In recent years, the fate of Hungarians living outside Hungary's borders has been studied by that country's historians with growing interest. The same interest has traced the history of Magyar emigrants to Latin America. This research, done mainly by Ilona Varga and by members of the Latin American History Research Group at József Attila University, revealed several important aspects of the history of Hungarians living in South America. Now that a historical overview has been provided, it is important to present more specific perspectives on the lives of individual emigrants. Accordingly, this study traces the career of Rudolf Icsey, an outstanding Hungarian-born cinematographer who emigrated to Brazil.

Before the Second World War it was natural for Hungarian film-makers to spend a pan of their apprenticeship abroad. They worked as technicians with big film studios, or gained experience as assistant cameramen. This well-trained group of filmmakers then returned to Hungary with professional connections and international experience. Along with their talent, the expertise they had gained both at home and abroad enabled them to be successful in emigration once they left Hungary for good. This is certainly true of the Hungarian emigrant artists who made their way to Brazil.

Those Hungarians who left Hungary in the wake of the Second World War and chose Brazil as their destination, had studied at various prominent institutions and studios in Berlin, Paris, Rome and London, or at the biggest studio in South Arnerica, the Alex in Buenos Aires. The fine training and high international standards of the members of Sao Paulo's Hungarian community of filmmakers helped to raise the professional level of the Brazilian film industry in the late 1940s and the early 1950s.

The emigrant Hungarians contributed to Brazilian filmmaking in various ways. The fashion salon of Katalin Karádi and Irma Frank provided hats for costumes. András Kálmán, Karoly Szily

and Tibor Szűcs offered production services. Graphic artist and cartoonist Jenő Márkus was the 'master of visual effects'.2 Rudolf Rex Lustig, Adalberto Kemény and Dezső Grósz founded the first film laboratory in Brazil, and "Rex Film" became Welt-known all over the world. György Jónás settled in Sao Paulo in 1951, and in 1957 he founded the first Brazilian colour film laboratory named Lider Cinematográfica.3

One of the first successful Hungarian filmmakers to go to Brazil was Dezső Ákos Hamza. He had worked in Hungary as a successful and prolific director and producer. After the Second World War Hamza became a member of the National Board of Motion Picture Supervision, president of the filmmakers' trade union, and manager of MAFIRT (the Hungarian Film Bureau Ltd). He never planned to leave Hungary permanently. Years later he explained the circumstances of his leaving Hungary: ,,I was assigned by Gyula Ortutay, the president of the Hungarian Central News Service, to undertake a study of the French Television and TV films in order to help prepare the Television Department of the Hungarian Radio.... I was neither an emigrant nor a deserter. After all, I received a passport, some help and even a car, that took me to the border.... But my friends, who knew about my acquaintance with László Rajk, suggested that I should not return for the time being."⁴ There is some evidence that Hamza's departure was hastened both by attacks on him and his work in the press, and by a lucrative con-tract offer from abroad.⁵ As with most emigrants. Hamza's decision to leave reflected an array of personal, exonomic, and political factors. After leaving Hungary, he stayed in Europe until 1955 when he went to Brazil to work as an artistic consultant to the Maristela film company. Once there. Hamza opened the door for the young Rudolf Icsey. ,,At that time, the film industry in Brazil was still quite young. Rhe Brazilians] did not have a good cameraman, so at [Hamza's] request... the producer had Rudi Icsey brought over. He also stayed and had a terrific career, working in a lot of movies"⁶ and he taught Brazilians the art of cinematography.

Rudolf Icsey, or Rodolfo Icsey de Szabadhegy was born on 18 May 1905, to J6zsef lcsey, a photographer, and his wife Erzsébet Hollóssy in the village of Poprádfelka, in present-day Slovakia. Though his parents named him Rezsd, he became famous in the Hungarian and international press under various other names. Thus, though he was known to the Hungarian public as Rezso, an invitation for the premiere in 1943 of the Sziam'i macska [Siamese Cat] was addressed to him as "Rudolf," a name which for non-Hungarians was easier to pronounce and remember. Abroad he became known by this name. However, newspapers were not consistent with his name, referring to him variously as "Rudolf,"

,,Rol{" ,,Rodolfo," ,₄Rudolph," or "Rudi." Sometimes journalists and typesetters were also confused the surname, spelling it "losey," ,,Icscy," or "Icssey."

