''Ennio: The Maestro'' (Italian: ''Ennio''), also known as ''The Glance of Music'', is a 2021

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed by

Giuseppe Tornatore Giuseppe Tornatore (born 27 May 1956) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is considered one of the directors who brought critical acclaim back to Italian cinema.Katz, Ephraim, "Italy," ''The Film Encyclopedia'' (New York: HarperRes ...

, celebrating the life and legacy of the Italian composer

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...

, who died on 6 July 2020. The film consists of interviews with directors, screenwriters, musicians, songwriters, critics and collaborators who have worked with him or who have enjoyed him throughout his long career.

Content

Giuseppe Tornatore, Oscar-winning director, pays tribute to his friend and collaborator Ennio Morricone, retracing the life and works of the Italian composer, from his debut with

Sergio Leone Sergio Leone (; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter credited as the pioneer of the Spaghetti Western genre and widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cin ...

to the Oscar Award for ''

The Hateful Eight ''The Hateful Eight'' (sometimes marketed as ''The H8ful Eight'' or ''The Hateful 8'') is a 2015 American Western mystery thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, W ...

'' in 2016. The film comprises interviews with renowned directors and musicians, recordings of some of the maestro's acclaimed world tours, clips from some iconic films set to music by Morricone and exclusive footage of the scenes and places that defined Morricone's life.

Interviewees

The following artists appear in the film:

Release

The film premiered on 10 September 2021 at the

78th Venice International Film Festival The 78th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 1 to 11 September 2021. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho was appointed as the President of the Jury, marking the first time a South Korean director has been picked as the festiv ...

. It was released in Italian cinemas on 27 January 2022, and digital platforms on 22 April 2022. The film was a box-office success in Italy.

Reception

Critical response

A review in ''The Guardian'' stated: "his documentary represents a painstakingly detailed, fantastically entertaining, and profoundly exhausting deep dive into the career of the hyper-prolific Italian composer Ennio Morricone, known best perhaps for his orchestral scores for Sergio Leone (including the so-called Dollars Trilogy and ''Once Upon a Time in the West''), Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers, Bernardo Bertolucci’s ''1900'' – and a whole bunch of American films, ranging from the great (Terrence Malick’s ''Days of Heaven'', Brian De Palma’s ''The Untouchables'') to the abominable (Quentin Tarantino’s ''The Hateful Eight'')", while another review in the same newspaper deemed that "As a piece of film-making, this documentary is cumbersome, repetitive and ploddingly conventional – all traits that were anathema to its subject, the late Italian film composer Ennio Morricone (1928-2020)." A review in ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' merged those divided assessments into one by saying "Tributes become repetitive but there’s much to enjoy in this documentary about Ennio Morricone".

Awards

The film won the

Nastro d'Argento The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani ...

2022 for Best Documentary Film.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ennio 2021 films 2021 documentary films Ennio Morricone Italian documentary films 2020s Italian-language films Films about composers Films directed by Giuseppe Tornatore Documentary films about music and musicians 2020s Italian films 2020s Belgian films