Illés, who taught at the Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest for over 50 years, was known to his friends, colleagues and pupils as 'Papi', because he was considered the 'daddy' of post-war Hungarian cinema.

"The curriculum I developed featured only still photography in the first two terms," Illés explained. "Those candidates who got into the second round were given the task of going out to locations chosen by us where they had to 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." 

According to Sára, "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. When preparing for a film, I take a number of study photos." Koltai, who shot most of István Szabó's films, stated that "Illes taught us to be accurate about details, because sometimes the only information people get about history is what they see in the movies."

When Zsigmond received his Academy Award for Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), he thanked Illés's inspirational teaching before mentioning Steven Spielberg. Kovács, whose films include Easy Rider, said "I owe a lot to Gyorgy Illés who taught us how important it is to study all the arts. 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."



Kovács and Zsigmond were in their final year in 1956 when a revolt against the communist regime erupted on the streets of Budapest. With Illés's help they borrowed film and a camera from the school, hid it in a paper bag with a hole for the lens, and recorded the violent conflicts between citizens and Russian troops.

After the revolt was crushed, Illés warned Kovács and Zsigmond they could be targeted by the Russian police and they fled the country eventually arriving in the USA. It was in the 1970s that Spielberg, Robert Altman, Michael Cimino and Brian Da Palma started to use Kovács and Zsigmond regularly because of their knowledge of lighting and their ability to manipulate any kind of camera themselves in the European way as they had been taught by Illés.

Illés began as assistant cameraman on Géza von Radványi's Somewhere in Europe (1947), Hungary's first international success for many years which led to the renationalization of the industry. It also marked the return to creative work in his homeland (after wartime exile in the USSR) of Béla Balázs, the great film theorist and author. It was together with Balázs that Illés was commissioned to set up a department of cinematography at the Budapest Academy of Theatre and Film Arts.

As director of photography he worked with many of the leading Hungarian directors such as Márton Keleti, a fellow professor at the Academy, Károly Makk, a graduate of the school, and Zoltán Fábri, most of whose films he shot, including two Oscar-nominated features, The Boys of Paul Street (1969) and The Hungarians (1978). Illés's last film as D. O. P. was Retúr (1997) aged 83.

In 2000, Illés was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Hungarian Film Critics, and on his 90th birthday, many of his ex-pupils and celebrated directors such as Szabó and Miklós Jancsó gathered to praise his achievement.  
Despite offers from Hollywood, Illés never made a film outside Hungary, and seldom travelled. A shy, modest, small man, with grey hair and glasses, he liked his small flat in Budapest, one block from Mafilm, the Hungarian Film Studios founded by Alexander Korda, that he could see from his window. He is survived by his wife and daughter.

György Illés, cinematographer; born November 2, 1914; died June 12, 2006

Ronald Bergan
source: The Guardian, London