

And they say where
are you going?

And they said well we're
going up to Antree.

He says Antree, you
can't get to Antree.

- You done taken a wrong turn.

See this here river don't
go nowhere near Antree.

- Ned gets scared and
I'm trying to rationalize

with this guy and
then this other guy

with the gun points
the gun at one point.

Well it's a big long sequence
to get us up into the woods

and storytelling wise everything
turns in that sequence.

Your camera doesn't move,

and all that goes on is there's

a slight panning of the camera

and a switch of focus and we
have four people in the scene.

And when the camera, when
we leave that sequence

we go up into the woods and they

tie me to a tree it's
all the same take.

- He got a real
pretty mouth ain't he?

- And you will see that
those daring kinds of things

were done continuously
during that film

and that's why it's remarkable.

- Here hold that on him.

- It was forceful, it was
powerful, it was jaw drop.

* Now when I was a young boy

* At the age of five

* My mother said I'm gonna be

And I'm sure both
of them told you when they

enrolled in the film
school in Hungary

that they weren't
allowed to touch a camera

or look at film the first year.

They painted and they
listened to music.

Laszlo and
Vilmos could produce

a big color extravaganza
like New York New York

or like Nickelodeon and
also make Easy Rider.

- They weren't allowed
to watch Western films

and that with none of the
communist officials around

usually on a Saturday,
the teacher told them

they could look at the film
but not to listen to it.

And Laszlo particularly
told me that Gregg Toland,

watching Gregg's Citizen Kane
changed his visual grammar.

They were shooting
very naturalistic,

they were finding
the light instead of

concentrating on making
everybody look beautiful.

The excitement
of the 50's produced

in a certain way the 60's which
began to be revolutionary.

- Somehow with
Laszlo and many of

the contemporary
American photography

we were the new generation
here in America.

And we just fell
into it by accident,

by being at the right
time in the right place.

- They've influenced filmmakers

in every part of the
world without knowing.

I mean I've heard
that so many times.

They once asked their
mentor George Elaus

how can we ever pay you,
repay you for what you did?

And he says help
other young people.

And they started this summer
workshop for two weeks

every other summer
and they took turns

going sometimes
they went together.

So we tried
to fill that void and

doing the master
class about lighting.

And only for young
cinematographers

selected from all
over the world.

And unfortunately
Vilmos is not available.

He's on a film, he got stuck
on his in North Carolina.

- Oh wow, oh wow,
oh God this is it.

This is like the best
idea with landings.

It's like being up in the moon.

- We were looking
for cinematographers

and his agent called us and said

you know I think Vilmos Zsigmond

would be interested in
shooting these films.

After they resuscitated me I
said well how old is Vilmos?

And she said kid he's gonna
work your ass into the ground.

- Here's a man left
a beautiful wife

and he's not get
paid and he's here

to share his knowledge,
Vilmos Zsigmond thank you.

It's all yours sir, all yours.

- To correct his English
though better I didn't--

I didn't leave my wife.

I left her home but
I didn't leave her.

- This is what they
do for students.

Any time I would call
upon them or anybody else

call upon them, there
wasn't any hesitation.

- He never forgot
where we came from.

He always reached
out to young people.

He inspired them with his work.

He inspired them, I remember
going back one year,

it was six or seven years ago,

it was like I was walking
with the King of Hungary.

People would come
up on the streets,

and not necessarily filmmakers,

and they would have old
articles in magazines,

some of them I had written,
some other people had written,

that they had gotten
during the cold war.

- You know there's a master
class is gonna be in August.

Two weeks master class and
Vilmos and usually myself.

In Hungary?

- Yeah, Budapest.
- Oh okay.

- I don't know I mean this
is very interesting lighting.

I mean I never would do
anything like this in my life.

I hope it's gonna be
very interesting because

I never used green light for
a moon, I never did that.

I like to know when
people are courageous

and try something
even if it's wrong.

It's the only way you can learn.

And he learned
that filmmaking is an art

and it's a form,
everyone is different.

You can't copy somebody else.

- They learned how to
things economically.

And also learned
how to be associated

with subject matter
which is interesting.

- Vilmos almost
seem to smell light.

