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In the four weeks following its hugely
successful premiere at the Pallas
Theatre in Athens, the stunning new
epic El Greco attracted 590,000
Greek cinema-goers. The Greek-
Spanish-Hungarian co-production
is a free adaptation of Greco: The
Painter of God, Dimitris Siatopoulos's
biographical novel of the life of
Doménicos Theotokópoulos.
Cretan-born Theotokópoulos was
better known to the world as the
influential 16th century artist and
resolute freedom-fighter, El Greco.
As El Greco awaits his trial in prison
after running foul of the Spanish
Inquisition, his powerful story of
heroism, betrayal, power and love
is related in flashback in English,
Greek and Spanish dialogue. The
biggest Greek production in recent
years, it shifts to Crete in 1566 as
Theotokópoulos (played by Nick
Ashdon) succumbs to the attractions
of Francesca (Dimitra Matsouka),
the beautiful daughter of the Greek
island's Venetian governor. After his
rebel father's failed uprising against
the Venetian invaders, the artist flees
to Venice in search of freedom, where
he is dubbed as El Greco. There he
becomes an apprentice to Titian,
renowned artist of the Venetian
school and a master painter of the
Italian Renaissance. Fernando Niño de
Guevaro, an intense young Spanish
priest, encourages him to move to
Toledo where he meets Jerónima de
las Cuevas, the daughter of a rich
nobleman, who bears him a son. But
he is increasingly at odds with the
Spanish Inquisition and the young
priest, who becomes not only a
cardinal but also the Grand Inquisitor
and his greatest adversary.
Director of photography Aris
Stavrou (The Cherry Orchard,
Beautiful People) used an ARRI 535
camera throughout the two-month
shoot. He endeavoured to light the
actors' faces in the same way as the
faces appear lit in El Greco's haunting
paintings, with their dramatic
interpretation of darkness and light.
"Above all, I very much wanted to
avoid any sense of studio lighting,"
he says. "I used direct but diffused
lighting sources, as if I was treating
light like a broad brush loaded with
colour. I was also very careful to avoid
casting any direct shadows at all.
This approach gave the Steadicam
operator Michalis Tsimberopoulos
and the actors the opportunity to
move freely without being concerned
about the lighting. In fact, about
three-quarters of the film was shot
on Steadicam. Of course, the main
objective throughout was to remain
as faithful as possible to the feel of El
Greco's paintings."
Measuring light
Stavrou set up all the scenes by
eye, in order to achieve the right
effect. "I didn't go around measuring
light here and there, since many
scenes had a latitude of as much as
four f-stops," he remarks. The DP
used KODAK VISION2 500T 5218
and KODAK VISION2 250D stocks.
"They allowed me to take extreme
risks in the course of filming without
having to worry about any unpleasant
surprises. They were the safety belt
that gave me complete freedom and
helped to ensure everything remained
under control throughout the shoot."
What was the most demanding
and difficult scene to light and shoot
in El Greco? "It was undoubtedly the
scene of the Inquisition, particularly
the opening wide-angle shot of the
inquisitors who were sitting around
the table at the far end of the hall,"
responds Stavrou. "The ceiling was
50 feet high and the long hall was
otherwise largely empty, so there
was no easy way of hiding the lights.
It was also a strictly-controlled
historical location, which meant
that almost any kind of intervention
was out of the question. In the end,
we illuminated the inquisitors with
a single, small 200w HMI hidden
behind a beam high above the table;
otherwise, the scene was only lit by
gas flames at floor level."
Stavrou did not use any filters on
the camera, but in some scenes he
filtered the light sources themselves
through coloured cotton cloth. He
shot the majority of the exteriors in
the harsh sunlight of Crete, while
the higher level of humidity in the
principality of Catalonia in Spain
created a more forgiving backdrop to
the interiors.
Cretan-born director Iannis
Smaragdis (Kavafis, To tragoudi tis
epistrofis (Homecoming Song)) was
born in Heraklion, a little more than
300 yards from El Greco's house. "The whole Greek civilisation is based on light," he exclaims. "The
work of our poets – from Homer to
George Seferis and Odysseus Elytis,
who were both winners of the Nobel
Prize in poetry, are a study of light.
Just like all the Greek statues and the
Parthenon, they were made to absorb
– and at the same time send – light to
people."
'Soul' of the movie
"With epics, the main problem
is creating the atmosphere of the
relevant period in time but with
El Greco, Aris Stavrou had full
knowledge and understanding of
the required lighting techniques.
We also conducted camera tests
in cooperation with the laboratory
so that our choice of filtration and
stocks, and our post-production
requirements could be established.
But I believe that none of these
elements would have worked well
if the 'soul' of the movie had been
missing. Whether it is found or not
is unknown to filmmakers before
shooting a movie; only the god of
cinema knows! But I don't think that
there is a director in the whole world
(respecting him or herself) who does
not recognise that Kodak film stocks
are the best means to see their
dreams recorded on film."
"The first thing I learnt from
El Greco was what it feels like to cooperate with cinema markets
from other countries around the
world," Smaragdis continues. "This
experience has been valuable and I
believe that the future of humanity
lies in the broader cooperation
between people. The United States
is now seven hours by plane from
Greece, Madrid is three hours and
London is four hours, whereas if
someone wants to travel to Crete, it
will take them many hours by boat.
My previous film, Kavafis, referred to
the famous Greek poet Konstantinos
Kavafis, whose poem Ithaca was
read at the funeral of Jackie Kennedy,
following her wishes. According to
this poem, the most important part
of life is the 'nice trip'. This is exactly
what I have gained in the making of El
Greco. A nice trip."
Such is the importance of this film
in Greece, that the premiere was
attended by Her Majesty Queen
Sophia of Spain; Karolos Papoulias,
President of the Hellenic Republic;
and many high-ranking ministers.
Amongst others in attendance were
Jack Lang, the Spanish producer;
Raimon Masllorens, the Hungarian
co-producer; Dénes Szekeres, director
of finance at the Motion Picture
Public Foundation of Hungary; and
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou,
better known as Vangelis, the
composer of the film's stirring
music. El Greco has since been
awarded eight prizes at the 2007
Thessaloniki Film Festival, including
Best Direction, Best Photography,
Best Art Direction and Best Music. It
was also voted Best Film by festival
audiences and awarded Best Film by
the Greek Union of Film & Television
Technicians.
An Audio Visual Entertainment
release, El Greco was co-produced
by Alexandros Film, La Productora,
Tivoli, Greek Film Centre, ERT,
Nova, Le Spot and Max Productions.
Its Cretan business supporters
include Maris Hotels, Minoan Lines,
TEDK Association of Heraklion,
Spar-Veropoulos, Hellas Net, Tourist
Services, Grecotel, George Siganos,
Cretan Plastic, Peripheral Fund of
Crete, Chamber of Industry, Hert,
Apollonia Hotel, Hotel Fovele and
Diophar. The film also received
support from the European Union's
MEDIA II programme.
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Cinema & Television
