R.I.P.
Two big movie talents died this week and they will be missed.
Laszlo Kovacs, the cinematographer who set the standard for evocative photography in the 1970s and 1980s, died at 74. Kovacs' credits are simply remarkable: "Easy Rider,'' "Five Easy Pieces,'' "King of Marvin Gardens,'' "New York, New York," "Paper Moon,'' "Frances,'' "Say Anything,'' "Radio Flyer,'' and one of my favorite movies of the '70s , "Shampoo,'' Warren Beatty's scalding take on politics and philandering in the Vietnam War era.
You could put Kovacs in the pantheon with James Wong Howe ("Hud'') and Gregg Toland ("Citizen Kane'') as cinematographers who helped define movies in each of their heydays. If you talk to movie industry people, you'll often hear that a great camera person can make or break a film. Orson Welles gave Toland equal billing for "Kane,'' acknowledging their close working relationship.
The star of last year's Oscar-winning best foreign language film, "The Lives of Others,'' Ulrich Muhe died this week at 54. Muhe managed a very tricky feat: making a man _ with no life who snoops on others for spy purposes and to glean a bit of life for his void _ sympathetic and multi-dimensional. His performance gave the movie its weight and oddly, its compassion.
R.I.P.
Laszlo Kovacs, the cinematographer who set the standard for evocative photography in the 1970s and 1980s, died at 74. Kovacs' credits are simply remarkable: "Easy Rider,'' "Five Easy Pieces,'' "King of Marvin Gardens,'' "New York, New York," "Paper Moon,'' "Frances,'' "Say Anything,'' "Radio Flyer,'' and one of my favorite movies of the '70s , "Shampoo,'' Warren Beatty's scalding take on politics and philandering in the Vietnam War era.
You could put Kovacs in the pantheon with James Wong Howe ("Hud'') and Gregg Toland ("Citizen Kane'') as cinematographers who helped define movies in each of their heydays. If you talk to movie industry people, you'll often hear that a great camera person can make or break a film. Orson Welles gave Toland equal billing for "Kane,'' acknowledging their close working relationship.
The star of last year's Oscar-winning best foreign language film, "The Lives of Others,'' Ulrich Muhe died this week at 54. Muhe managed a very tricky feat: making a man _ with no life who snoops on others for spy purposes and to glean a bit of life for his void _ sympathetic and multi-dimensional. His performance gave the movie its weight and oddly, its compassion.
R.I.P.
posted by Eleanor's blog at 3:14 PM
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