[2] After high school graduation Bacsó wanted to become an actor and later a theatre director, but ultimately decided to try filmmaking.

His first job in a film was as an assistant in Géza Radványi's Valahol Európában (Somewhere in Europe) at the age of 19.

He made his most famous film, A tanú (The Witness) in 1969, but it was banned at the time and wasn't released until 1979.

He continued filmmaking up to his later years, however his last two films were generally dismissed by critics and the public alike as badly written and low quality works.

His 2001 film Hamvadó cigarettavég (Smouldering Cigarette) was a biopic of Hungarian actress and singer Katalin Karády.