Valerio Zurlini (19 March 1926 – 26 October 1982) was an Italian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

stage director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Biography

During his law studies in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, he started working in the theatre. In 1943, he joined the

Italian resistance The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...

. Zurlini became a member of the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). ...

.Elliott Stein
Valerio Zurlini’s Autumn Tales
''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'', August 22, 2000. He filmed short documentaries in the immediate post-war period and in 1954 directed his first feature film, '' The Girls of San Frediano'', his only comedy.Biography of Valerio Zurlini
In 1958 together with

Leonardo Benvenuti Leonardo Benvenuti (8 September 1923 – 3 November 2000) also called Leo, was an Italian screenwriter. He wrote for more than 130 films between 1948 and 2000. He was born in Florence, Italy and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''O ...

Piero De Bernardi Piero De Bernardi (12 April 1926 – 8 January 2010) was an Italian screenwriter. He wrote for more than 100 films between 1954 and 2010. He was born in Prato, Tuscany. Biography De Bernardi was part of a writing duo that included Leonardo Ben ...

and

Alberto Lattuada Alberto Lattuada (; 13 November 1914 – 3 July 2005) was an Italian film director. Career Lattuada was born in Vaprio d'Adda, the son of composer Felice Lattuada. He was initially interested in literature, becoming, while still a student, a mem ...

Zurlini won the

Silver Ribbon 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 ...

for Best Script for Lattuada's ''

Guendalina ''Guendalina'' is a 1957 Italian comedy film directed by Alberto Lattuada. It was entered into the 1957 Cannes Film Festival. Cast * Jacqueline Sassard as Guendalina * Raf Mattioli as Oberdan * Sylva Koscina as Francesca, Guendalina's mother * ...

''. Zurlini made his name as a director with his second feature film, ''

Violent Summer ''Estate violenta'' (U.S. title: ''Violent Summer'') is a 1961 Italian award-winning black-and-white drama film directed by Valerio Zurlini, depicting a love affair between a prominent Fascist's young draft-dodging son, portrayed by Jean-Louis T ...

'' (1959), starring

Eleonora Rossi Drago Eleonora Rossi Drago, born Palmira Omiccioli, (23 September 1925 – 2 December 2007) was an Italian film actress. She was born in Quinto al Mare, Genoa, Italy, and had the leading role in ''Le amiche''. She appeared in ''Un maledetto imbro ...

and

Jean Louis Trintignant Jean-Louis Xavier Trintignant (; 11 December 1930 – 17 June 2022) was a French actor. He made his theatrical debut in 1951, and went on to be regarded as one of the best French dramatic actors of the post-war era. He starred in many classic fi ...

. In 1961 Zurlini filmed ''

Girl with a Suitcase ''Girl with a Suitcase'' ( it, La ragazza con la valigia) is a 1961 cinema of Italy, Italian romantic drama film by Valerio Zurlini starring Claudia Cardinale as a spirited but naive young woman who lives on the fluctuating good will of others. It ...

'', a successful intimist drama, starring

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938) is an Italian actress. She has starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and 1970s, acting in Italian, French, and English. Born and raised in La Goulette, a ...

, who became a film star in Italy, and

Jacques Perrin Jacques Perrin (born Jacques André Simonet; 13 July 1941 – 21 April 2022) was a French actor and film producer. He was occasionally credited as Jacques Simonet. Early life Jacques André Simonet was born on the Boulevard Port-Royal in P ...

, who would become Zurlini's favorite actor. In 1962 Zurlini's film ''

Family Diary ''Family Diary'' ( it, Cronaca familiare) is a 1962 Italian film directed by Valerio Zurlini and based on the novel by Vasco Pratolini. It tells the story of two brothers (played by Marcello Mastroianni and Jacques Perrin) who are brought up apart ...

'' earned him the

Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguishe ...

at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

(it tied with

Tarkovsky Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky ( rus, Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐrˈsʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ tɐrˈkofskʲɪj; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Russian filmmaker. Widely considered one of the greates ...

's ''

Ivan's Childhood ''Ivan's Childhood'' (russian: Ива́ново де́тство, ''Ivanovo detstvo''), sometimes released as ''My Name Is Ivan'' in the US, is a 1962 Soviet war drama film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. Co-written by Mikhail Papava, Andrei Konch ...

''). Zurlini had a masterful skill for screen adaptations.Rolando Caputo. Literary cineastes: the Italian novel and the cinema. In: Peter E. Bondanella & Andrea Ciccarelli (eds.).
The Cambridge Companion to the Italian Novel
'. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. p.182-196 Both ''The Girls of San Frediano'' and ''Family Diary'' were based on

Vasco Pratolini Vasco Pratolini (19 October 1913 – 12 January 1991) was an Italian writer of the 20th century. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times. Biography Born in Florence, Pratolini worked at various jobs before entering the li ...

