Giuseppe Tornatore : a Life in Film

Giuseppe Tornatore, one of Italy’s noteworthy directors, began his career at an early age, and contributed to the cinema of Italy both on the big screen and the small screen. He produced many documentaries and went somewhat unnoticed until getting a contract with RAI, the national television company of Italy. After making several films for television he made a film that won him many awards and cemented his place in the annals of Italian cinema history, and was followed by a string of many successful films adding to his ever growing list of awards.

Born in Bagheria, Sicily Tornatore got his start in photography; having his pictures published in many photography magazines and winning many local and national competitions. At age sixteen he took his fledgling steps into directing when he produced two plays, by Pirandello and De Filippo, with an amateur drama group. From his humble theatre beginnings he stepped into cinema with several documentaries, with the most noteworthy being Il Carretto, which was, “highly acclaimed at several regional and national film festivals in Italy,”(Parisi). The success of his documentaries led to him getting a job with RAI, Italy’s national television network, “for which he directed several programs. From 1978 to 1985,”(Parisi). Following his position at RAI, Tornatore made several films the two most acclaimed being, Il Cammorista and Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, with the latter being the film that put his name among the greats of Italian directors.

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, probably Tornatore’s most famous film, “was the film that put Tornatore on the map with international audiences,”(Parisi). This film set in small town sicily is said to, “touch the soul of Sicily, transcending the ordinary, the conventional, the stereotypical,”(Parisi). The film chronicles the life of an Italian man, Salvatore, “.whose love of all things cinematic has shaped his life ever since he was an ankle-biter,”(Panton). This movie spans gaps and covers a bit of all genres, “It's romantic, it's nostalgic, it's funny, it's soppy, and it should touch a chord with everyone who's ever loved the experience of settling down in their local cinema and waiting for the curtains to open and lights to fade,”(Panton). The film also produces a nostalgic sense by paying, “an emotional tribute to the world that cinema once was, complete with kiss scenes edited out by the parish priest, movie theatres with wooden chairs and clouds of cigarette smoke,”(rai). In 1989 Paradiso made its mark on the Cannes Film Festival, by winning the jury prize; then in 1990 it won the Oscar for best foreign film. Following the success of Paradiso, Tornatore made two more films set in wartime Sicily, The Star Maker and Malèna, both of which struck a chord with audiences. Upon gaining acclaim and success Tornatore decided to branch into more international films.

One of Tornatore’s more well known international films is The Legend of 1900; this film tells the story of a nameless boy found on a ship, who lives his entire life on the ship, and becomes the greatest pianist of his time but is forgotten for lack of a name. This film touched on many of the struggles faced by immigrants en route to America; because the film took place on a ship used by many immigrants to cross the Atlantic. The ship was later used as a hospital ship during the second World War showing the wartime effects on people. The film received some negative reviews because it, “misses the boat intellectually,”(Holden). The film does leave the audience with many questions such as, “how he [1900] learned to read, write and speak impeccable English, or how he acquired his expensive wardrobe without ever having left the ship?”(Holden). The main problem with 1900 is that it is a fable audiences are supposed to take seriously, but, “if we are to take them seriously, is that they have to mean something and the characters have to add up to more than question marks,”(Holden); however, this is not the case with 1900. The cinematography of 1900 more than makes up for the discontinuity of the story with how it, “bathes everything in a rich, golden light,”(Holden). The director also creats a great sense of being on the sea with a scene where, “he unhooks the grand piano from its footing during a violent storm and plays the instrument as it careers wildly across the floor, eventually crashing through the stained glass,”(Holden). A directors first attempt at making a film in another language can never be expected to be a great success; however, with the exception of some lack of details in narration and overly poetic styling in the narration that 1900 is a successful film.

