IEC
Born: 2 November 1914, Eger, Heves megye, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary].
Died: 12 June 2006, Budapest, Hungary.
Career: Entered the industry as studio spotlight operator. Became doph in 1948.
In 1949, he was commissioned to set up a department of cinematography at the Faculty of Film [and Television] of the [State] Academy of Drama and Film [Színház-és Filmmûvészeti Fõiskola], Budapest. 'The curriculum I developed featured photography only in the first term, and even part of the entrance exam involved the applicants' bringing in their photographs. Those candidates who got into the second round were given the task to go out to locations we appointed them and create a photographic étude consisting of ten to twelve pictures. Most of my students were excellent photographers, and over the years we saw masses of brilliant photos. I remember, years and years ago, a young man came up from the country and presented us the most fascinating series of pictures. He had a magical mind. His name was Sándor Sára.' Other students were Vilmos Zsigmond, Lajos Koltai, László Kovács, Sándor Kardos, János Kende, Elemér Ragályi, etc.
Was [honorary] president of the HSC. Became honorary citizen of Budapest in 2001.
Appeared in the doc's 'Filmszemle '86' [1985, Zoltán Bonta], 'Igaz ember, Egy' [2002, dir/ph János Edelényi] & 'Szemlevillanás' [2003, Zoltán Bonta].
Awards: National Association of Hungarian Journalists 'Lifetime Achievement Award' [2000]; 'Master of Hungarian Motion Picture' [2004]; Middle Cross of the Hungarian Republic [2004]; HSC 'A Legenda' Award [2005].
Obituary: Few countries can boast as
many great cinematographers as Hungary, and many of them were students of the
legendary György Illés, who taught at the Budapest Academy of Drama and Film for
more than 50 years and has died aged 91.
'The curriculum I developed [at the Academy] featured only still photography in the first two terms,' he said. According to cinematographer Sándor Sara, 'When you are working with a zoom lens, you have to make up your mind in a fraction of a moment, and still photography provides a very good training for that.' Lajos Koltai, who shot most of István Szabo's films, recalled that 'Illés taught us to be accurate about details, because sometimes the only information people get about history is what they see in the movies.'
When Vilmos Zsigmond received his Academy award for 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind', he thanked Illés before mentioning Steven Spielberg. László Kovács, whose films include 'Easy Rider', said: 'I owe a lot to György Illés. In my first semester, he had me draw charcoal portraits, and he taught us to see forms, light, tones, textures and all of the things you instinctively use in cinematography. We studied music, literature, art history and architecture.'
With Illés' help Kovács and Zsigmond, then final year students, secretly filmed the conflict with Soviet troops during the 1956 Hungarian uprising. After the revolt was crushed, they fled to the USA; in the 1970s, Spielberg, Robert Altman, Michael Cimino and Brian De Palma began using them because of the techniques they had learned from Illés.
Illés began his career as assistant cameraman on Géza von Radványi's 'Valahol Európában/Somewhere in Europe' [1947], which also marked the return to creative work in his homeland of the film theorist and author Béla Balázs - it was with Balázs that Illés was asked to set up a cinematography department at the Budapest academy.
As director of photography, he worked with many leading Hungarian directors, including Márton Keleti, Károly Makk and Zoltán Fábri, for whom he shot two Oscar-nominated features, 'A Pál-utcai fiúk/The Boys of Paul Street' [1968] and 'Magyarok/Hungarians' [1977]. In 2000, he was given a lifetime achievement award by Hungarian film critics.
He never made a film outside Hungary and seldom traveled. A shy, modest man, he liked his small flat, with a view over Mafilm, the studios founded by Alexander Korda. [From obituary by Ronald Bergan in 'The Guardian', 20 July 2006.]
22
June 2006: The
ashes of the great cinematographer György Illés were interred in Budapest's
Farkasréti Cemetery on Friday. Attending the ceremony, held in stifling heat,
were almost all important members of Hungary's film-making profession.
Addressing those who came to pay their respects, Minister of Education and Culture István Hiller noted that it is difficult to speak about a man who did not enjoy praise. Illés was a modest, down-to-earth person who preferred giving to receiving, Hiller said. He recalled the story, now legendary among film circles, of Illés sneaking into a cinema in Eger at age 17 to watch a French film, then firmly deciding to become a cinematographer. Even after 80, 'Uncle Gyuri', as many referred to him, would still read scripts, and he would cross the street in front of his home to visit the offices of the Society of Hungarian Cinematographers at least three times a week. Illés was an extraordinary man who lived an extraordinary life, spending seven decades 'in the service of light', Hiller said.
