Vittorio Storaro
Vittorio Storaro | |
|---|---|
 Storaro at Cannes in 2001 | |
| Born | 24 June 1940 Rome, Italy |
| Education | Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia |
| Occupation | Cinematographer |
| Years active | 1960–present |
| Organizations |
|
| Known for |
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Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. (born 24 June 1940), is an Italian cinematographer widely recognized as one of the best and most influential in cinema history, for his work on numerous classic films including The Conformist (1970), Apocalypse Now (1979), and The Last Emperor (1987). In the course of over fifty years, he has collaborated with directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Ford Coppola, Warren Beatty, Woody Allen, and Carlos Saura.
He has received three Academy Awards for Best Cinematography for the films Apocalypse Now, Reds (1981), and The Last Emperor, and is one of three living persons who has won the award three times, the others being Robert Richardson and Emmanuel Lubezki.
Early life
[edit]
Storaro was born in Rome. The son of a film projectionist, Storaro began studying photography at the age of 11. He went on to formal cinematography studies at the national Italian film school, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, when he was 18.[1]
Career
[edit]Storaro is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential cinematographers of all time.[2][3][4][5] He has worked with many important film directors, in particular Bernardo Bertolucci, with whom he has had a long collaboration.[6] His philosophy is largely inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's theory of colors, which focuses in part on the psychological effects that different colors have and the way in which colors influence our perceptions of different situations.[7]
He first worked with Bertolucci on The Conformist (1970). Set in fascist Italy, the film has been described as a "visual masterpiece".[8]
Also in 1970, he photographed The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, the directorial debut of Dario Argento and a landmark film in the giallo genre.[9]
The first American film that Storaro worked on was Apocalypse Now (1979). Director Francis Ford Coppola gave him free rein on the film's visual look.[10] Apocalypse Now earned Storaro his first Academy Award.[11]
He worked with Warren Beatty for the first time on Reds (1981), and ended up winning his second Academy Award.[12]
Storaro won a third Academy Award for The Last Emperor (1987), directed by Bertolucci.[12] Three years later he received a nomination, but did not win, for the Beatty film Dick Tracy.[13]
In 2002, Storaro completed the first in a series of books that articulate his philosophy of cinematography.[14]
He was the cinematographer for a BBC co-production with Italian broadcaster RAI of Verdi's Rigoletto over two nights on the weekend of 4 and 5 September 2010.[15]
Woody Allen's Café Society (2016) was the first film that Storaro shot digitally; he used the Sony F65 camera.[16]
In 2017, Storaro was honored with the George Eastman Award.[17] The same year he also attended the New York Film Festival at which he debated with Ed Lachman on cinematography and its transition to digital.[18]
His other film credits include 1900, Last Tango in Paris, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, One from the Heart, Bulworth, The Sheltering Sky, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Ladyhawke, Tango, and Goya en Burdeos.
With his son Fabrizio, he created the Univisium format system to unify all future theatrical and television movies into one respective aspect ratio of 2.00:1.[19] As of 2023, this unification has not happened, and the universal replacement of 4:3 televisions by large, wide-screen displays greatly reduces the need to modify scope-ratio films for home theater presentation.
Personal life
[edit]Storaro is known for stylish, fastidious, and flamboyant personal fashion. Francis Ford Coppola once noted, "Vittorio is the only man I ever knew that could fall off a ladder in a white suit, into the mud, and not get dirty."[20]
Filmography
[edit]Short film
[edit]| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Etruscologia | Giancarlo Romitelli | |
| 1963 | Un Delitto | Luigi Bazzoni | |
| 1966 | L'urlo | Camillo Bazzoni | Also writer |
| Rapporto segreto | |||
| Il Labirinto | Silvio Maestranzi | Documentary short | |
| Sortilegio | Luigi Bazzoni | ||
| Sirtaki | |||
| 1982 | Arlecchino | Giuliano Montaldo | |
| 1989 | Life without Zoe | Francis Ford Coppola | Segment of New York Stories |
| 2005 | Ciro | Stefano Veneruso | Segment of All the Invisible Children |
Feature film
[edit]Documentary film
[edit]| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Roma Imago Urbis: Parte II - L'immortalità | Luigi Bazzoni |
| Roma Imago Urbis: Parte I - Il mito | ||
| Roma Imago Urbis: Parte V - I volti | ||
| Roma Imago Urbis: Parte III - Gli acquedotti | ||
| Roma Imago Urbis: Parte VI - Le gesta | ||
| 1995 | Flamenco | Carlos Saura |
| 2010 | Flamenco Flamenco |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Eneide | Franco Rossi |
Miniseries
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Orlando furioso | Luca Ronconi | With Arturo Zavattini |
| 1983 | Wagner | Tony Palmer | |
| 1986 | Peter the Great | Marvin J. Chomsky Lawrence Schiller |
|
| 2000 | Frank Herbert's Dune | John Harrison | |
| 2007 | Caravaggio | Angelo Longoni |
TV movies
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Tosca: In the Settings and at the Times of Tosca | Brian Large | |
| Writing with Light: Vittorio Storaro | David M. Thompson | Documentary film | |
| 2000 | La traviata | Pierre Cavassilas | |
| 2010 | Rigoletto a Mantova |
Awards and nominations
[edit]| Year | Category | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Best Cinematography | Apocalypse Now | Won | [21] |
| 1982 | Reds | Won | ||
| 1988 | The Last Emperor | Won | ||
| 1991 | Dick Tracy | Nominated |
| Year | Category | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Best Cinematography | Apocalypse Now | Nominated | [22] |
| 1983 | Reds | Nominated | [23] | |
| 1989 | The Last Emperor | Nominated | [24] | |
| 1991 | The Sheltering Sky | Won | [25] |
American Society of Cinematographers
| Year | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Outstanding Cinematography | The Last Emperor | Won |
| 1991 | Dick Tracy | Nominated | |
| 2001 | Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in a Limited Series | Dune | Nominated |