When you're on a set
with Vilmos it's like,

it's like a great chef
as he walks around

and he looks, 'cause I used
to watch him look it was fun

with this
then you see as he's

moving around with the
actors and the shot.

- Letters to persuade
a man to close a deal

or leave a job or sell
out on his brother.

- When it's Vilmos Zsigmond
footage against others

you know it and you
just, you see it.

- Who actually made the
contract to kill the President?

- That for me has always
been a mystery, I don't know.

- And in a culture
that for the most part

turns it's back on art
they managed to survive

and they managed to keep
their eye on the sparrow.

- Wanted Frances to
have this crisp look.

And that's, Laszlo had
done it again on Fist

which again had this very
sharp perceptive look to it.

- After slamming
through the house

breathless and panicky from
searching I could stop...

- Goodnight Princess.

- It was tough, a tough
movie for her to do.

And the whole crew
just gave her space

and let her inhabit
this role because

more than any other she
needed to be Francis

whether she was
on camera or not.

I had an absolute
dream team on this movie.

I had Laszlo, Dick Sylbert
was the Production Designer.

And John Barry composed
a beautiful score.

In typical Laszlo fashion
he used the makeup

and hair tests for
lighting experimentations.

And Jessica also used that time

to work on the early
stages of her character.

I like to let actors
go beyond the point

at which they think they should.

And I always say that
I will protect you

and I'll tell you
when it's too much

or when you're
going over the top

and it won't be in the movie.

And they just, obviously
the actor has to trust you.

There has to be trust
going both ways here.

And the same trust is between

the actress and the
cinematographer.

Jessica trusted Laszlo
implicitly and felt
very safe there.

She was in fact
half the time afraid

if she was gonna look too good.

And so for a cinematographer
that's a challenge

because you still have to make

the actress look
appealing and attractive.

Who is it?

- You've got no right!

He cared
about the movies he made.

He cared about the
story and he cared

about the characters
and it wasn't just

a matter of making
the stuff look good.

It was a matter of did
we tell the story right?

- I'd like a wake up call.

- I think he got
relationship on Jessica.

He admired her beyond
words but I think

the film was hard on his heart.

- In plane language
my icepick technique

severs the nerves that deliver

emotional energy through ideas.

However, this patient here

will soon be leaving
the hospital.

Lobotomy gets them home.

- When they were
walking down the street

at the end we wondered
how Francis was.

The camera was in front of them.

You know it wasn't a pretty shot

and it wasn't a long
shot and it wasn't this.

It was here.

So it's over, they'll never
be together it's over.

We don't need this anymore.

It's just where the
story is, he goes there.

- Towards the end of
the movie Laszlo took

all of the light out
of Jessica's eyes

so that she looked dead
even when she wasn't.

- Were illusionists and we
got to create an illusion

from love, laughter,
fear, whatever.

And the cameraman, the
DP is the one can either

bring it visually to the screen

the way you want
it and then some

or it can be destroyed by them.

Radio Flyer was a picture I
needed a very special team on.

And first name that
came to mind, who am I,

Vilmos Laszlo, Vilmos
Laszlo, Vilmos Laszlo,

who am I gonna, it's
gonna be one of those two.

- But all it took I think
is their relationships

to certain directors,
if certain directors

liked what they were
doing they could

continue working
on big pictures.

I was lucky
that Steven maybe must

have seen some of
my earlier movies.

- I remember saying to
him there's this guy

Vilmos Zsigmond you've
got to see his work.

And there's a scene, Vilmos
is wrapped around the camera

and is doing a 360
degree pan inside

the sheriff's car and
there's dialogue going on

with another sheriff's car
that's pulling up alongside.

Get on back there
I'll shoot him in the head.

Vilmos almost exactly

what Steven Spielberg needed.

- Well here again you have
a great emerging talent,

he's got a solid script,
he's got good young actors.

And he's got a great
collaborator behind the camera.

And they want together
to tell this tale,

not the way it
would have been shot

in 1938 or '48 or
'58 or even '68.

- And you could see not
only say the formation

of Vilmos' style
but you certainly

could see Stephen's ability
to stage the camera.

And I thought they
had an amazing

experience together
in that movie.

- We probably painted
but our hand is basically

controlled by many
many many people

like the director, like
the production designer,

the editor so many many people

holding that hand
which held the brush.

