Mario Monicelli, the Oscar-nominated director and screenwriter behind many of Italy's best-known comedies from the 1940s to the 1960s, died Monday at age 95 after he leapt to his death from a fifth-floor hospital widow.
The Italian media reported that Monicelli was under treatment at Rome's San Giovanni hospital for a tumor in his prostate that appeared to be terminal.
Monicelli spoke to The Hollywood Reporter as recently as Nov. 12, in the wake of the death of famed producer Dino De Laurentis at age 91. The two worked together on the Oscar-nominated film The Organizer in 1963.
In a brief telephone interview, Monicelli, speaking with a strong voice, said that De Laurentiis "told [him] to be brave. He said if you push forward, without fear, you can accomplish most things."
In addition to his Oscar nomination for The Organizer, Monicelli earned a second and final Oscar nomination for Casanova '70 in 1966. In a career that started in 1935, he worked with many of the biggest names in "commedia all'italiana," including Toto, Alberto Sordi, Vittorio Gassman and Marcello Mastroianni, who starred in Monicelli's popular Big Deal on Madonna Street from 1958.
The Tuscany-born Monicelli was active well into his 90s: His documentary homage about his adopted neighborhood in Rome, Monti, screened out of competition at the Venice Film Festival just two years ago. Monicelli was also a vocal critic of the politics and cultural impacts of media tycoon and current Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and he lamented what he saw as Italy's fading relevance as a producer of important films.
Monicelli's apparent suicide sent ripples throughout Italy, where state broadcaster RAI broke into scheduled programming to announce the news. Tributes rolled in from all corners of Italy, with former Rome mayor and International Rome Film Festival founder Walter Veltroni saying he was "profoundly hurt by his death" that he said would "weigh heavily on him."
Fellow director Michele Placido, a close friend of Monicelli's, said that if someone would have asked Monicelli why he chose to commit suicide, the director would have said, "'My reasons are my own,' and that is correct, they are. ... I think we have to respect the maestro's decisions."
The Italian media reported that Monicelli was under treatment at Rome's San Giovanni hospital for a tumor in his prostate that appeared to be terminal.
Monicelli spoke to The Hollywood Reporter as recently as Nov. 12, in the wake of the death of famed producer Dino De Laurentis at age 91. The two worked together on the Oscar-nominated film The Organizer in 1963.
In a brief telephone interview, Monicelli, speaking with a strong voice, said that De Laurentiis "told [him] to be brave. He said if you push forward, without fear, you can accomplish most things."
In addition to his Oscar nomination for The Organizer, Monicelli earned a second and final Oscar nomination for Casanova '70 in 1966. In a career that started in 1935, he worked with many of the biggest names in "commedia all'italiana," including Toto, Alberto Sordi, Vittorio Gassman and Marcello Mastroianni, who starred in Monicelli's popular Big Deal on Madonna Street from 1958.
The Tuscany-born Monicelli was active well into his 90s: His documentary homage about his adopted neighborhood in Rome, Monti, screened out of competition at the Venice Film Festival just two years ago. Monicelli was also a vocal critic of the politics and cultural impacts of media tycoon and current Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and he lamented what he saw as Italy's fading relevance as a producer of important films.
Monicelli's apparent suicide sent ripples throughout Italy, where state broadcaster RAI broke into scheduled programming to announce the news. Tributes rolled in from all corners of Italy, with former Rome mayor and International Rome Film Festival founder Walter Veltroni saying he was "profoundly hurt by his death" that he said would "weigh heavily on him."
Fellow director Michele Placido, a close friend of Monicelli's, said that if someone would have asked Monicelli why he chose to commit suicide, the director would have said, "'My reasons are my own,' and that is correct, they are. ... I think we have to respect the maestro's decisions."
Read More
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscar-nominated-italian-filmmaker-dies-49943
0 comments:
Post a Comment