When he was a school-boy, the future cinematographer learned the craft of taking pictures from his father.⁷ After completing high school in 1919, he started his serious training in photography. For two years he was an apprentice in the studio of Bela Brun Hdber in Budapest, in 1924 he worked as an assistant cameraman to 861a Zitkovszky at the Educational Film Studio, and in 1925 he became a cameraman at the Hungarian Film Bureau. Soon, however, the previously prosperous Hungarian feature film industry came to a standstill.⁸ The number of Hungarian feature films declined from a peak of 102 in 1918 to 4 in 1922 - the year in which lesey began his career - to 2 each in the years 1926 and l927.~ This might explain why the young cameraman began his career with the production of documentarys and short films. Between 1925 and 1936 he worked as a newsreel reporter. during which time he received some international recognition. For example, the film Halo/i (1934), which he co-directed and photographed this film with IstvAn Somkuti, was awarded the bronze medal at the Venice Film Festival. Later, A magyar fain niffve'szcte [Art of the Hungarian Village (1937) which he directed and photographed, received a silver medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition.

Icsey's career as a short-filmmaker and reporter ended in 1936 when he became employed by Hunnia Film Studio. From that time on, he photographed mainly feature films, initially working as an assistant cameraman. The first feature he made as a cinematographer was Po'khdlo [Cobweb] in 1936. Increasingly, his work was well-received in the press. ,,So far, Icsey has shot reportage and newsreel, and for that a different technique is needed than for feature films. However, Icsey went to study abroad and learned how to shoot feature films. He was a good student. He stood the test.~. his photography is like painting."¹⁰ Occasionally, hc was given special tasks. He participated, for instance, in the shooting of the first Hungarian "aviation film," Magyar sasok [Hungarian Eagles] (1943). One film critic commented: ,,We can only speak highly of Rudolf lesey, the cameraman who risked his life several times while shooting the daring flying scenes."'¹ When reviewing Futdtir: [Wildfire] (1943), another critic emphasized lesey's novel technique which: created candlelight effects with quite audacious lighting, which is rare in Hungarian films."¹²

According to his friends and the people who knew him, Icsey was quiet and well-balanced at work: ,,...in the quarrelsome, loud, excited atmosphere [of the studio] [Icsey] is the most quiet and peaceful person. His childlike smile never fades from his face. He is cheerful even in the middle of the most cruel drama: he is so good at his job."¹³ He made a very good colleague. Thanks to his flexibility and calmness, directors liked to work with him. That lcsey was a successful and honoured filmmaker is proven not only by the favourable reviews but by his countless assignments. Between 1936, when Icsey shot his first feature. and 1947 when he left Hungary, 323 feature films were produced in Hungary.'⁴ lcsey participated in more than 60 of them; together with the documentaries, short films and shon features he had worked on more than 80 films.'⁵ hi the beginning he was a camera assistant or second cameraman, later cameraman and sometimes both director and cameraman.16

lcsey had always thought it important to help younger members of his profession. Among his students were Ferenc Fekete, Gybrgy tile's, Barnabds Hegyi, Gyu]a Kolosvari, and, later while in Italy, Giovanni di Venonzo who at the time worked with Fellini, Even in Brazil he continued teaching. He believed that good techniques were fundamental for making good films, and for that, experience had to be passed on, the young had to be trained.

A flourishing fllmmaking industry in Hungary during all but the final months of the Second World War allowed lesey to remain active. He resumed shooting in l945~6 and taught at the Faculty of Film of the Academy of Performing Arts. Hungary's second feature film produced after the war, Aranyora [Golden Watch], was photographed by Icsey. He tried something new. According to a student of Hungarian flimmaking,,,... Icsey established the [film's] atmosphere... within seconds the introductory images, in which he use[d] the tilted and upright position of the camera consistently."'⁷