Tornatore has a very unique style of narration and the types of stories he tells. All of Tornatore’s films are said to be, “awfully good at plucking nostalgic heartstrings,”(Holden). The majority of his films touch at least at some point on romance, usually through a love entanglement of the protagonist. Many of Tornatore’s films are also based either upon his life experiences or famous novels and fables; because of this his films have a particularly nostalgic and familiar feel to them that draw audiences in and engross them in the lives of the characters of the film. The types of stories told are complemented by a playful style of cinematography to add to the story telling effect of the films; while, Tornatore’s experiments with cuts and cinematography sometimes detract from the narration of the films, it still draws viewers into his films. Tornatore’s films also usually deal with cinema, a world that he is all too familiar with, which allows him to put a portion of himself into all of his films. With each of Tornatore’s films audiences can see how he has matured as a director, but throughout all of the films audiences can find a small portion of his youth still retained in each film. Tornatore’s ability to span multiple genres and reach all audiences at all stages of their lives helps to allow him transcend to greater levels of success with his films. Tornatore deserves his place among the greats of Italian cinema; because he can reach most audiences and maintain their attention with his cinematography to get across his unique style of story like narration.

All of the afore mentioned details are a part of the person that is Giuseppe Tornatore, and has made him worthy of his place in Italian cinema history. Every facet of his being contributes to his success as a director from his birthplace to his multiple levels of work in cinema. Had Tornatore not been born in a small town setting in Sicily, he could not have put the detail and realism into his films such as Paradiso that gained them such great acclaim. Tornatore’s humble beginnings as a photographer contribute to his playful experimental use of shots and camera angles. Tornatore’s story like narrative style comes from him starting out in theatre where the material was in a fable form. By Tornatore entering into film at the age of sixteen, his view on developing stories and films is based off a youthful point of view; which is maintained even in his later films. Tornatore’s position at RAI, and producing programs for a national television company, gave him the experience needed in creating films that need to reach a wide range of audiences. His ability to take a single story and make it pluck on the heartstrings of such a huge range of audiences, is the key to the success of the majority of his films. Tornatore’s life has been committed to film and cinema all along, and it has paid off by producing one of Italy’s greatest modern directors.

Comedy and Tragedy in Life is Beautiful

Between the late 1970s and mid-1980s, Italian cinema experienced a long crisis. During this time, commercial television shows began to proliferate, taking away the movie-going masses. Newer, faster ways to make and produce films meant more films were being made. This led to decreased showing times for individual films in the theaters, as there were always new films coming in to replace them. Genre films slowly died away. These problems all led to a sharp decline in film viewers, trapping the Italian movie industry in a corner. Soon, there were only two main types of films: art house or light comedy, which were increasingly isolated from one another. The more mainstream comedy films, which focused mostly on combining comedy and social taboos, became increasing popular, but had very short lifetimes in the public eye. A new generation of artists and directors has helped restore Italian cinema to glory since the end of the 1980s; among these men and women is Roberto Benigni.
Roberto Benigni was born in Arezzo, Tuscany in October of 1952. His talent for improvisation and comedy began early in life when he became a part of troubadour act that traveled rural Tuscany improvising songs and poetry and also worked as a circus clown. Benigni made his big break when he was 16; he leaped up on a platform in a town square and, pretending to be a political candidate, gave a jocular speech that kept the crowds cheering and laughing. In that audience was an avante-guard theater’s director, who invited Benigni to join his company in Rome. In Rome, Benigni worked in the theater, television, and film industries through the 1970s and early 1980s, initially performing successful monologues before he began being cast in small movie roles by big directors. Benigni made his directorial debut in 1982 with Tu mi turbi; he claims that he was nearly forced to become a director, due to Italy’s shortage of those willing to get involved with comedic films. (2)

