"Chi Mai" (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: whoever) is a composition by

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classi ...

written in 1971. It was used in the films ''Maddalena'' directed by

Jerzy Kawalerowicz Jerzy Franciszek Kawalerowicz (19 January 1922 – 27 December 2007) was a Polish film director and politician, having been a member of Polish United Workers' Party from 1954 until its dissolution in 1990 and a deputy in Polish parliament since ...

(1971)Trivia for Maddalena
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

and ''

Le Professionnel ''The Professional'' (original title: ''Le Professionnel''; ) is a 1981 French action thriller film directed by Georges Lautner. The film stars Jean-Paul Belmondo as the title role. The film is based on award-winning 1976 novel ''Death of a Th ...

'' directed by Georges Lautner (1981), as well as in the television series ''

An Englishman's Castle ''An Englishman's Castle'' is a BBC television serial first broadcast in 1978, written by Philip Mackie and directed by Paul Ciappessoni. The story was set in an alternative history 1970s, in which Nazi Germany won World War II and England i ...

'' (1978). In 1981, it was used as the theme music for the BBC series '' The Life and Times of David Lloyd George'' and the BBC release of the theme reached number 2 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Composition

Elements of the melody of "Chi Mai" appeared in a piece entitled "Invito All'Amore" from the 1968 Sergio Corbucci

Spaghetti Western The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

, '' The Great Silence''. The original Italian lyrics for this song were written by Carlo Nistri and published by

Ricordi Ricordi may refer to: People *Giovanni Ricordi (1785–1853), Italian violinist and publishing company founder * Giulio Ricordi (1840–1912), Italian publisher and musician Music *Casa Ricordi, an Italian music publishing company established i ...

(1972). "Chi Mai" is also famous in France for being used for a Royal Canin 1980s commercial, to the point that it is more closely associated with the commercial than with its other appearances, including Dunhill in 1987. In 2002, this association was referenced by the French movie, '' Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra'', in a scene in which

Dogmatix Dogmatix () is a fictional white terrier dog who is a companion to Obelix in the ''Asterix'' comics. Dogmatix is a pun on the words dog and dogmatic. In the original French, his name is ''Idéfix'', itself a pun on the French expression '' idée ...

is chasing a

legionnaire The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

running on all fours in slow motion (like in the commercial) while "Chi Mai" is playing in the background. "Chi Mai" was used as the melody for the last tribute to

Jean-Paul Belmondo Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...

, in the post mortem national ceremony held on 9 September 2021, three days after Belmondo's death.

Online community

"Chi Mai" is also the name of the online community about Ennio Morricone.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control Film theme songs Television drama theme songs Ennio Morricone songs 1970s instrumentals 1971 compositions 1981 singles