A look at the list of resey's works reveals that the political messages of the films he photographed were contradictory. The documentary Honvddek eldre! ([Hungarian Soldiers, Forward!] 1941) was made by J6zsef Horv6th, Ernő Kiss, László Nagy, Gyula Zsabka and lcsey, who followed the Hungarian soldiers as warconespondents. The contemporary press described this film as "The most monumental and the best Hungarian war documentary... [depicting] the glorious... [drive] of the Hungarian soldiers... against the Bolshevik threat."¹⁸ Ten a few years passed and things changed politically. In 1946 Icsey worked on a film with a completely different ideology, en tilled A Szovjerunio' Magyarorszdgdrt [The Soviet Union for Hungary]. His synopsis handed to the National Board of Motion Picture Supervision contained the following: ,,This film, which was made for the first national convention of the Hungarian Soviet Cultural Society, is dedicated to Generalissimo Stalin and to the glorious Red Army rthat] liberated our country."¹⁹

We do not know much about Icsey's political orientation, but as a true cameraman he was present at, and photographed the important events of his age. To edit and interpret these events was not the task of the technical crew but of the scriptwriters Directors, regardless of their political motives, liked to work with a respected cameraman. Icsey might have regarded these tasks as new challanges for a cameraman. He was not alone among his colleagues in having this attitude; who lived to see the stormy years of Hungarian history in the 2(}th century had the same attitude. For instance, Vidor Tb rn~~k was filming at the convention of intellectuals gathered by Hungarian fascist leader Ferenc Sza'lasi in December of 1944, and later, it was again he who shot the news-reels at Szdlasi's execution.²⁰

Earlier we mentioned that many different motives can prompt emigrants to leave their native land. Little is known about lcsey's emigration other than a few basic details gleaned from his correspondence. In 1947 he signed a contract in Austria. Between 1947 and 1948 he worked there and in Munich shooting a few commercials, cultural films, and documentaries. While in Munich he also worked as cameraman on feature films directed by Sandor Szlati nay

- who had been living abroad since 1940 - as well as by Hans Wolff and Rudolf Carl. In 1949 lesey continued filming, this time in Italy. Here he shot matrity commercials, short films, documentaries, and cultural films; though he was cameraman for a few feature films as well. In Rome and Milan he was able to work with fellow Hungarian filmmakers, such as D. Akos Hainza and Geza Radvdnyl, both of whom had been his partners in Hungary. He also worked with Italian directors, such as Goffredo Alessandrini and Giuseppe Acattino.

Between 1949 and 1954 Icsey was probably not thinking about a journey to South America. Yet, at that time in Brazil the situation was becoming ripe for an influx of European filmmakers. The first period of Brazilian sound-film, 1931 to 1949, had been marked by Humberto Mauro, and the following one by Alberto Cavalcanti. Both artists had been born in 1897, but their paths to becoming filrnmakers were very different. Cavalcanti left Brazil for Europe in 1920, where he gained recognition. In the 1920s he was influenced by the French avant-garde, in the I 930s he worked with the English documentarists, then until the mind-1940s he was employed by Ealing Studios in London. When he returned to his country - which had virtually no fllmmaking industry at the time -he became the only famous Brazilian filmmaker. Mauro was over thirty when he left Brazil and returned only in the I 960s, by which time his films had become popular in his native land.²¹

With the return of Cavalcanti and with the establishment of the Vera Cruz Studio, financed with Italian capital, European influencebecame dominant over Brazilian traditions. Cavalcanti's "main objective... was to bring some technical innovation into usage in Brazil, which was indispensable for efficient flimmaking."²² Unfortunately. Mauro was forgotten, as Cavalcanti relied heavily on Italians, dozens of whom were invited to Brazil. Most of the foreigners that came to Brazil to work soon left, but not before they shared important trade secrets with their Brazilian colleagues.²³ D. Akos Hamza, who was living in Italy at that time, arrived in Brazil with this wave of newcomers. He was contracted by the Maristela Studio in 1955 to direct a film entitled Quem Matou Anabela? [Who Killed Anabela?]. Hamza invited Rezso lcsey to photograph this film. Unlike many of his European colleagues, Icsey did not leave Brazil, although he still considered himself Hungarian. By the 1950s he decided that after living in Hungary, Austria, Germany and Italy, Brazil would be his fmal home. In 1957 he obtained a permanent residence permit in Brazil for his relatives living in Vienna, including his first wife Gizella Bucsinszky, their daughter Edina, his sister Lfdia Icsey and her husband, Lajos Rakd.²⁴ A few years later, in 1960, lcsey became a Brazilian citizen.

