Gábor Bódy (30 August 1946 – 24 October 1985) was a
Hungarian film director
A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...
, screenwriter, theoretic, and occasional actor. A pioneer of experimental filmmaking and film language, Bódy is one of the most important figures of Hungarian cinema.
Biography
Bódy was born in Budapest, in an urban middle-class family. He studied history and philosophy at Loránd Eötvös University and later filmmaking at the Academy for Theater and Film Arts. During his university days he became an influential member of the Béla Balázs Stúdió (BBS). He made his first film ''A Harmadik'' (''The Third'') (a documentary about students preparing an adaptation of ''Faust'' on stage) in 1971. He established various experimental and avantgarde projects at BBS including the Film Language Series in 1973 and the K/3 experimental film group in 1976, reshaping the postwar Hungarian avantgarde film's path.
In 1975 he completed his debut feature at BBS, which was also his graduation thesis film at the university. ''
Amerikai Anzix'' (''American Torso'') won the Grand Prize for best new filmmaker at
International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg
The Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (), often referred to by the German-language initialism IFFMH, is an annual film festival established in 1952 hosted jointly by the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg, the ...
and the Hungarian Film Critics prize for best first film. The film which depicts the lives of Hungarian
1848 Revolution
The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...
veterans in the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
features Bódy's experimentalism at the fullest. The whole film was re-edited using his own method called "light editing" in order to make it resemble a wracked silent film from the late 19th century.
His next feature ''
Narcissus and Psyche'' was the largest-scale Hungarian production of its era. This epic production based on
Sándor Weöres
Sándor Weöres (; 22 June 1913 – 22 January 1989) was a Hungarian poet and author.
Born in Szombathely, Weöres was brought up in the nearby village of Csönge. His first poems were published when he was fourteen, in the influential jour ...
's poetic work ''
Psyché
Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" ( ψυχή).
Psyche or La Psyché may also refer to:
Psychology
* Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious
* ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unc ...
'' starred
Patricia Adriani,
Udo Kier
Udo Kierspe (born 14 October 1944), known professionally as Udo Kier, is a German actor. Known primarily as a character actor, he has appeared in more than 220 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas. He has ...
and
György Cserhalmi
György Cserhalmi (born 17 February 1948, in Budapest) is a Hungarian actor. He graduated from the Actors Academy in 1971. He is also the founder of the Labdater Theatre in the Globe cultural centre.
Employment
*1971: Debrecen Csokonai Theat ...
and exists in three versions: an original 210-minute two-part version, a 136-minute version for foreign distribution and a 270-minute three-part television version.
In 1980 Bódy began to work on the first international video magazine ''
INFERMENTAL'' and managed to publish the first of 10 issues (plus one special issue) while on a residency at
DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program
The DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program (German: Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD) is a residential program for artists of all countries and ages run by the German Academic Exchange Service (German: 'Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst', DAAD) ...
in 1982. The series published featured a range of guest editors and in total included work from over 1500 artists from 36 countries and was published up to 1991.

After many frustrated projects Bódy managed to complete what was to become his final feature film ''
Kutya éji dala
Kutia or kutya ( ; ; ) is a ceremonial grain dish with sweet gravy traditionally served mostly by Eastern Orthodox Christians and some Catholic Christians predominantly in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, but also in parts of Lithuania and Poland d ...
'' (''Dog's Night Song''). The director of photography for "Dog's Night Song" was
Johanna Heer. Bódy cast himself as the lead in this ambitious and influential feature which incorporated Super8 and video footage as well as a range of Hungarian underground punk bands (
Galloping Coroners, Trabant) of the time in order to a film "deeply rooted in the fundamentals of today's reality."
[This quote is taken from an interview with Laszlo Bona and Janos Hollos, first published January 17, 1983 and reprinted in 'Gabor Body: 1946-1985" pub. 1987]
In 1985 Bódy died under sketchy circumstances. A later published information (2001) hints his earlier collaboration (1973–1983) with the Hungarian Secret Police, the III/III. Authorities of the time (Hungary was then considered a 'satellite' country of the Soviet Union) stated that he had killed himself. His widow instead preferred a charge of murder against certain unidentified parties. No official investigation followed and Bódy's fate remains a mystery to this day.
