Istvan Szabo is a famous Hungarian film director and screenwriter. Also known as an actor and producer. In the track record of a native of the city of Budapest, 57 cinematic works. He has been working in the field of cinema since 1959. Istvan Szabo's film "Mephisto" in 1982 received the main Academy Award. His paintings won at the most famous film festivals and awards: Cannes Film Festival, British Film Academy, European Film Academy and others. In 2011, he presented his latest directorial work, The Door.
Biography
Istvan Szabo was born on February 18, 1938 in a Jewish family. After school, I got a job as a reporter on the radio. In 1956, he successfully passed the entrance exams at the Budapest Institute of Theater and Cinema, where he subsequently learned to become a director. His teacher is the famous teacher Felix Mariashi. As a student, he shot several short-format films, including the film Concert, which was favorably received at several international film festivals.
Sabo's early works contain iconography, they blur the boundaries between reality, dreams and memories. In those years, the young director from Hungary was inspired by the direction of the “French New Wave”.
The most famous Hungarian director loudly declared about himself with his art projects, which were included in the so-called "German trilogy of Istvan Szabo": "Mephisto", "Colonel Redl", "Hanussen". However, some critics still consider his paintings “Father” and “Budapest Tales” to be his best works. They also highly appreciate Istvan Szabo’s film “Love film” (“A film about love”). The project, which was released in large screens in 1970, consists of autobiographical stories.
Films and genres
The filmography of Istvan Szabo consists of paintings of the following genres:
- Biography: "Colonel Redl."
- Documentary: "From Europe to Europe", "Artists".
- History: "The Secret of Offenbach", "Taste of Sunlight".
- Short film: "Posted poster", "Seventh Day", "A reverent memory", "City map".
- Melodrama: "The Green Bird", "Meeting with Venus", "Theater".
- Adventure: Bors.
- Fiction: "Ten Minutes Older: Cello."
- Military: "Views of the parties."
- Drama: Mephisto, Trust, Door, Time for Dreams, Letter to the Father, Relatives.
- Comedy: "I Serve the English King" (actor).
- Crime: "Place Vendome".
Istvan Szabo's films featured such movie stars as Ralph Fiennes, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, Glenn Close, Helen Mirren, Javri Keitel and others.
Best project
In 1981, the Hungarian director presented the film "Mephisto" to the audience. This film is based on the legend of Faust, but the modern world has been chosen as the scene. Actor Hendrick Hofgen is praised by critics, but he is not fond of fame. For the sake of fame, he sells his soul to the Nazis. After some time, he realizes that he made a mistake throughout his life.
It is interesting
Istvan Szabo is sure that people of even advanced age can be young at heart. There are those who are only twenty years old, but they are already old in soul, do not want to think and work. According to the master of cinematography, and such met in his life many times.
Istvan Szabo says that many young people, when they start making their first films, do not yet have a vision of the world. They, brought up by television, understand the commercials and the language of images more clearly than their native language.
According to Istvan Szabo, of the six thousand films annually made on the planet, only a few hundred are based on artistic intentions and copyright ambitions. He is proud that he was familiar with the people who created the real movie.
Istvan Szabo calls the camera a weapon that easily allows you to play with reality. However, the camera does not show the whole picture of what is happening, but only what the cameraman and director intended to show. Therefore, he only shoots a feature film, because it was originally served as a lie - something that did not really happen. According to Szabo, at the same time it still looks more like the truth than a documentary film, which initially "cannot have claims to the truth."
Istvan Szabo claims that American cinema was created by people from Central and Eastern Europe who left for the USA because of political persecution or in order to earn a living. They faced real difficulties, they knew what kind of tests they undergo, and how these feelings act. Therefore, these immigrants made a strong movie with the simplest human feelings and the warmth of human touch. Cinematographers who came to replace them were already creating simplified projects, which became more and more childish every year.