Over the next two decades, Benigni’s signature look and act were developed. He had looks that were perfect for his comedic, often bumbling roles: a tall, lanky figure often dwarfed in suits just a bit too large; wild, receding hair that formed a disordered brown halo above his head; and an expressive face with an easy, mischievous grin. His characters were often thrown into hilariously coincidental situations and had to blunder their way through, often ignorant of the problems around them. Through some of his acting as well as some of his self-directed efforts, Benigni became popular with the American art house crowd, until he played a minor role in the failed 1993 film Son of the Pink Panther. However, despite this loss of global popularity, he remained very popular in Italy, drawing large crowds. (2)
In 1997, Benigni released the sixth film in which he was both director and starring actor, La vita è bella (Life is Beautiful), which won him his most acclaim to date. [u]La vita è bella[/u] is the poignant tale of a father’s love for his son and wife and that man’s efforts to shield his son from the horrors of the Holocaust. There are two distinct parts to the movie: the first half focuses on the main character, Guido, and his courting of the beautiful Dora; the second half focuses on Guido and his young son’s time spent in the concentration camp. (2) Roger Ebert said of these two distinct halves, “One is pure comedy. The other smiles through tears.”
An unknown narrator originally introduces La vita è bella, claiming that the story is a fable. In this half, viewers witness a comical love story that begins when Guido come blundering in to town in his friend’s car. Through a random sequence of events, he meets and falls in love with an upper-class schoolteacher, Dora. He uses several clever tricks to convince his beautiful “principessa” to marry him instead of the stiff, pretentious Fascist to whom she is engaged.
The first half of the film is light and funny, and Benigni’s directing and acting are appropriately matched to the mood. Often, the scenes are brightly lit and colorful, while the dialogue is cheerful and easy to laugh at. Benigni pulls of his clownish role spectacularly, making the audience root for his success in courting Dora, even as they wince at his over-the-top antics. Even the more ominous scenes in which Guido’s uncle is victimized by anti-Semantic vandals, who break into his home and later write slurs on his horse, are brushed off; the bright green horse with pink flowers in his hair seems more funny than frightening. The cinematography is relatively simple, favoring long or medium shots of the actors and typically sticking to eye-level instead of any complicated angles. Longer takes are also typically favored, as there is very little intensely paced action or tension that would require fast cutting.

The second half of the film begins with a clever fade in – viewers realize several years have passed, as Guido and Dora are now married, with a young son named Giosue. Things seem to be going nicely in their lives; it is Giosue’s birthday, and he and his father are off to their bookstore. On the way, Giosue spots a store sign that reads “No Jews or dogs allowed” and his father explains that it is simply arbitrary, and there is nothing wrong with Jews. Already, the audience can see Guido’s desire to protect his son and keep him innocent by using humor.
Their peaceful lives are quickly shattered, though, when Dora comes home to find that her husband, son, and uncle have been snatched by the Nazis and are destined for a concentration camp. Though a gentile, Dora volunteers to go with them, and the little family is whisked away to a darker world. Men and women are separated, so Guido finds himself alone with his son. In an effort to shield his son, Guido explains that the camp is all part of a contest to win a real tank, and that they must do certain things to earn points. Guido keeps up this protective farce until the very end, when he is caught on the eve of the Americans’ arrival. While being led away by a guard, he realizes his son is watching and does an exaggerated frog march before being led around the corner and shot. The ending is bittersweet, as Giosue gets his tank and is reunited with his mother, but has lost his father. At this point, the previously unknown narrator is revealed to be Giosue, all grown up.

The scenery in the second half of the movie, from the time the family boards the train until they exit the camp, is dark and dreary. The lighting is low, casting shadows, and the costumes are all drab and gray. The general mood created by this set up is somber, as is appropriate. Cinematography is once again simple, with long and medium shots as well as longer takes still being favored.
Though it has been criticized by some for portraying the Holocaust as a less harsh experience than it truly was (1, 5), La vita è bella is filled with heart-rending moments. In all but one scene, the violence is not seen, but implied. For example, on the bus ride to the camp, a young Jewish girl is shown clutching her kitten to her chest. In a later scene, Dora and other women are seen folding the clothes left by those who were sent into the gas chamber to die; on top of these clothes is the lonely kitten, left by his young mistress. Though the audience does not witness her death, they know it has happened, all the same.

