Giuseppe Tornatore (born 27 May 1956) is an Italian
film director and
screenwriter. He is considered one of the directors who brought critical acclaim back to Italian cinema.
[Katz, Ephraim, "Italy," ''The Film Encyclopedia'' (New York: HarperResource, 2001), pp. 682-685.] In a career spanning over 30 years he is best known for directing and writing drama films such as ''
Everybody's Fine'', ''
The Legend of 1900'', ''
Malèna'', ''
Baarìa'' and ''
The Best Offer''. His most noted film is ''
Cinema Paradiso'', for which Tornatore won the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
. He has also directed several advertising campaigns for
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, and cos ...
.
Tornatore is also known for his long-standing association with composer
Ennio Morricone, who composed music for thirteen Tornatore feature films since 1988.
Life and career
Born in
Bagheria
Bagheria (; scn, Baarìa ) is a town and '' comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in Sicily, Italy, located approximately 10km to the east of the city centre.
Etymology
According to some sources, the name ''Bagheria'' (by way of old Sici ...
, near
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...
, Tornatore developed an interest in acting and the theatre from at least the age of 16 and put on works by
Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello (; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power ...
and
Eduardo De Filippo.
He worked initially as a freelance photographer. Then, switching to cinema, he made his debut with ''Le minoranze etniche in Sicilia'' (''The Ethnic Minorities in Sicily''), a collaborative documentary film which won a Salerno Festival prize. He then worked for
RAI before releasing his first full-length film, ''
Il Camorrista'', in 1985. This evoked a positive response from audiences and critics alike and Tornatore was awarded the ''
Silver Ribbon'' for ''
best new director ''Best New Director'' was an award given by the New York Film Critics Circle from its first inception in 1989 until discontinuing in 1996. There was no award in 1993.
1980s 1989
* Kenneth Branagh – ''Henry V''
**Runners-up: Steve Kloves – '' T ...
''.
In
1988, a collaboration with producer
Franco Cristaldi gave birth to Tornatore's best known screen work: ''
Cinema Paradiso'', a film narrating the life of a successful film director who has returned to his native town in
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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, demographi ...
for the funeral of his mentor. This obtained worldwide success and won an
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
.
Subsequently, Tornatore released several other films. In 2007 he won the Silver George for Best Director at the
29th Moscow International Film Festival for ''
The Unknown Woman
''The Unknown Woman'' ( it, La sconosciuta, ; also known as ''The Other Woman'') is a 2006 Italian psychological thriller mystery film, directed by Giuseppe Tornatore that depicts a woman alone in a foreign country, haunted by a horrible past.
...
''.
Personal life
Tornatore describes himself as "one who does not believe and who regrets this".
Interview with ''Trovacinema''
/ref> His brother, Francesco Tornatore, is a producer.
Filmography
Written and directed
*1986: '' The Professor (Il camorrista)''
*1988: '' Cinema Paradiso (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso)''
*1990: '' Everybody's Fine (Stanno tutti bene)''
*1991: ''Especially on Sunday
''La domenica specialmente'' (internationally released as ''Especially on Sunday'') is a 1991 Italian comedy- drama film. It consists of four segments, all written by Tonino Guerra. Each segment has a different director: Giuseppe Tornatore, Marc ...
'' (segment "Il cane blu")
*1994: '' A Pure Formality (Una pura formalità)''
*1995: '' The Star Maker (L'uomo delle stelle)''
*1995: ''Lo schermo a tre punte
Lo may refer to any of the following:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lo!'', the third published nonfiction work of the author Charles Fort
* L.O., a fictional character in the Playhouse Disney show Happy Monster Band
* ''Lo'' (film), a 2009 indepe ...
'' (documentary)
*1996: '' Ritratti d'autore: seconda serie'' (documentary)
*1998: '' The Legend of 1900 (La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano)''
*2000: '' Malèna''
*2006: '' The Unknown Woman (La sconosciuta)''
*2009: '' Baarìa''
*2013: '' The Best Offer (La migliore offerta)''
*2016: '' The Correspondence (La corrispondenza)''
*2021: '' Ennio - The Maestro''
Screenplay only
*'' Cento giorni a Palermo'' ("One Hundred Days in Palermo"), directed by Giuseppe Ferrara
Giuseppe Ferrara (15 July 1932 – 25 June 2016) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. (1984) - Tornatore is credited under the name Peppuccio Tornatore
References
Further reading
*''Giuseppe Tornatore. Uno sguardo dal set'' a cura di Ninni Panzera, Silvana Editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo 2007
*''L'isola di Tornatore'' a cura di Ninni Panzera, Silvana Editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo 2010
*''Le Madonie, cinema ad alte quote'' di Sebastiano Gesù e Elena Russo, con introduzione di Francesco Novara e presentazione di Pasquale Scimeca, Giuseppe Maimone Editore, Catania 1995 (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso and L'Uomo delle Stelle)
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tornatore, Giuseppe
1956 births
European Film Awards winners (people)
Best Original Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
Living people
People from Bagheria
Italian atheists
Italian film directors
David di Donatello winners
Nastro d'Argento winners
Ciak d'oro winners
Directors of Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners
Filmmakers who won the Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA Award
Film people from Sicily