Chairman of Duna Television László Cselényi recalled that Illés had actively participated in the creation of Duna TV, which is broadcasting to ethnic Hungarians living all around the world as well as in Hungary. Cselényi offered the consolation that even after his death, Illés's heritage belongs to his students and the entire nation.
Former rector of the Theatre and Film Academy Péter Huszti bid farewell to 'Uncle Gyuri' the teacher on behalf of all of the academy's students, past and present. Huszti, who also paid his respects as a friend, recalled the kind gestures Illés would make to his film crew during shoots. Cinematographer Lajos Koltai told those gathered at the ceremony that Illés had always tried to enjoy what he was doing, because he said good work could only be done with a feeling of contentment. Illés was a man who walked 1,700 kilometers to return home from the Don Bend, then was taken to the Mauthausen concentration camp. He was one to always say, 'The only thing I want is to live'. He left behind his love, his films and, through his students, his knowledge, Koltai said.
[Among the] other important film professionals attending the funeral were cinematographers János Kende, Elemér Ragályi, Lajos Koltai and János Edelényi. [From the Kultúra.hu website.]
FILMS | |
---|---|
1949 |
Szabóné/Anna Szabó [Félix Máriássy] b&w |
1950 |
Felszabadult föld/Liberated Land [Frigyes Bán] b&w |
1951 |
Vihar/The Storm [Zoltán Fábri] c |
1951 |
Tüzkeresztség/Baptism by Fire [Frigyes Bán] b&w |
1951 |
Civil a pályán/Try and Win [Márton Keleti] c |
1953 |
Péntek 13 [Márton Keleti] b&w |
1953 |
Kiskrajcár [Márton Keleti] c |
1953 |
Ifjú szívvel [Márton Keleti] c |
1954 |
Fel a fejjel! [Márton Keleti] c |
1955 |
Az élet hídja [Márton Keleti] b&w |
1955 |
Budapesti tavasz/Spring in Budapest [Félix Máriássy] b&w |
1955 |
A 9-es kórterem/The Hospital No. 9/Ward No. 9 [Károly Makk] b&w |
1956 |
Pázmán lovag [Viktor Gertler] ?; ballet film/730mtr |
1956 |
Ünnepi vacsora/Gala Dinner [György Révész] b&w |
1956 |
Az eltüsszentett birodalom [Tamás Banovich] c; released in 1989 |
1957 |
A tettes ismeretlen/Danse macabre [László Ranódy & László Nádasy] b&w; 2nd ph: Miklós Herczenik |
1958 |
Szent Péter esernyöje/Dázdnik svätého Petra/St. Peter's Umbrella [Frigyes Bán & Vladislav Pavlovic] c |
1958 |
Ház a sziklák alatt/The House Under the Rocks [Károly Makk & György Hintsch] b&w |
1959 |
Szegény gazdagok/Poor Rich/Fatia Negra [Frigyes Bán] c; 2nd ph: Tibor Vagyóczky |
1959 |
Álmatlan évek/Sleepless Years [Félix Máriássy] b&w |
1960 |
Kálvária/Calvary [Gyula Mészáros] b&w |
1960 |
Hosszú az út hazáig/It Is a Long Way Home [Félix Máriássy] b&w |
1960 |
Füre lépni szabad/Don't Keep Off the Grass [Károly Makk] b&w |
1960 |
Próbaút/Test Trip [Félix Máriássy] ? |
1961 |
Nem ér a nevem [Márton Keleti] c |
1961 |
Megszállottak/The Obsessed Ones [Károly Makk] b&w |
1961 |
Megöltek egy lányt [László Nádasy] b&w |
1962 |
Nedele ve vsední den/Pirosbetüs hétköznapok/Every Day - Sunday [Félix Máriássy] b&w |
1963 |
Pacsirta/Drama of the Lark/Skylark [László Ranódy] b&w |
1963 |
Párbeszéd/Dialogue [János Herskó] b&w |
1964 |