Filmography
Feature films
*1975 : ''Amerikai Anzix / American Postcard''
Hungary, 35mm scope, B&W, 104'
*1980 : ''
Nárcisz és Psyché / Narcissus and Psyche''
Hungary, 35mm scope, colour, one part foreign version 136' two-part version 270' three-part TV version 270'
*1983 : ''Kutya éji dala / The Dog's Night Song''
Hungary, 35mm, colour, 147'
TV films
*1976 : ''Filmiskola / Film School''
Hungary, 16mm, B&W, 87'
*1977 : ''Katonák / Soldiers''
Hungary, TV, colour, 90min
*1978 : ''Krétakör / Chalk Circle''
Hungary, TV, colour, 95min
*1981-82 : ''Hamlet (A fegyveres filozófus) / Hamlet (The Armed Philosopher)''
Hungary, TV, colour, 173min
Short Films & Videos
*1971 ''A Harmadik / The Third''
Hungary, 35mm, B&W, 50'
*1972 '' Fogalmazvány a féltékenységrõl / Draft on Jealousy''
Hungary, 16mm, B&W, 20'
*1972 : ''Ifivezetok / Youth Organisation Leaders''
Hungary, 16mm, B&W 42'
*1973 : ''Tradicionális Kábítószerünk / Our Traditional Drope''
Hungary, 16mm, B&W, 30'
*1972-75 : ''Négy bagatell / Four Bagatells''
Hungary, 35mm, B&W, 28'
*1974 : ''Hogyan verekedett meg Jappe és do Escobar után a világ / After Jappe and Do Escobar fought how did the world come to fight''
Hungary, 16mm, B&W, 40'
*1976 : ''Pszihokozmoszok / Psychocosmoses''
Hungary, 35mm, B&W, 12'
*1978 : ''Privát történelem / Private History'' (co-dir. Péter Timár)
Hungary, 35mm, B&W, 25'
*1980 : ''Mozgástanulmányok 1880-1980 (Homage to Eadweard Muybridge) / Motion Studies 1880-1980 (Homage to Eadweard Muybridge)''
Hungary, 35mm scope, colour, 18'
*1982 : ''Conversation between East and West'' co-director
Marcel Odenbach
Germany, video, colour, 3'
*1982 : ''Die Geschwister/ Brother and Sister''
GDR / Hungary, video, colour, 27'
*1982 : ''Der Dämon in Berlin / The Demon In Berlin''
GDR / Hungary, super8 and video, colour, 28'
*1983 : ''Die Geisel / The Hostage''
GDR / Hungary, video, colour, 22'
*1983 : ''De Occulta Philosophia / Philo-clip''
GDR / Hungary, video, colour, 3'
*1983 : ''Rittersrustung / Armour''
GDR, video, colour, 40'
*1984 Vagy-vagy a Chinatownban / Either/Or In Chinatown
Canada / GDR, video, colour, 37'
*1985 : ''Euronyme tanca (Mytho-clip) / Dancing Eurynome (Mytho-clip)''
Hungary, video, colour, 3'
*1985 : ''Waltzer (Lyric-clip) / Waltz (Lyric-clip)''
GDR, video, colour, 3'
Miscellaneous crew
*1969 : ''Agitátorok/Agitators'' dir. Dezső Magyar (35mm, 82')
Screenplay, actor
*1976 : ''Aldrin'' dir.
László Vidovszky
László Vidovszky (born Békéscsaba, Hungary, 25 February 1944) is a Hungary, Hungarian composer and pianist. During the 1970s he began composing works in a minimalist music, minimal style. His music has been influential on the music of Györ ...
(35mm, 14')
Camera
Bibliography
* Kovács, András Bálint: Gábor Bódy: A precursor of the Digital Age.- In: Imre, Anikó (ed.): East European Cinemas. New York, London: Routledge, 2005, p. 151-164 ()
* Bódy, Veruschka; Bódy, Gábor (ed): Axis. Auf der elektronischen Bühne Europa. Eine Asuwahl aus den 80er Jahren.
ook accompanying video tape- Cologne: DuMont, 1986 (VHS)
* Bódy, Veruschka; Bódy, Gábor (ed): Video in Kunst und Alltag. Vom kommerziellen zum kulturellen Videoklip. - Cologne: DuMont, 1986 ()
References
External links
BodyGabor.hu (Partially English website dedicated to Gábor Bódy's work)Revisited: Gábor Bódy. Celebrating the Availability of American Torso on DVD
infermental.deBéla Balázs Stúdió (BBS)
Béla Balázs Stúdió Archive (BBSarchive)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Body, Gabor
Hungarian film directors
1946 births
1985 deaths
Suicides in Hungary
Hungarian experimental filmmakers