- A lot of people know
how much Vilmos and Laszlo

have influenced filmmaking
but they don't understand

maybe the back side of
what they did which was

try to help us get the
appreciation factor out there.

We asked for the credit
to be moved up adjacent

to the writer,
producer, director.

Our agent did that.

Jason Smith who before him
there was no agency for us.

- Had a beach place for
part of that period of time.

And every Sunday we
just had an open house.

And so you had
all these great camera men

who were really changing
the look of our movies.

Guys like Connie Hall,
Haskell Wexler, Bill Fraker,

Owen Roizman, John
Alonzo, Billy Williams,

Gordon Willis, and of
course Vittorio Storaro.

We were dealing with
how to deal with the future.

- Discuss what they wanted
and felt we could do

to help advance the
recognition of cameramen.

TWA
471 contact on one three--

- Great thing about Close
Encounters as far as I know

it's the first example where
we've had something popular

like movies where these
creatures from outer space

are not only smarter than we are

but they were not
a threat to us.

That was the beauty of
that to discover that

we don't need to be fearful
of what we don't know.

In our politics
country to country

the fear element
begins to affect

all of our thinking and
all of our responses.

- It's a $2500 globe
what are you guys doing?

- Close Encounters was probably

the biggest lighting
challenge in my life.

When we started the
movie we thought

that we are making
a low budget movie

mostly documentary style
and in fact Steven Spielberg

wanted to do that
movie on 16 millimeter

with maybe a budget of $600,000.

And then it started
to get bigger.

He got stars like
Richard Dreyfuss

who wanted to do the movie.

And Steven's writing
became more complicated,

more interesting,
he did more research

about aliens and space
ships and all that.

So the budget started to
go up and up and up and up.

- The set was so big
that you couldn't

stand in the middle and shout
to the edges and be heard.

And I said when are
we going to light this place?

And they said what do you
mean lighting this place?

It's lit.

Lit by what, those
stadium lights?

And said what,
that's not enough?

How about the buildings?

The buildings inside?

Said well we have light bulbs.

The screw the light bulbs you
can change them from bigger.

I said but Steven
don't you think that

we should light this
like it was a movie?

And they just looked at
me like I was stupid.

What are you talking about?

They said what do
you mean by that?

Well you know like light
coming through the doors,

light coming through the
windows, like a movie.

- Well in Close Encounters
in the script of the film

Steven and I guess his
writers had the idea that

there should be some kind
of oral communication

with the arriving
extra terrestrial.

What I discovered that
more than five notes,

six or seven could become a
melody more naturally than five.

So I kept saying to Steven
maybe if I could have

a note or two more, no no
it should only be five.

Be five fingers and
it had something

to do with this Cordei who
was also Hungarian I believe.

- Let's go.

- Well Vilmos got in trouble
every time he turned around.

And he became, literally became
the scapegoat in the movie.

He went forward at all cost.

- And after awhile I
got into trouble because

everything was blamed
on me of course.

Who can they blame it on?

They cannot blame it on Steven.

- He was fired I think
five times on that movie.

Julia Phillips fired him.

I think Steven fired
him at one point.

The studio fired, his
gaffer had him fired.

- All the cinematographers
were really

standing behind
this whole industry.

Nobody wanted to
take over the film.

And that's why I stayed
on until the very end.

The kind of
photography that Vilmos has done

has made searing
imprints on our minds.

- That stylistic
look, imagination,

and use of the lights
and the shafts of light

and the darkness and
everybody would approach it

probably a different
way because that's

one individual's
interpretation for sure.

And whatever he did, he did
it right that's for sure.

I mean he won an Oscar
for it didn't he.

- And the winner is
- And the winner is

- Vilmos Zsigmond.
- Vilmos Zsigmond.

- I would like to thank
you first for this country,

the American people who
gave me a second life.

I would like to
thank my old masters

in the Hungarian film school
Elaus George, Boroka Szabella.

- And this is while
Hungary was still under

the iron curtain and he
thanked his mentors by name

in Hungary and it
meant so much to them.

- It's funny when
you think about

the full careers of
Laszlo and Vilmos.

There are those defining
films at the beginning,

which really still what
you tend to reference.

