László Szabó | WatchedThis
László Szabó
Acting
Biography
László Szabó (born 24 March 1936) is a Hungarian actor, film director and screenwriter. Since 1952, he has appeared in more than 120 films. These include seven films that have been screened at the Cannes Film Festival. He was born to Béla Szabó and Margit Gulyás. Between 1954-1956 he was a student at the Budapest University of Technology , during which he performed in an amateur theater group. He applied to the Theater and Film Academy as an actor, but was not accepted. He left the country in the fall of 1956 and went to Paris . Like the French new wavers, he also visited Henri Langlois ' "liberty university of film history" at the Cinématheque, watched the film series, met and talked to the directors who presented their films, and while writing in the "cahiers", interviewed Buster Keaton together with Jacques Rivette . He and a friend dropped by on the set of Chabrol (Cousins), from whom he immediately received a one-sentence role. And in his next film, Locked with the Key , a longer one. After that, Godard gave him the role of the interrogator in The Little Soldier , which was followed by other roles in more recent Godard films. He is the favorite character actor of all the directors of the new wave, everyone has a role for him, they entrust him with strange, boho characters, who always have some disturbing and annoying ulterior motives. He also took a liking to directing, and made two new-wave French films. Truffaut wrote an appreciative review of the amusing film noir The White Gloves of the Devil . Zig-Zig was played by the new wave's favorite anti-star actress, Bernadette Lafont , and a cool star, Catherine Deneuve . This is also where the self-confidence and sardonic pungency of the new wavers can be felt. Like all actor-directors, he brought out the best in his actresses, skillfully mixing dark humor and tenderness. In the meantime, from the end of the 1960s he appeared in Hungarian films, and after many character roles, he got the lead role from Zsolt Kézdi-Kovács : Miklós Dibusz, the big snooty, sumák organizer, The nice neighbor . His first and so far the only Hungarian-French direction was based on Nándor Gion's novel: Sortűz for a Black Buffalo , and his first and so far only Hungarian direction: The Man Who Slept During the Day
Filmography Movies
Acting
The Last Metro
In occupied Paris, an actress wed to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Nazis while doing both of their jobs.
Pierrot le Fou
Pierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hit-men from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.
La Barricade du Point-du-Jour
The Doll
An avant-garde political satire that takes place in a mythical country in South America. The dictator has been replaced by a look-alike revolutionary, and the dictator's wife has been replaced by a robot.
The Alchemist and the Virgin
The story is set in the present day. László Sziráki, a womanizer and chemistry professor, is searching for the secret of making gold, but one component is missing. He wants fame and a solution to his financial problems. When he meets Esthena, an eccentric philosopher who wants to lose her virginity, he succeeds in turning plastic into gold. But he, a shrewish and shrewd man, does not recognise the exceptional nature of this encounter and pushes her away. Sophika, the wise grandmother of Syracuse, also meets Esthena: she sees her as a kindred spirit and assigns her to her grandson. But in the meantime, Mr. Maci, Esthéna's bumfordian and buffalo-loving gladiator knight, who will do anything for the girl, begins to pursue the alchemist out of jealousy. Will Syracuse find the answer to the alchemist's question? And is making gold even important?
The Last Judgement But One
The relationship of István Kozár and his wife has reached the point where neither is prepared to hear even a single word from the other. The woman travels to the countryside because she needs a little time by herself. The next morning the police inform the man that his wife has died. István, who has fantasized on more than one occasion about strangling the woman, soon finds himself being investigated by detectives who expect a confession from him.
Godard's Passion
While shooting a film, the director becomes interested in the unfolding struggle of a young factory worker that has been laid off by a boss who did not like her union activities.
The Big O
A Hungarian filmmaker investigates the traces Orson Welles left behind in Hollywood, maintaining the ambiguity between truth and fiction. Janine Bazin and André S. Labarthe had long hoped to dedicate an issue of their longstanding documentary series, "Cinéastes de notre temps" to Orson Welles. But the master director-actor died in 1985, and Labarthe was left with a considerable challenge: making a film about Welles, without Welles.
Full Moon in Paris
Feeling suffocated by a possessive boyfriend, work and suburban life, a young woman starts spending the weekends in her Paris apartment in order to reclaim some of her lost freedom.
The Sentinel
A medical intern finds himself drawn into a world of international intrigue after discovering a shrunken human head in his luggage.
Production
Zig Zig
Two women work as entertainers and prostitutes to raise enough money for their dream home.
Volley for a Black Buffalo
During the years following World War II, a new boy arrives to class 7/c, and the audience learns to know the lives of the drunkard teacher, his husband-cheating wife, the lonely music teacher hiding behind her paper flowers, the wise count deprived of all his properties, the jovial parish priest and especially the buffalo owner of tragic fate who lost his four daughters, alongside with the young protagonist.
Volley for a Black Buffalo
During the years following World War II, a new boy arrives to class 7/c, and the audience learns to know the lives of the drunkard teacher, his husband-cheating wife, the lonely music teacher hiding behind her paper flowers, the wise count deprived of all his properties, the jovial parish priest and especially the buffalo owner of tragic fate who lost his four daughters, alongside with the young protagonist.
The White Gloves of the Devil
A murder at the Whisky Bar leads a Buddhist policeman on the trail of a strange deal that links the owner to a crooked politician. A zany, satirical detective story that denounces a certain milieu where politicians and crooks coexist. The politician, a drug dealer and employer of hired assassins, becomes the target of a blind hitman.
The White Gloves of the Devil
A murder at the Whisky Bar leads a Buddhist policeman on the trail of a strange deal that links the owner to a crooked politician. A zany, satirical detective story that denounces a certain milieu where politicians and crooks coexist. The politician, a drug dealer and employer of hired assassins, becomes the target of a blind hitman.
Zig Zig
Two women work as entertainers and prostitutes to raise enough money for their dream home.
Winter Wind
Croatian anarchists collaborate with Hungarians to make a bid for the life of King Alexander of Yugoslavia.
Point mort
A man is shot down in a provincial airport. Despite his wounds he manages to drag himself to his plane bound for Italy, unaware that the killers are already waiting for him at his destination. During the flight he reminisces about the events that led him there. His name is Matou and he was a Formula 1 champion before being banned from racing circuits for causing a fatal accident. Matou ran away in the company of Lena, his employer's girlfriend. But while they were in the open country they got shot at by mysterious pursuers, which was the beginning of a wild manhunt.
The Man Who Slept at Daylight
Detective Sebők is shot at by a fleeing criminal and then pushed off the road. Sebők breaks his leg. Left by his wife, pensioned by his boss on the basis of false reports, he has a clash with banker Gömöri at the colonel’s party.
The Man Who Slept at Daylight
Detective Sebők is shot at by a fleeing criminal and then pushed off the road. Sebők breaks his leg. Left by his wife, pensioned by his boss on the basis of false reports, he has a clash with banker Gömöri at the colonel’s party.
Gallery