Overall, despite the loss and pain portrayed, this movie is an excellent work. It was tremendously popular in Italy and won numerous international awards. The film paints a beautiful story that brings laughter along with the tears. Benigni portrays the boisterous Guido perfectly, turning the story from tragedy to near-comedy. The acting, sounds, and cinematography are all ideal for this movie; instead of fast cuts and in-your-face violence, simplicity and subtlety is favored. This allows for the story to unfold, and the audience is able to absorb all of the comedy, tragedy, and love that this “fable” has to offer.

Darling Moretti: The Italian Woody Allen

Throughout history of cinema, Italian filmmakers have been somewhat important and influential contributors towards the world’s progression of innovation and film. They introduced and popularized multiple different genres of film in the cinematic community such as Neorealism and “Spaghetti Westerns.” However, relative to other countries with a larger influence of international cinema, Italy hasn’t produced mass numbers of significant directors. One such more modern filmmaker that has brought a greater popularity and inspiration to Italian Cinema though, is award winning director Geovanni Moretti. Moretti uses his films to accomplish multiple goals of his work such as displaying human emotion and experience as well as political purposes through satire. And although not a great amount of his movies become intensively popular on an international scale, he is very well-known in Italy for his influential films. Through his directing and acting (he often plays roles in his films), Moretti makes a push for his country and its national cinema towards further global recognition and prominence.

Born in 1953, Moretti grew up in a family of academics with his father being a professor of Greek epigraphy and his mother teaching high school. In his youth he developed his three major interests: politics, the cinema, and water polo. He was raised playing water polo and eventually played for several Italian national teams. He developed a passion for film and began making amateur films in 1974. He then had his first success in his 1978 film Ecce Bombo, a comedy film in which he starred and directed. The film helped further the development of his work that became filled with irony and comedy that was distinctive to Moretti’s style. He then followed this film up in 1981 with Sweet Dreams and in 1984 with The Beautiful Body of Bianca, which incorporated styles of “Whodunit” mystery films. Then in 1993 he developed his first big success in Cora Diario, or “Dear Diary,” which incorporated three sectors of autobiographical annotations that displayed his sardonic and wry views of life and adaptations in film. This movie became very attractive to viewers because of its deeply personal situations and episodes. Following Dear Diary, he produces April which loosely serves as a sequel to his autobiographical anecdotes that further display a view of dejection and despondency. These works in his particular style furthered his name as an innovative thinker and producer of film. The autobiographical nature of these films that launched his career, however, did bring some contempt from viewers in the impression of a self-centered state of mind in Moretti. In actuality though, Moretti once claimed,” It is not because of conceit that I said that I would like to make films about myself. It was simply the only thing I was able to do.”

Nanni Moretti is considered a very independent and original director. He often plays multiple roles throughout the filmmaking process such as directing, screenplay writing, producing, and acting, and is often referred to internationally as “the Italian Woody Allen.” Moretti uses a unique style of irony and satire to portray society in his films, which are sometimes described as “cult-movies.” He commonly uses his films to display his characteristically left-wing political views towards the public, and has been called a “tormented skeptic.” Moretti once claimed,” I am not a director. I am one who makes films when he has something to say.” As Ewa Mazierska and Laura Rascaroli declare in their book about Moretti The Cinema of Nanni Moretti: Dreams and Diaries,” Nanni Moretti is the most important Italian filmmaker of the past thirty years, not only for his creation of an utterly unique and modern filmic style, or his impact on the national cinematographic industry and his influence on young filmmakers, but also for his ability to raise debate within the world of cinema and also in society at large.” Despite occasional accusations of immaturity, praises such as these are common for the way in which Moretti tactfully uses his films for a purpose. Julie Rigg describes him as,” not a clown… Rather he is a sardonic, a serious ironist, with flashes of mad wit.” Also, Moretti doesn’t only use his films to display his left-wing activism, but has organized massive street protests against the Italian government.

