Free | Xfinity
Posted: 3/1/2012
They left one revolution behind only to create another. Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond filmed and survived the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, immigrated in poverty to America, helped each other up the ladder out of the underbelly of Hollywood all the while holding onto their dreams. After ten years of no-budget toil, Laszlo's camera broke Hollywood's rules with EASY RIDER. Suddenly in demand, he recommended Vilmos to both Peter Fonda and Robert Altman where Zsigmond poured his "poetic realism" into THE HIRED HAND and MCCABE & MRS. MILLER. They were the go-to camera guys of the New Hollywood.
With film school equipment, they shoot the Soviet crackdown of the 1956 Hungarian Revolt. As refugees they struggle working in the underbelly of Hollywood, finally breaking into the mainstream with their pivotal contribution to cinema in films like Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Paper Moon, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Scarecrow, Frances, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Deer Hunter. Featuring interviews with Karen Black, Peter Bogdanovich, Sandra Bullock, Richard Donner, Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Ellen Kuras, ASC, Tatum O'Neal, Bob Rafelson, Vittorio Storaro, AIC, ASC, Jon Voight, Haskell Wexler, ASC, John Williams and Sharon Stone, their conversations are woven with awe inspiring clips from the memorable films Kovacs and Zsigmond shot. However, their profound friendship forged in adversity is perhaps the greater story. This an intimate portrait of two giants of modern image making and their deep bond of brotherhood that transcended every imaginable boundary.
Two heroes. One road.