Vittorio Taviani

Vittorio Taviani

Born: September 20, 1929
Died: April 14, 2018
in San Miniato, Pisa
Paolo Taviani (born 8 November 1931) and Vittorio Taviani (20 September 1929 – 15 April 2018), collectively referred to as the Taviani brothers, were Italian film directors and screenwriters who collaborated on film productions.

At the Cannes Film Festival, the Taviani brothers won the Palme d'Or and the FIPRESCI prize for Padre Padrone in 1977 and the Grand Prix du Jury for La notte di San Lorenzo (The Night of the Shooting Stars, 1982). In 2012 they won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival with Caesar Must Die.

Vittorio Taviani died on 15 April 2018 at the age of 88. Both born in San Miniato, Tuscany, Italy, the Taviani brothers began their careers as journalists. In 1960 they came to the world of cinema, directing with Joris Ivens the documentary L'Italia non è un paese povero (Italy is not a poor country). They went on to direct two films with Valentino Orsini, Un uomo da bruciare (A Man to Burn) (1962) and I fuorilegge del matrimonio (Outlaws of Marriage) (1963).

Their first autonomous film was I sovversivi (The Subversives, 1967), with which they anticipated the events of 1968. With actor Gian Maria Volonté they gained attention with Sotto il segno dello scorpione (Under the Sign of Scorpio, (1969) where one can see the echoes of Brecht, Pasolini, and Godard.

In 1971, they co-signed the media campaign against Milan's police commissioner Luigi Calabresi, published in the magazine L'espresso.

The revolutionary theme is present both in San Michele aveva un gallo (1971), an adaptation of Tolstoy's novel The Divine and the Human, a film greatly appreciated by critics, and in the film Allonsanfan (1974), in which Marcello Mastroianni has a role as an ex-revolutionary who has served a long term in prison and now views his idealistic youth in a much more realistic light, and nevertheless gets entangled in a new attempt in which he no longer believes.

Their next film Padre Padrone (1977) (Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival), taken from a novel by Gavino Ledda, speaks of the struggle of a Sardinian shepherd against the cruel rules of his patriarchal society. In Il prato (1979) there are nonrealistic echoes, while La notte di San Lorenzo (The Night of the Shooting Stars, 1982) narrates, in a fairy-tale tone, a marginal event in the days before the end of World War II, in Tuscany, as seen through the eyes of some village people. The film was awarded the Special Jury Award in Cannes.

Kaos (1984)—another literary adaptation—is a poignantly beautiful and poetical film in episodes, taken from Luigi Pirandello's Short Stories for a year. In Il sole anche di notte (1990) the Taviani brothers transposed in 18th century Naples the story from Tolstoy's Father Sergius.

From then onwards, the Tavianis' inspiration proved faltering. Successes like Le affinità elettive, (1996, from Goethe) and an attempt to woo the international audiences like Good morning Babilonia, (1987), on the pioneers of cinema history, alternate with lesser films like Fiorile (1993) and Tu ridi (1996), inspired by the characters and short stories of Pirandello. ...

Source: Article "Paolo and Vittorio Taviani" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Movies for Vittorio Taviani...

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Type: Movie
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Released: December 28, 2017
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Title: Senza Lucio
Character: Sé stesso
Released: March 4, 2015
Type: Movie
The singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla seen through the eyes of the person closest to him in the last twenty years: Marco Alemanno. The tale of how they met and how he grew on a human, professional, and artistic level standing by Dalla’s side. And much more: daily and deeper aspects of his life, his love for Southern Italy, his passion for cinema, his relationship with music, his bulimic curiosity of launching himself into new artistic adventures, his mercurial energy and his boundless sense of humor.
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Title: Alfonso Sansone: Producer by Chance
Character: Self
Released: September 10, 2014
Type: Movie
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Character: Self
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Character: Self
Released: September 1, 2013
Type: Movie
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Title: Once Upon a Time... 'Rome, Open City'
Character: Self
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Marcello, una vita dolce
Title: Marcello, una vita dolce
Character: Self
Released: May 21, 2006
Type: Movie
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Title: I nostri trent'anni - Generazioni a confronto
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 2004
Type: Movie
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Title: Un film et son époque
Character: Self
Released: May 17, 2003
Type: TV
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Title: Quando l'Italia non era un paese povero
Released: January 1, 1997
Type: Movie
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La vera vita di Antonio H.
Title: La vera vita di Antonio H.
Character: Self
Released: September 2, 1994
Type: Movie
This film depicts a series of landmark events in the life of hapless thespian Antonio Hutter (Alessandro Haber), the unfortunate fictional alter-ego of legendary actor Alessandro Haber. This surreal faux-biography begins with Hutter's birth in Bologna, Italy, and his early life in the Middle East and follows him through the highs and lows of his acting career, using a combination of interviews with real-life colleagues, archival footage and improvised scenes along the way.
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Character: Self
Released: January 12, 1975
Type: TV
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Character: Self
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