Luigi Magni (21 March 1928 – 27 October 2013) was an Italian screenwriter and film director.

Life and career

Born in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy, Magni started his career as a screenwriter, in 1956, with '' Tempo di villeggiatura''. In 1968 he collaborated with

Mario Monicelli Mario Alberto Ettore Monicelli (; 16 May 1915 – 29 November 2010) was an Italian film director and screenwriter, one of the masters of the ''commedia all'italiana'' ("Italian-style comedy"). He was nominated six times for an Academy Awards, Os ...

in creating a real "event" of the Italian cinema by transforming

Monica Vitti Maria Luisa Ceciarelli (3 November 1931 – 2 February 2022), known professionally as Monica Vitti, was an Italian actress who starred in several award-winning films directed by Michelangelo Antonioni during the 1960s. She appeared with Marcel ...

into a comedic actress with '' The Girl with the Pistol'', and the critical and commercial success of the film pushed him into directing. After the directorial debut with '' Faustina'' (which was also the debut film of

Vonetta McGee Vonetta Lawrence McGee (January 14, 1945 – July 9, 2010) was an American actress. She debuted in the Spaghetti Western ''The Great Silence'' and went on to appear in blaxploitation films such as Hammer (1972 film), ''Hammer'', Melinda (film), ' ...

), in 1969 Magni achieved an extraordinary success with ''

Nell'anno del Signore ''The Conspirators'' (Italian: ''Nell'anno del Signore'') is a 1969 Italian historical drama film written and directed by Luigi Magni and starring Nino Manfredi, Enrico Maria Salerno and Claudia Cardinale. It is based on the actual story of th ...

'', which was the highest-grossing Italian film of the year, so as to require for the first time in Italy nighttime screenings to meet the demands of the audience. The film marked the encounter with Nino Manfredi, with whom Magni had a long-standing association on the set (including the screenplay of Manfredi's award-winning film Per Grazia Ricevuta) and a close friendship off the set. The film also defined Magni's style, namely a ''

commedia all'italiana ''Commedia all'italiana'' () or Italian-style comedy is an Italian film genre born in Italy in the 1950s and developed in the 1960s and 1970s. It is widely considered to have started with Mario Monicelli's ''Big Deal on Madonna Street'' in 1958 ...

'' mainly centred on Rome and its history, particularly the epoch between the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

and the ''

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...

''. In 1977 Magni achieved critical recognition with '' In nome del papa re'', which also gave him his first David di Donatello Award. He received a second David di Donatello in 1995, for the screenplay of '' Nemici d'infanzia'', and a special David di Donatello Lifetime Career Award in 2008. In 1991 he was a member of the jury at the 17th Moscow International Film Festival. After the 2003 TV movie ''La notte di Pasquino'', a sort of sequel of ''Nell'anno del Signore'' still with Nino Manfredi as the main actor, and with the death of Manfredi in 2004, Magni retired from cinema. He died in Rome, on 27 October 2013.

Filmography

Screenwriter

*''

La cambiale ''La cambiale'' is a 1959 Italian comedy film directed by Camillo Mastrocinque. Plot Commander Bruscatelli, before being imprisoned, leaves the Posalaquaglia cousins a bill of exchange which they give to Temistocle Bisogni in compensation for ...

'' (1959) *'' Il corazziere'' (1960) *'' Gli attendenti'' (1961) *''

Il mio amico Benito ''Il mio amico Benito'' is a 1962 ''commedia all'italiana'' film directed by Giorgio Bianchi (director), Giorgio Bianchi. Plot Peppino Di Gennaro is a simple clerk who wants to make a career without success. After a friend gave him a photo take ...

'' (1962) *'' In Italia si chiama amore'' (1963) *'' Un tentativo sentimentale'' (1964) *'' Le voci bianche'' (1964) *'' Extraconiugale'' (1964) *'' La Celestina P... R...'' (1964) *'' Le bambole'' (1965) *'' La Mandragola'' (1965) *'' Madamigella di Maupin'' (1965) *'' Le fate'' (1966) *'' Non faccio la guerra, faccio l'amore'' (1966) *''

El Greco Doménikos Theotokópoulos (, ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco (; "The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance, regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. ...

'' (1966) *'' La cintura di castità'' (1967) *'' Le streghe'' (1967) *'' Il marito è mio e l'ammazzo quando mi pare'' (1967) *'' La ragazza con la pistola'' (1968) *'' Faustina'' (1968) *''

'' (1969) *'' Scipione detto anche l'Africano'' (1971) *'' Per grazia ricevuta'' (1973) *'' La Tosca'' (1973) *'' La via dei babbuini'' (1974) *'' Basta che non si sappia in giro'' (1976) *'' In nome del papa re'' (1977) *'' Arrivano i bersaglieri'' (1980) *'' State buoni se potete'' (1983) *'' Secondo Ponzio Pilato'' (1987) *''

'O Re ''O Re'' (also known as ''The King of Naples'') is a 1989 Italian historical film written and directed by Luigi Magni.Franco Montini, Piero Spila, ''Il mondo di Luigi Magni : avventure, sogni e disincanto''. Rai Eri, 2000. . For his performanc ...

'' (1989) *'' In nome del popolo sovrano'' (1990) *'' Nemici d'infanzia'' (1995) *'' La Carbonara'' (2000)

Director

*'' Faustina'' (1968) *''

'' (1969) *'' Scipione detto anche l'Africano'' (1971) *'' La Tosca'' (1973) *'' La via dei babbuini'' (1974) *'' Basta che non si sappia in giro'' (1976) *'' Quelle strane occasioni'' (1976) *'' In nome del papa re'' (1977) *'' Signore e signori, buonanotte'' (1977) *'' Arrivano i bersaglieri'' (1980) *'' State buoni se potete'' (1983) *'' L'addio a Enrico Berlinguer'' (1984) *'' Secondo Ponzio Pilato'' (1987) *'' Imago Urbis'' (1987) *''

'' (1989) *'' In nome del popolo sovrano'' (1990) *'' Nemici d'infanzia'' (1995) *'' Esercizi di stile'' (1996) *'' La Carbonara'' (2000)

Honours

*June 2005:

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

Award, received at Palazzo Giustiniani in the presence of Gustavo Raffi, venerable master of the Grand Orient of Italy

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Magni, Luigi Italian screenwriters Italian male screenwriters Italian film directors 1928 births 2013 deaths David di Donatello winners David di Donatello Career Award winners Burials at the Cimitero Flaminio