Mit csinált felséged 3-tól 5-ig?/His Majesty's Dates [Károly Makk] c |
1964 |
Karambol/Collision [Félix Máriássy] b&w |
1964 |
Húsz óra/Twenty Hours [Zoltán Fábri] b&w |
1965 |
Szerelmes biciklisták/Cyclists in Love [Péter Bacsó] b&w |
1966 |
Utószezon/Late Season [Zoltán Fábri] c |
1966 |
Minden kezdet nehéz I-II. Rendhagyó Magyar Film/All Beginnings Are Hard [György Révész] b&w; 144m |
1966 |
Az aranysárkány/The Golden Kite [László Ranódy & Imre Gyöngyössy] c |
1967 |
Falak/Walls/Lost Generation [András Kovács] b&w |
fényképezte = photographed
1968 |
A Pál-utcai fiúk/The Boys of Paul Street/The Paul Street Boys [Zoltán Fábri] as/b&w-c |
1969 |
Imposztorok/The Impostors [Félix Máriássy] b&w |
1969 |
Az oroszlán ugrani készül [György Révész] c; cph: István Hildebrand |
1969 |
Isten hozta, örnagy úr!/The Toth Family [Zoltán Fábri] c |
1970 |
Szemtõl szemben [Zoltán Várkonyi] c |
1970 |
Utazás a koponyám körül/Trip Around My Cranium [György Révész] c |
1970 |
Hatholdas rózsakert [László Ranódy] b&w; 2nd ph: Lajos Koltai |
1970 |
Én vagyok Jeromos [István Tímár] c |
1971 |
Hangyaboly/Ant-Hill [Zoltán Fábri] c |
1972 |
Harminckét nevem volt [Márton Keleti] b&w |
1972 |
A Magyar ugaron/Fallow Land [András Kovács] b&w |
1972 |
Plusz-mínusz egy nap/One Day More, One Day Less [Zoltán Fábri] c |
1973 |
Hét tonna dollár [György Hintsch] c |
1974 |
A Pendragon-legenda [György Révész] b&w-c |
1974 |
141 perc a befejezetlen mondatból/141 Minutes from the Unfinished Sentence/The Unfinished Sentence in 141 Minutes [Zoltán Fábri] c |
1975 |
Tüzgömbök [Imre Fehér] b&w |
1975 |
Legenda a nyúlpaprikásról [Barna Kabay] c |
1976 |
Az ötödik pecsét/The Fifth Seal [Zoltán Fábri] c |
1977 |
Magyarok/Hungarians [Zoltán Fábri] c |
1977 |
Legato [István Gaál] c |
1978 |
Csillag a máglyán [Ottó Ádám] c |
1979 |
Fábián Bálint találkozása Istennel/Balint Fabian Meets God [Zoltán Fábri] c |
1980 |
Ideiglenes paradicsom/Temporary Paradise [András Kovács] c |
1981 |
Requiem [Zoltán Fábri] c |
1982 |
Rohanj velem! [Miklós Markos] c |
1983 |
Gyertek el a névnapomra!/The House-Warming [Zoltán Fábri] c |
1985 |
Az elvarázsolt dollár/The Enchanted Dollars [István Bujtor] c; cph: László Baranyai |
1987 |
Szeleburdi vakáció [György Palásthy] c |
1988 |
Nyitott ablak [Nándor Bednai & Gyula Bodrogi] c |
1996 |
Retúr/Return [György Palásthy] c |
TELEVISION | |
---|---|
1976 |
Fekete gyémántok I-II./The Black Diamond [Zoltán Várkonyi] tvm; 162m |
1983 |
Titanic [- Nachspiel einer Katastrophe] [- Bericht über eine Katastrophe] [- The Nightmare and the Dream] [Lutz Büscher] tvm; 52m & 103m; cph: Alois Nitsche |
MISCELLANEOUS | |
---|---|
1947 |
Valahol Európában/It Happened in Europe/Somewhere in Europe [Géza von Radványi] c.asst; ph: Barnabás Hegyi |
1948 |
Talpalatnyi föld/Treasured Earth [Frigyes Bán] c.asst; ph: Árpád Makay |
1948 |
Lúdas Matyi/Goose Boy [Kálmán Nádasdy & László Ranódy] co-c.asst; ph: Barnabás Hegyi |
1976 |
Labirintus/Labyrinth [András Kovács] actor; ph: János Kende |
1985 |
A tanítványok/The Disciples [Géza Bereményi] actor; ph: Sándor Kardos |
2001 |
Hamvadó cigarettavég/Smouldering Cigarette [Péter Bacsó] actor; ph: Tamás Andor |