Moretti’s biggest influence and most popular film is his 2001 drama La Stanza del Figlio, or “The Son’s Room.” The film tells the story of a family who loses a son and, as Roberto Zaccaria says,” succeeds in speaking the universal language of emotion, pain, and rigor.” The Son’s Room differs from his usual film styles of comedy and political satire, by providing a deeper and more sensitive movie of loss. The film received vast amounts of global and national praise in the press while also having much success in film festivals. The Son’s Room received the Palme d’Or, or the Golden Palm, the most coveted prize at France’s International festival, the Cannes Film Festival. This was a great and treasured achievement for modern Italian cinema because it marked the first film for 23 years to receive the international award for Italy. Also, for the months in which the film was in theatres, it was the main cause for a 20% rise in ticket sales for Italian movies shown in Italy. Also, the film earned a spot in Empire Magazine’s 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. The Son’s Room’s success provoked BBC News to label Moretti the “Darling of Italy.”

A more recent successful Moretti film is his 2006 comedy-drama, II caimano, or “The Caiman.” Moretti uses this film to reveal his perceived inability and failure of the at-the-time Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi. The film coincides well with his political advocacy, protest habits, and attempts to influence public opinion. Writer Peter Bradshaw describes the film as,” it gets some indulgent laughs, but manages to be tricksy and politically feeble.” He also strategically releases the film soon before the April 2006 elections in order to hinder the Prime Ministers chance of re-election. And, in fact, Moretti got what he wanted when Berlusconi lost in his attempt to stay in office. The Caiman displays traits common in Moretti’s work of humanizing the politics he advocates while also allowing for humor and satire. In the 2006 David di Donatello awards (the Italian equivalent of the academy awards), The Caiman won Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Music, Best Sound, and Best Producer.

In conclusion, through his unique and innovative approach toward modern cinema, Nanni Moretti has developed a solid reputation for himself as a filmmaker and improved the status of Italian cinema on a national scale. The importance of the way in which Moretti’s films impress the public is the way they influence the thought processes of the people and how they perceive their country, the world, and their lives. He has become a one-of-a-kind producer who is able to see people’s inner traits, such as their emotions, which he appeals to through his dramas, their sense of humor, encountered in his comedies, and their political perception of Italy and the rest of the world through his political satires. With the lack of immense international prominence for Italian films in the modern era, bright, different, and talented directors like Moretti are needed to develop a resurgence of popularity, influence, and financial gain for Italy as a nation politically, socially, and culturally.

A New Flavor of Comencini

                Italian cinema has historically not been considered very influential on the international level.  The cause of this was the fact that all classic Italian films were focused on Italian issues, people, and culture.  Disconnect between Italian culture and international themes kept Italian cinema off the map in the film world.  Various political regimes and other factors also kept foreign films from entering the country.  The absence of fresh film slowly stagnated until the Italian film industry almost collapsed in the 1980s.  Many film companies began to sell out to television.  Movies would be premiered on the small screen rather than the big screen.  The Italian populace suffered under this film culture drought. Something new was needed to re-stimulate the industry and bring it international fame.  This “something new” came in the form of a new generation of film directors who went back to the basics of film in order to fix the mistakes of Italian cinema’s past.  By telling simple, yet intriguing stories about everyday life, the directors managed to bring Italian cinema back into the light.  The simple themes of their films transcended national borders and brought the country international fame as well.  One of these new directors is Cristina Comencini, a young Italian woman who has already won recognition in foreign countries.

                Cristina Comencini is one of the four daughters of the famous Italian film director/writer Luigi Comencini.  Luigi also fathered three other daughters (Francesca, Paola, and Eleonora), each of whom is now involved in filmmaking.  Each member of this family brings his or her own personality to filmmaking.  Luigi is known for writing about the plight of children; Francesca focuses on documentary film; Paola is a production designer for both film and television; Eleonora is a director, actor, and production manager but can’t stay settled on which she likes best; and Cristina writes about family, love, and the complexity of women.  Cristina is the most famous out of the four because of her nomination for The Beast in the Heart (2005) for the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film.  It is because of directors like Cristina that Italian cinema has recently been put back on the map and is putting the film industry through a cultural revolution.

