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.