Eduardo Serra, the most internationally recognized Portuguese cinematographer, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 81, the Portuguese Cinema Academy announced.
João Mário Grilo expressed deep sadness at Eduardo Serra’s passing, commending the Portuguese Cinematheque in Lisbon for dedicating a retrospective to his work in July.
“We cannot help but lament the loss of an artist. He was not just a technician, but a very talented artist who, unfortunately, worked on very few Portuguese films,” said the filmmaker about Eduardo Serra, who was born in Lisbon in 1943.
Serra became the most international of Portuguese cinematographers, being nominated twice for the Oscars for the films ‘The Wings of the Dove’ by Iain Softley and ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ by Peter Webber, the latter earning him the BAFTA award from the British Academy of Film.
João Mário Grilo collaborated with Eduardo Serra only once, in the film ‘The King’s Trial’ (1989), inspired by the trial that led to the deposition of Portuguese King Afonso VI, initiated by his wife, Maria of Savoy.
“I devoted almost nine years of work to the research for this film. It was a truly decisive partnership [with Eduardo Serra] because the imagery and photography were as important as the dialogue,” the director recalled.
“My collaboration with Eduardo Serra was to visually construct 17th century Portugal, a very complex task because the Lisbon of that era disappeared with the 1755 earthquake. This involved archaeological work and linking various locations across the country. His intelligence and sensitivity were crucial in creating that atmosphere, giving the idea that the entire film was set in a vanished Ribeira Palace,” he remembered.
The filmmaker also reminisced about the “exhaustive work” they did regarding painting for the film: “For us, painting was a way to understand the central theme of the film, concerning the majesty of the king. We have many years of Republic and today we don’t understand the concept of majesty. This concept guided Europe’s destiny for centuries, and understanding it can only be achieved through painting.”
“There was a whole collaboration in forming the film’s architecture through light and framing. He was a great companion in preparing the film, with a very challenging and long shoot, due to it being a period piece,” lamented the director about not working again with Eduardo Serra in the film ‘The Eyes of Asia’ (1996) due to production issues.
“He was the only cinematographer I worked with who could explain the reason for the lighting in each shot. He was very aware that light is not just what is placed there, but what is conceptualized in thought,” added João Mário Grilo.
Eduardo Serra also worked on films by other Portuguese directors, namely José Fonseca e Costa in ‘The Neighbor’s Wife’ (1988), Luís Filipe Rocha in ‘Love and Tiny Toes’ (1991), and Fernando Lopes in ‘The Dauphin’ (2001).
Internationally, he worked as a cinematographer for French filmmakers Claude Chabrol and Patrice Leconte in over a dozen films, as well as with British directors Michael Winterbottom and Iain Softley, and American directors M. Night Shyamalan and Edward Zwick.