                One of the reasons Cristina is unique is the fact that her movies focus on the inner workings of families and their interactions with the outside world.  Cristina says that she uses the topic of families because she believes that, “by analyzing the need to withdraw and open up so as to not go bad, [one] will be able to understand the way people are, what they want, [and] how they change and stay the same” (Laviosa 6).  She also stresses the fact that the keystone to a successful family is the love between the man and woman who decide to have kids.  All these important themes come together in Cristina’s films and produce a rather unique experience.  In Cristina’s analysis of family, she often likes to explore taboo themes such as interracial marriage, career vs. family, incest, and the outrageous lies the family produces to shield itself from the outside world.  Some of her films include: Bianco e Nero, a film about a hidden relationship between a white man and a black woman; La Bestia nel Cuore, a woman struggles with her childhood memories of incest; and Matrimoni, the ‘perfect woman’ breaks down and abandons her family.  These films challenge the traditional beliefs of the Italian culture and open viewers’ minds to possibilities they didn’t really exist only a decade ago.  Interracial marriage was very rare and was generally frowned upon as recently as the early 90s.  By directing a full-length film on the topic and having success with it, Cristina showed that it is now acceptable in Italian society.  In her newest work, Due Partite, Cristina demonstrates the pain caused by the woman’s desire to follow her career while also trying to build a family.  Although she shows that the pain the female’s ambition causes is bad, she does not denounce females in the workforce.  She believes that woman should concentrate on either family or work, not both.  In La Bestia nel Cuore, Cristina shows the struggle between basic human instinct and cultural morality.  One thing that is common in all these movies is her focus on the woman’s role in all of these situations.

                Being one of the few big female directors in Italian cinema, Cristina uses her gender and unique perspective to her advantage.  She captures the complexity of women perfectly, thus allowing viewers into the mind of the character and its actions.  If one wanted to know how women think, watching one of Cristina’s films would be the best option.  When asked why her female characters were so complex compared to their male counterparts, Cristina responded, “I believe that the complexity of man does not emerge in the private sphere.” She goes on to say that man’s personality can be very elaborate, but in her family-themed films, man is one dimensional and therefore simple.  She also states that a woman’s intricacy stems from her ability to present family, love, hate, beauty, ugliness, old-age, and tenderness. When put together in the family setting, it creates an interesting juxtaposition of emotion.  Cristina’s success has been inspiring young women to try their hand at filmmaking in Italy, and is thus bringing more and more of the female influence on both film content and production.  Although well-recognized females are still rare, it is possible that Italian cinema will have a large contingent by the end of the next decade.  Being the first major female film director in Italy since 1976, Cristina is a huge influence on Italian filmmaking.

Due to the fact that Cristina writes about current themes, her female dominated films are on the bleeding edge of Italian cinema.  Fifteen years ago, a movie like Bianco e Nero would not be allowed to be screened in Italy.  The reason for this was because at that time, only political-themed movies were produced.  Cristina, along with the new generation of filmmakers, is trying to change that.  People became so caught up in writing movies about politics that it seemed that they forgot about the best type of cinema; cinema that stems from the simple everyday life events.  Instead of writing a political satire or even a narrative with political ideas in mind, the filmmakers are writing about funny, unique, sad, exciting, and odd stories that show the rich culture of Italy and engage directly with viewers. 

In a way, Cristina’s films are breaking down both cultural and international bonds.  Italian culture is known for spaghetti, wine, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Mafia.  Thanks to Cristina and the new generation of film directors, Italian filmmaking may soon be added to that list.  Because her films have such basic and common themes, they are received positively in many different countries. As a result, Cristina’s work has become pretty successful overseas.  This popularity was sealed with her Academy Award nomination in 2005.  One thing that Cristina is particularly proud of is the blurring of the line between Italian literature and filmmaking.  She has done this by writing books and then making them into movies as well.  Many times directing actually inspires Cristina to write a new book.  She feels that both are pillars of Italian culture and that neither one is more important than the other.  Cristina hopes that one day Italian films will not only focus on the Italian culture and locale, but also the major themes of Europe.  With the speed and talent of the newest generation of Italian filmmakers, it is not hard to imagine that this change will come about.