The ambitious project of Cavalcanti and the Vera Cruz studio to make the Brazilian film industry prosperous soon failed. The mid1950s brought changes. Sao Paulo's monopoly was challenged by two new filmmaking centres.

Some filmmakers from Rio de Janeiro learned the profession in Sao Paulo and then leecame engaged in the movement of the "cinema novo," the Brazilian new wave. Most of the Hungarian filmmakers, including Icsey. stayed in Sao Paulo, the Hollywood of Branl. ,,Sao Paulo and its environs is the industrial centre of the country. It plays the role of a colonizing metropolis... at the same time, it is the centre of the popular, commercial film industry -including, of course, television - so fiercely hated by the authors of the 'new film'."²⁶

In the void left after the collapse of the big companies, the Hungarians quickly found opportunities to participate in therevival of Sao Paulo's film industry. This meant either shooting films, or financing them - as did Thomas Farkas who financed the documentary the '⁴Cinema n6vo" in the 1960s²⁷ - or founding companies, such as Lider Cinematogrdfica, Cinebraz, or Rex. Most Hungarian immigrants to Brazil had settled in the ever expanding cosmopolitan city of Sao Paulo. They were attracted by the rapidly expanding industrial centre which promised the chance to succeed; moreover, the pleasant climate and European features of the city, as well as the presence of many Hungarians and other Europeans, helped their integration. Tcsey, in particular, was attached to Sao Paulo mainly as a result of his professional connections. While he worked there, he was intluenced by North American filmmaking practices which were based on the traditions of the international entertainment industry. This is not. surprising given the fact that his European experience and work was closer to this style than that of the "Cinema n6vo" Hungarian audiences of the 1930s and 1940s had reacted in the same way to happy stories such as the 1934 film Meseautó ([Dream-car] as did brazilian audiences in the 1950s. In their leisure time Brazilians did not wish to see misery, but preferred, for example, the chattering of the chanchadas [musical comedies].²⁸ "Cinema novo" had a strong documentarist trend as well. However, Icsey was not connected to it despite his documentarist past, for he did not know Brazil well enough. Indeed, even Brazilian-born filmmakers had not really discovered their country until the 1950s and 1960s. They were mainly interested in two different subjects: the world ofthe!avela [the city slums] and the sertad ['ungle or wilderness]. As one critic wrote, ,,The 'new Brazilian film" of the 1960s [fit] organically into Brazilian culture, and its ambition [was] to become the common language of a community

"29. This ambition was pursued by a young generation of Brazilian filmmakers.

Icsey shot his first films in Brazil under Hungarian directors [The Doctoress is Very Passionate]. His out-such as D. Akos Hamza and Ferenc Fekete. Icsey won the Mayor's Award in 1957 for his cinematographic work on Fekete's A were soon discovered by non-Hungarian direcKhouri. Khouri was a Paulist, those directors who broke with the traditions for the 'new wave' of the sixties.30 His first film, Estranho Encontro [Strange Encounter] (1957) which he shot as an amateur, was photographed by lcsey. For this work too, Icsey received good reviews in the press.³¹

The most important Paulist film award is the SACI, the Brazilian Oscar. Icsey received this award three times: in 1958 for Cara de Fogo [Fiery Face], in 1962 for Tristeza do Jeca [jeca's'

Sorrow] and Multeres e Milhoes (Women and Millions], and in 1965 for 0 Corpo Ardente [Ardent Body] directed by his frequent collaborator, Khouri. For the camera work of Estrano Encontro and Cara de Fogo lcsey received the gold medal in the category of "meihorfotografia" [best photography] at the first Brazilian film festival, the Festival de Cinema de Curitiba.

