Valerio Zurlini

Valerio Zurlini (19 March 1926 – 26 October 1982) was an Italian stage and film director and screenwriter.

Biography

During his law studies in Rome, he started working in the theatre. In 1943, he joined the Italian resistance. Zurlini became a member of the Italian Communist Party.Elliott Stein
Valerio Zurlini's Autumn Tales
''The Village Voice'', 22 August 2000. He filmed short documentaries in the immediate post-war period before he directed his first feature film in 1954, '' The Girls of San Frediano''.Biography of Valerio Zurlini
In 1958, Zurlini won the together with Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero De Bernardi and Alberto Lattuada for Best Script for Lattuada's '' Guendalina''. Zurlini made his name as a director with his second feature film, '' Violent Summer'' (1959), starring Eleonora Rossi Drago and Jean Louis Trintignant.

In 1961, Zurlini filmed '' Girl with a Suitcase'', starring Claudia Cardinale, who became a film star in Italy, and Jacques Perrin, who would become Zurlini's favorite actor. His 1962 film '' Family Diary'' earned Zurlini the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival (it tied with Tarkovsky's '' Ivan's Childhood''). Both ''The Girls of San Frediano'' and ''Family Diary'' were based on Vasco Pratolini's work.

'' The Camp Followers'' (1965) was entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Festival, where it won the Special Silver Prize. Zurlini admired the work of Italian novelist Giorgio Bassani and hoped to adapt his novel '' The Garden of the Finzi-Continis'', which was subsequently directed by Vittorio De Sica in 1971 (see '' The Garden of the Finzi-Continis'').

Zurlini's last film, '' The Desert of the Tartars'' (1976), produced by Jacques Perrin and featuring an all-star ensemble, was based on Dino Buzzati's novel of the same name. It earned Zurlini both the David di Donatello and the for Best Director. In 1977 he was a member of the jury at the 10th Moscow International Film Festival.

The visual style of Zurlini's adaptations was informed by Giorgio de Chirico, Giorgio Morandi and Ottone Rosai's paintings.Rolando Caputo. Literary cineastes: the Italian novel and the cinema. In: Peter E. Bondanella & Andrea Ciccarelli (eds.).
The Cambridge Companion to the Italian Novel
'. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. p.182-196 During the last years of his life Zurlini taught at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome. He died in Verona on 26 October 1982.Peter Lennon
Leave it to Diva
''The Guardian'', 9 May 2003.

After Zurlini's death, his work fell into relative obscurity, but regained popularity in the 2000s after several of his retrospectives were met with success internationally. In 2006, NoShame Films released ''The Desert of the Tartars'', ''Violent Summer'' and ''Girl With a Suitcase'' on DVD.

Filmography (selected)

* '' The Girls of San Frediano'' (1954)
* '' Guendalina'' (1957, screenplay only)
* '' Violent Summer'' (1959)
* '' Girl with a Suitcase'' (1961)
* '' Family Diary'' (1962)
* '' The Camp Followers'' (1965)
* '' Black Jesus'' (1968)
* '' Indian Summer'' (1972)
* '' The Desert of the Tartars'' (1976)

References

Further reading

* Toffetti, Sergio (a cura di). ''Valerio Zurlini''. Torino: Lindau, 1993.

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zurlini, Valerio
Italian film directors
20th-century Italian screenwriters
Italian male screenwriters
Italian theatre directors
Film people from Bologna
1926 births
1982 deaths
Academic staff of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia
David di Donatello winners
Nastro d'Argento winners
Directors of Golden Lion winners
20th-century Italian male writers