| Lifetime Achievement Award | Won | ||
| Year | Category | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Best Cinematography | Goya en Burdeos | Won | [26] |
| Year | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Best Cinematography for a Miniseries or Special | Peter the Great | Nominated |
| 2001 | Frank Herbert's Dune | Won |
| Year | Category | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Technical Grand Prize | Tango, no me dejes nunca | Won | [27] |
International Film Festival of India
| Year | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Lifetime Achievement Award | Won | [28] |
British Society of Cinematographers
| Year | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Best Cinematography | Apocalypse Now | Nominated |
| 1988 | The Last Emperor | Won | |
| 1990 | Dick Tracy | Nominated |
National Society of Film Critics
| Year | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Best Cinematography | The Conformist | Won |
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
| Year | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Best Cinematography | The Sheltering Sky | Won |
| 1990 | The Last Emperor | Won |
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
| Year | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Best Cinematography | Reds | Won |
| 1988 | The Last Emperor | Won |
| Year | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Lifetime Achievement Award | Won |
| Year | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Best Cinematography | Flamenco (de Carlos Saura) | Nominated |
| 1999 | Tango, no me dejes nunca | Nominated | |
| 2000 | Goya en Burdeos | Won |
References
[edit]- ^ "Back in Time: Vittorio Storaro AIC, ASC / The Early Life of Mohammed". British Cinematographer. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ Kay, Jeremy (16 October 2003). "And the 11 most influential cinematographers of all time are..." Screen Daily. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ "Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro Warns of "Major Problem" in the Field". The Hollywood Reporter. 4 June 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
- ^ "The 10 Most Visually Stunning Movies Shot by Vittorio Storaro". Taste of Cinema - Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ Jones, Jonathan (9 July 2003). "Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro reveals his inspiration". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. OCLC 900948621.
- ^ Pizzello, Stephen (6 July 2018). "Storaro and Bertolucci Celebrated at Milan International Film Festival". American Society of Cinematographers. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ "Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC personally details the richly hued artistic strategy he created to shoot Woody Allen's period drama". American Cinematographer. 30 November 2017.
- ^ Berardinelli, James (1994). "Review: The Conformist". ReelViews. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ Gallant, Chris (7 June 2018). "Where to begin with giallo". BFI. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ Pizzello, Stephen (24 August 2017). "Flashback: Apocalypse Now". American Cinematographer.
- ^ "Mighty Tome: Vittorio Storaro AIC ASC / The Art of Cinematography". British Cinematographer. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ a b "Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro: Master of Lights and Colors". italoamericano.org. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ Bob Fisher (2004). "Vittorio Storaro: Maestro of Light". ICG Magazine. International Cinematographers Guild. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017 – via scrapsfromtheloft.com.
- ^ Jones, Jonathan (9 July 2003). "Painting with light". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ Adetunji, Jo (25 July 2010). "Verdi's Rigoletto given 'cinematic' makeover for BBC". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ Giardina, Carolyn (15 July 2016). "Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro on Filming 'Cafe Society' Digitally: "You Can't Stop Progress"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ "Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC Honored with George Eastman Award". American Society of Cinematographers. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
- ^ Chris O'Falt (13 October 2017). "Digital Cinematography Smackdown: Vittorio Storaro and Ed Lachman Debate, With Love". IndieWire. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ Joe Foster (24 October 2017). "The remarkable rise of the Univisium 2:1 aspect ratio". RedSharkNews. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ Kees van Oostrum (2 January 2018). "President's Desk: Men in White Suits - The American Society of Cinematographers". American Cinematographer.
- ^ "Vittorio Storaro". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
- ^ "Past Winners and Nominees – Film Nominations 1979". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
- ^ "Past Winners and Nominees – Film Nominations 1982". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
- ^ "Past Winners and Nominees – Film Nominations 1988". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
- ^ "Past Winners and Nominees – Film Nominations 1990". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
- ^ "European Film Awards 2000 – The Winners". European Film Awards. Archived from the original on 15 August 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Tango". festival-cannes.com. Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
- ^ Shekhar, Mimansa (16 January 2021). "IFFI 2021: Everything to know about the film festival". Indian Express.
- General
- "Vittorio Storaro Movie Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
- "Vittorio Storaro > Filmography". Allmovie. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
- "Search Page". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 21 September 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.. Note: User must define search parameters, i.e. "Vittorio Storaro."
Further reading
[edit]- Masters of Light - Conversations with cinematographers (1984) Schaefer, S & Salvato, L., ISBN 0-520-05336-2
- Writer of Light: The Cinematography of Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC (2000) Zone, R., ISBN 0-935578-18-8
- Vittorio Storaro: Writing with Light: Volume 1: The Light (2002) Storaro, V., ISBN 1-931788-03-0
External links
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