Khouri became a controversial, but important, personality of the film world in Sa~o Paulo. He demonstrated his hermetic temperament in his films 0 Gigante de Pedra tThe stone Giant] and Estranho Encontro. His work represented two different trends in independent filmmaking. ,,The first one aimed at making Brazilian films of social subjects, and their ideal was Rio Quarenta Graus fRio, Forty Degrees]; the objective of the second trend was to shoot formalist, universal, metaphysical films, and their model was Estranho eneontro."³² Another film of Khouri, Na Garganta do Diabo [hi the Throat of the Devil] of 1960, brought Icsey the prize "0 Meihor Fotografia em Preto e Branco" Lbest black and white photography]. Then, in 1961, another film they made together, A liha [The Island] was awarded the "Governador do Estado" [the Governor of the Stat~. Noite Vazia [Empty Nights] of 1964 won the "best photography" award of the City of SAo Paulo (PrEmios Municipais). In 1966, Icsey received the same award for 0 Corpo Ardente. lesey also worked on a number of films with the director-comedian Amacio Mazzaropi, including Trist6za do Jeca [3eca's Sorrow] which brought Icsey his second SACI award.³³ Still another remarkable director who Icsey worked with was Galileu Garcia. Besides Khouri and Roberto Santos he was the third young man of about thirty who showed great promise in the film-making of Sao Paulo in l958."34

It is undeniable that, unlike the "Cinema no"' 0", the Paul ist cinema did not aspire to 'art film' status. The filmmakers of Rio had always attracted more allention in the world than those who worked in SAo Paulo, although the latter obviously attracted larger audiences, and their technical expertise was unquestionable. Icsey was part of this well-trained team, and his skills brought him much work in Brazil. He shot at least forty feature films in Brazil, though altogether he might have shot more than a hundred films. Among his short films, Mario Gruber was nominated for the 1966 Berlin Film Festival.

Thanks perhaps to the favourable opportunities for work, or to his second wife, Odina Monteiro whom he married in 1963, Icsey remained loyal to his new country until his death on the 8th January 1987. He was a prominent, if eccentric personality of the Brazilian national film industry. As one critic commented' Rudolf Icsey is an odd character around midnight: in his dark glasses, his

cap covering his face, wearing his canvas trousers."³⁵ His fame was duly emphasized in the Paul ist press which was never short on praise: ,,The colour images of Rudolf Icsey, the greatest cameraman of our national film industry, are outstanding, the best pan of the film Casinha Pequenina [Small House] is his work wrote one critic,³⁶ while another referred to "the cameraman, this great and competent artist, Rudolf lcsey..."³⁷ And we conclude with a particularly telling opinion: ,,[t]he photography of A Compadecida [The Merciful One] was the work of the best-known and the most decorated Brazilian cameraman, Rudolf Icsey. This says everything."³⁸

Most of the data in this study is from Icsey's Papers, deposited in the Hungarian Film Institute by Ladislao P. Szabo of Sao Paulo. The papers can be found in the Institute's library and contain the following: personal correspondence; photographs, pictures; film prospectuses, posters, prognam notes, periodicals; newspaper clippings; one album with newspaper clippings arid one photo album.

1. "Rudolf lcsey, the excellent camerarnan, who is considered to he able to photograph even the soul with his lens,..." unidentified newspaper clipping from the album, Icsey papers.

2. Lajos Kutasi Kovacs, ,~Magyarok a brazil fihnvilflgban" [Hungarians in Brazilian filnnmai:ing], Magyar lifrek 1983/24, p.21. According to Ferrifto Rarnos, the producer of Na Garganta do Diabo [In the T'hroat of the Devil] was probably Carlos Szili, while Andras Kalman participated in the reparation of the Pensdo tieD. Stela [The Boarding House of Dona Stela].

3. Pal Kbrrriendi, ,,Magyar filmrendez6 BrazfliAban" [Hungarian Film Director in Brazil], in: Orsza'g VitAg, 23 Sept.1970 p. 25.

4 "Hamza D Akos a Magyar Filmintezetben" [D. Akos Hamza at the Hungarian Film Institute], in: Filmkultara, 1987/12, p.40. LAszl6 Rajk was a prominent communist who was accused of nationalist and "Titoist" tendencies and was executed for these "crimes". Hundreds of his friends and acquaintances were subjected to disciplinary measures. See also:

Karoly Kristdfi, ,,Egy reneszansz ember" [A Renaissance Person], in:

Mozgo' Ktpek, 1987/Aug. p.6

5. The report ofGyorgy Scho~pflin dated 23 July 1946, can be found in the Archives of the Institute of Political History in Budapest, lnv. no.247. F. 10/19. The article referred to, which attacked Hainza because of his supposed rightst attitude, was published in Vilagossag, daily paper of the Hungarian Social Democrats. 1946/163, p.4.

