Giuseppe Tornatore is an Italian director, screenwriter, film producer and editor who won an Oscar in 1990 for his film New Cinema Paradiso. Tornatore is considered one of the best contemporary directors of Italian cinema. He gained international fame for such films as: "They are all right", "Pure formality", "Star Factory", "The Legend of the Pianist", "Malena", "Stranger", "Baaria", "Best Offer".
The content of the article
Biography
Career
Personal life and interesting facts
Biography
Giuseppe Tornatore was born on May 27, 1956 in Bagheria on the island of Sicily. His father, Peppino Tornatore, was a member of the Italian General Confederation of Labor. From an early age, Giuseppe was fond of theater and cinema, dramatic art, directing and photography, and by the age of 16 he independently directed performances based on the works of Luigi Pirandello and Eduardo De Filippo. Graduated with honors from Francesco Scaduto Classical High School in Bagheria. Before starting his career in film, Tornatore worked in theater and television, attending lectures at the Faculty of Philology in Palermo. He was elected City Councilor in Bagheria in 1979.
Career
The future director made his television debut with the documentary Ritratto di un rapinatore in March 1981.
A year later, Tornatore directed several more documentaries for Sicilian TV channels.
In 1984, Giuseppe met the famous Italian director and screenwriter Giuseppe Ferrara, who invites him to the filming of the film “One Hundred Days in Palermo”. In this film, Tornatore is the second director, producer and screenwriter. Two years later, he made his debut as an independent director with the film "Camorrist", which was released on the big screen. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Giuseppe Marrazzo, which tells the story of the famous boss of the Camorra Raffaele Cutolo, nicknamed "The Professor". The film was a great success, and Tornatore won the Silver Ribbon for Best Directorial Debut.
Then Tornatore collaborated with renowned producer Franco Cristaldi and they created the film New Cinema Paradiso, which won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival and the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. After receiving the "Oscar", Tornatore is gaining worldwide fame and popularity.
In 1990, Giuseppe Tornatore shoots the film "They're doing well." The famous Marcello Mastroianni was invited to the main role. He brilliantly played the role of the eccentric father of five children who left their father's house in Sicily and live in different cities of Italy.
This was followed by the painting "Simple Formality" (1994). This is a very atmospheric film with the incomparable performance of Gerard Depardieu and Roman Polanski, shot in the style of a mystical thriller. The picture was presented at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 1995, the director made the film "Star Factory", starring Sergio Castellitto. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The Star Factory received the David di Donatello Prize, the Silver Ribbon Prize for Best Director, and the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Further, the following masterpieces by Giuseppe Tornatore come out. The epic film "The Legend of the Pianist", where the director shows the viewer the world of friendship, love, suffering and music of the brilliant pianist who has lived all his life on the ship. The main role in this film was played by English actor Tim Roth. The Legend of the Pianist has won several awards: Ciak d'Oro for directing, David di Donatello, L'Efebo d'oro (1999), and two Silver Ribbons.
Then comes the most "beautiful", according to many film critics, film - "Malena" (2000). The main focus of the film is the Beauty of a Girl named Malena, splendidly performed by Monica Bellucci. In parallel, the beautiful Italy of the 40s is shown. All of this is filled with the delightful music of the inimitable composer Ennio Morricone, humor and sensual eroticism.
After Malena, the director's work is on a five-year hiatus, and in 2006 the film The Stranger is released, which won three David di Donatello awards. The role of a stranger was amazingly performed by the Russian actress Ksenia Rappoport, playing a woman with a difficult and tragic fate.
The plots of most of the films directed by Torantore are taken from the life of the Italian village where Giuseppe was born and raised. They are imbued with Sicilian flavor and authenticity. The director seems to take the viewer with him into the world of Italian passions and makes him empathize with the heroes of his films.
Throughout his life, Tornatore is nostalgic for his hometown, Sicilian Bagheria. In 2009, Giuseppe shoots the film "Baaria" (as he renames his native Bagheria). The film was selected to represent Italy at the 2010 Oscars, but did not make it to the final stage, and Baaria was also honored to open the 66th Venice Film Festival. After the release of the picture, Tornatore will write the book "Baariya, the film of my life."
After that, the director shoots the film Best Proposal (2012) - a psychological thriller with Jeffrey Rush in the title role, as well as "Two in the Universe" - a story about love "at a distance" between a professor and a young student, played by Jeremy Irons and Olga Kurylenko.
Personal life and interesting facts
Giuseppe Tornatore does not advertise his personal life. It is only known that he was never married. But in his biography there are many interesting facts:
The director is an atheist;
In most of his films he collaborates with Ennio Morricone;
Giuseppe Tornatore starred such actors as Gerard Depardieu and Roman Polanski, Ksenia Rappoport and Monica Bellucci, Jeremy Irons and Michele Placido, Tim Roth, Philip Noiret, Raoul Bova and others.
Roman Polanski first starred in Tornatore's film Pure Formality without directing; in the same film, Giuseppe Tornatore edited and wrote a song for him; Ennio Morricone's son, Giovanni, played a cameo role in it;
Popular Russian actress Ksenia Rappoport starred in the film "Stranger".
In 2010, the filmmaker received his PhD in Television and Film from the IULM University of Milan.
In 2011 he was awarded the Federico Fellini 8 ½ Prize for Artistic Excellence at the Bari Film Festival.