- You know Orson
Wells used to say

black and white was
the actors friend.

Why do you say that Orson?

Because every performance looks
better in black and white.

Name me a great performance
in color, he'd say.

And you know that's going a
little far but nevertheless

black and white has a
sense of authenticity.

- So he calls me said
Laszlo tell you I have,

I have a beautiful
story and he said

it's gonna be black
and white, I hung up.

That was all intro
for the movie.

He said you know
what why don't you

come over at my house
and talk to Orson Wells.

I said what.

'Cause Orson Wells was
staying with him as a guest.

I think he was hiding
again from the IRS.

I was so nervous to
knock on that door

and finally open the
door and then this

long oak dining table and at
the end it's like a throne.

And there is Orson
Wells you know.

And he said I understand
you and Peter are

going to make a
black and white film.

I said yes trying.

I been doing all these
tests and everything

and I really tell you truth
I don't like any of them.

And he said it's very simple
use red filter my boy.

* Cleft for my let me hide

- The very first
shot of the movie

is the first shot
of the movie where

I'm standing at the grave site.

And it was sort of a
windy day and very bright

and very hot and it
was a lot of wind.

And I just remember
standing all day

with Peter and with Laszlo
and setting up these shots

and it just seemed
so vast everything,

and I seemed so little.

- Howdy.

- Howdy.

Get the phone will you.

- Tatum was a kid
she didn't know

how to do it so it took forever.

There's a two shot that goes on

for about three, four
minutes in the car.

We did it 36 times,

25 times the first day
and we didn't get it.

We didn't get beyond
the first 10 lines.

- I had these two men.

I had Peter, he's
giving me books to read

even though I really
am a very baby reader.

Like I wasn't that
good at reading then.

And then you've got
Laszlo who's this

super debonair, super handsome.

I never remember
him ever getting

stern with me or
getting frustrated.

- Well you know Laszlo spoiled
me because it was so easy.

We fit hand in glove and
we worked hand in glove.

I wish I'd done more
pictures with him.

- Alright boy you're next.

- I ain't a boy.

- We are screening one
of his movies Papermoon.

This is one of the
movies that he took me

to screenings of and
watched with me too as well.

I think he used it
to teach both of us.

- It was the very first
film that I watched

with my father and
it's got that great

father daughter story so
it's very special to me.

- You meet my mama
in a bar room?

- Where would you get
a question like that?

- I hear Mrs. Polly
talking neighbor lady

says wonder if you was my pa.

- Well don't the world
have a wild imagination.

- I found out when I married
Laszlo and I had a baby

that Laszlo had another
child but chose not to

know her at that
particular time.

- I mean it was
top secret I mean

nobody knew about,
nobody knew about it.

- He took care of
her financially
through all the years.

But really didn't
know how to approach

being a father to a
child he hadn't met

and didn't know what
to say to our child

once we had a baby, so he
went out and found her.

And she met her father and
her sister in the same day.

And within really minutes
it just became one family.

- And they fell in love with
each other, the whole family.

They loved Nadia, Nadia
is a wonderful girl.

And finally she had a father

and Laszlo had another daughter.

- I told you I don't want
you riding with me no more.

- You still owe me $200.

Mose look!

- Come on.

Hurry up.

- I admire the brotherhood
that they have.

They really love one another,
they respect one another.

And they're open to one another.

I feel that they
matter to one another.

- It should be here now.

Great wow look at that.

Politically and personally
he's very progressive,

and I admire that
about him because

it would be a lot easier,
most people in fact

who are immigrants from
communism tend to be very

conservative in their
politics and he never was.

He really is a very young
person in his thinking.

He never likes to look back.

And he also, it's
not so much that he

likes to work with
young people but I think

he always thinks like
a young person himself.

- Sometimes you
have to do something

which you don't have
experience about it.

I never worked in a
steel mill before.

So maybe that was a
lucky thing because

I just walked into
the steel mill

and I saw this blue light
coming in from the outside.

Again this red light of
the flow of the steel.

I put gels on the
light to just recreate

exactly the way that
was and I thought

it was fascinating to see the
work done in the steel mill.

- I just think Deer
Hunter is truly one of the

probably five greatest
American films ever made.