6. "Hamia D. Akos a MagyarFilmintezetben", FilnikuIttira, 1987/1 2, p.42.

7. Marton Icsey, the grandfather, had also been a photographer.

8. Istvin Nemeskarty, A magyar film ttrte'nete [The History of the Hungarian PilmI (Budapest: Gondolat, 1965), see the appendix.

'6

li6lgyek eldnyben [Ladies flrst] (1939. d: Emil Martonffy).

Keletfelel [Towards The East] (1939. doc~ d: J6zsefBdna'ss). Magyarpitamada's [Hungarian Resurrection] (1939- d: Jeno Csepreghy

Pen: bes:ei [Money Talks] (1940. d: Jeno Csepreghy).

FrcSw.r LoMnd LBrothcr Lc,r~ndJ (1942, ci: LIezid Kalrnb).

Keresztflton [At the Crossroads] (1942. d: Viktor HAnky).

NdszindulŁ5 [Wedding March] (1943. d: ZoltAn Farkas).

tifeli keringd(Midnight Waltz] (1944. d: SdndorzMconyi).

A Szo4jet6ni6 Magyarorszdge?t [The Soviet Union for Hungary] (1946. short; with IstvAn Berendik, d: P61 Kertisz).

Aeprure [Hystenos 1(1949. d: Cioffitlo Alessandrini).

Bi~al(} Bill a Rorna [Buffalo Bill in Rome (7 with La'szl6 Szente,. d:

Donna Senza Norne [Nameless Woman] (1950Ł d.Ł OcCia RadvAnyi)Ł

In E~'ra~i [In Extasy] (1950. d: Goffredo AlcNNandnini).

Pensan de Dona Ste/a [The Boarding-House of Dona Stela] (1956. with Ferenc Fekete, d: Fereuc Fekete and Aifredo Pal6cios).

Cwu~u (1957Ł d: Kurt Siodmak).

A Dutora 4 Muito Viva [The Doctoress is Very Passionate] (1957. d:

Moral em Concordata [Fair Agreement] (1957Ł d: Fernando de flarros).

Cara de Fogo [Fiery Face] (1958. d.Ł Galileu Garcia).

Casei-rne corn urn Xavante 1 Married a Xavante Indian] (1958. d:

Aventuras de Pedro Malazartes [Adventures of Unlucky Peter] (1960. d:

Na Garanta do Diabo [In the Throat of the Devil] (1960. d: W. H.

zd do Periquito [Parrot Joe] (1961. d: A. Mazzaropi).

Muiheres e Milh6es [Women and Millions] (1962. d.Ł Jorge Ileli). TristPza do Jeca [Jeca's Sorrow] (1962. d: A. Mazzaropi).

Casinha Pequenina [Small House] (1963. d: Glauco mirco Laurelli). A Il/ra [The Island] (1963. with George Nister; d: W. H. Khouri).

o Lamparina (1964. d: G.M. Laurelli).

Meu Japao Brazileiro [My Brazilian Japanese] (1965Ł d: G.M. Laurelli).

Perto do Cora gao Selvagern [Close to the Wild Heart] (1965. d: Mauricio Rittner).

o Corintiano [Footbal Player from the Corintias] 1966. d: M. Amaral).

o Corpo Ardente [Ardent Body] (1966Ł d.Ł W. H. Ichouri).

Mdrio Gruber (1966. short; d: Ruben Bidfora).

o Quarro [The Room] (1967. d: R. Bidfora).

o Jeca e a Freira [Jeca and the Nun] (1968Ł d: A. Mazzoropi).

Agnaldo, Perigo A Vista [Agnaldo, Dangerous at a Glance] (1969. d:

A Compadecida [The Mercyful One] (1969. d: GybrgyŁ J6ng₅).

A Moreninha [The Brown Girl] (1970. d: G.M. Laumili).

Lua de Mel e Amendoim [Honeymoon with Hazelnut] (1971. d: F. de Baros and Pedro Carlos Rovai).

O Vendador de Linguicas [The Sausage Vendor] (?d: alfredo Palacios).