EXCERPT:
Known for creating dramatic, story-propelling images in muted colors and natural light, Mr. Zsigmond (whose full name is pronounced VIL-moshe ZHIG-mund) referred to his desired imagery as “poetic realism.”
Along with other cinematographers, including his countryman Laszlo Kovacs, with whom he escaped the Soviet dominance of Hungary in 1956, he helped usher in a new era in the look of Hollywood movies, one in which light and color and whole images superseded the importance of making the star look gorgeous.