And I'd say that
without, even if

I didn't know anyone
involved in it.

And it has such depth
and such power and also

the fact that there are
Eastern European immigrants

involved and it's
about this community

of Eastern Europeans and
the fact that Vilmos is,

all that I don't
know whether that was

coincidental or part
of some zeitgeist.

That certainly is a
film that stands out.

And then along came

The Deer Hunter which of course

made everyone stop
dead in their tracks,

and it caused people to
look at the United States

in a completely different way.

- It really taught I think
the public more about

how the war in Vietnam
affected everybody

and what was really
happening behind the scenes

without it being sensational,
it was all about people.

He had gone through
that so he knew.

I think there was
something instinctive

that went beyond being
instinctive cinematography.

It was instinctive
story telling.

A good movie
photography has to blend in

in the story and you
cannot be too good

or you cannot be too
bad I mean you have to

go whatever the story is about.

- I love you.

- We really wanted
to make it look like

a documentary on newsreels
and not over lighting it.

And luckily we could not
even over light the scenes

because we hardly had
any equipment there.

- When you have
people who come from

the training of life and truth,

who come with the respect
and dignity of their craft,

when they not only
bring it to film

but then they bring
it and are willing

to share it with others
there's nothing greater.

* God bless America

* Land that I love

* Stand beside her and guide her

* Through the night
with a light from above

You're listening to

All Things Considered
from NPR News.

As a student in
Budapest Laszlo Kovacs

and a friend filmed
the 1956 Hungarian

uprising against
the Soviet Union.

When the revolution was crushed

they fled the country
with their film,

took refuge here and made
their way to Hollywood

where he became a
cinematographer.

Kovacs died in his
sleep Sunday at age 74

and he left behind an
extraordinary body of work.

He was one of those people who

changed the look
of America movies.

He filmed Easy Rider--

- He just woke up
with a headache.

And I said why don't you
just go rest and I'll,

I'll give you breakfast
when you feel better.

He just never felt better.

And he was gone by
the next morning.

- They had a memorial there
and I was there you know.

They showed Laszlo's
ten minutes film

with Laszlo in the
movies and they really

were thinking about him a lot.

- Frankly I think that Laszlo
had one widow and it's Vilmos.

I think they were as close
as two men could ever be.

- It's nice to
always have somebody

like that person a good
friend who is close to you.

And same understanding
about our problems.

Whether it was a
personal problem

or whether it was
a business problem.

It was always nice to
be able to call him up.

Even if we were
living further apart.

And I don't have that now.

There's
no race to goodness.

There no race to becoming a
legend or winning the prize.

And I think that many people
don't really understand

the importance and
the impact of simply

showing up every day
and doing your job

with great integrity
and having the courage

to just simply be
good at what you do,

and really trying to figure out

how can I lend myself
to creating this moment,

then this one, then this one,
the very best that I can.

That's it.

Both you and
Laszlo very handsome men.

Nothing, just take it.

- Thank you very much.

Yeah
take it, just take it.

- Thanks my mother,
thanks my father.

No it's
for me very pleasant

to look at all your
footage and photographs.

I'm falling in love every day.

You're more
in love with Vilmos or Laszlo?

It's hard
very hard, very very hard.

- She has no choice
now Laszlo's gone.

Laszlo left all his
ladies for me now.

Right, exactly.

Now you're in trouble.

- All those old ladies.

* Tonight my heart
is full of a sad song

* My lonesome
lover has taken off

* I'm wandering
around on a cloud

- That's my left
side, oh there we go.

- Yeah that's it.

- Oh yeah it's great.

- Good bad, good
bad, good bad, good.

- And you, you have to
mysteriously disappear.

Bye, see you next time.

I hope to see you soon.

Let me see can I find you.

* These stories about this

And mark it.

* So brave and so alive

* Turning this world around
from the out to the inside

* Well our courtship
was brief and magnetic

* I was singing
at the corner bar

* And we both felt so romantic

* We took a walk with the moon

* Down to the train yard

* Well it was too much for me

* My gypsy heart was inflamed

* Put me at the
head of your list

* And don't forget
to call my name

* Well I fell in love with a boy

* Who has a real live
romance with a train

- I gotta go on the stage now.

* Oh