's work. Zurlini admired the work of Italian novelist

Giorgio Bassani Giorgio Bassani (4 March 1916 – 13 April 2000) was an Italian novelist, poet, essayist, editor, and international intellectual. Biography Bassani was born in Bologna into a prosperous Jewish family of Ferrara, where he spent his childhood wit ...

and hoped to adapt his novel ''

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis ''The Garden of the Finzi-Continis'' ( it, Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini) is an Italian historical novel by Giorgio Bassani, published in 1962. It chronicles the relationships between the narrator and the children of the Finzi-Contini family from ...

'', which was subsequently directed by

Vittorio De Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Sciuscià'' and ''Bicycle Thieves'' (honorary) ...

in 1971 (see ''

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (film) ''The Garden of the Finzi-Continis'' ( it, Il giardino dei Finzi Contini, link=no) is a 1970 historical drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. The screenplay by Ugo Pirro and Vittorio Bonicelli adapts Italian Jewish author Giorgio Bassani's 1962 ...

''). His 1965 film '' The Camp Followers'' was entered into the

4th Moscow International Film Festival The 4th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 5 to 20 July 1965. The Grand Prix was shared between the Soviet film ''War and Peace'' directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and the Hungarian film ''Twenty Hours'' directed by Zoltán Fábri. Jur ...

where it won the Special Silver Prize. Zurlini's last film, ''

The Desert of the Tartars ''The Desert of the Tartars'' ( it, Il deserto dei Tartari) is a 1976 Italian film by director Valerio Zurlini with an international cast including Jacques Perrin, Vittorio Gassman, Max von Sydow, Francisco Rabal, Philippe Noiret, Fernando Rey, ...

'' (1976), produced by Jacques Perrin and featuring an all-star ensemble, was based on

Dino Buzzati Dino Buzzati-Traverso (; 14 October 1906 – 28 January 1972) was an Italian novelist, short story writer, painter and poet, as well as a journalist for '' Corriere della Sera''. His worldwide fame is mostly due to his novel ''The Tartar St ...

's novel of the same name. In 1977 he was a member of the jury at the

10th Moscow International Film Festival The 10th Moscow International Film Festival was held 7-21 July 1977. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Hungarian film ''The Fifth Seal'' directed by Zoltán Fábri, the Spanish film '' El puente'' directed by Juan Antonio Bardem and the Sovi ...

. In the same year, with this film ''Zurlini'', he won both the

David di Donatello for Best Director The David di Donatello Award for Best Director (Italian: ''David di Donatello per il miglior regista'') is a film award presented annually by the Accademia del Cinema Italiano (ACI, ''Academy of Italian Cinema'') to recognize the outstanding direc ...

and the Silver Ribbon for Best Director. The visual style of Zurlini's adaptations was informed by

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...

Giorgio Morandi Giorgio Morandi (July 20, 1890 – June 18, 1964) was an Italian painter and printmaker who specialized in still life. His paintings are noted for their tonal subtlety in depicting simple subjects, which were limited mainly to vases, bottles, b ...

and

Ottone Rosai Ottone Rosai (28 April 1895 – 13 May 1957) was an Italian painter born in Florence. Biography Rosai graduated from the Florence Academy of Fine Arts in 1912, a period in which he was closely associated with the Lacerba group of Florentine Futur ...

's paintings. During the last years of his life Zurlini taught at the

Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia The Centro sperimentale di cinematografia (Experimental Film Centre or Italian National film school) was established in 1935 in Italy and aims to promote the art and technique of cinematography and film. The centre is the oldest film school in ...

. He died in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

on 26 October 1982.Peter Lennon
Leave it to Diva
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', May 9, 2003. After Zurlini's death, his work fell into relative obscurity, but regained popularity in the 2000s after several of his retrospectives were met with success internationally. In 2006, the

NoShame Films NoShame, or NoShame Films, was an Italian-American company specializing in releasing authoritative editions of cult Italian movies on DVD. History NoShame Films started its office in Italy and opened an office in Los Angeles, California the follo ...

released ''The Desert of the Tartars'', ''Violent Summer'' and ''Girl With a Suitcase'' on DVD.

Filmography

*'' The Girls of San Frediano'' (1954) *''

'' (1957) *''

'' (1959) *''

'' (1961) *''

'' (1962) *''

Le soldatesse ''The Camp Followers'' ( it, Le soldatesse), is a 1965 Italian World War II film directed by Valerio Zurlini and starring Anna Karina. From a 1956 novel by Ugo Pirro, it tells the story of a young lieutenant in the Italian Army who in 1942 is orde ...

'' (1965) *''

Seduto alla sua destra ''Black Jesus'' ( it, Seduto alla sua destra, lit. "Sitting to his right") is a 1968 Italian drama film co-written and directed by Valerio Zurlini and starring Woody Strode. It is inspired by the finals days of the first Prime Minister of the Dem ...

'' (1968) *'' The Professor (a.k.a. Indian Summer)'' (1972) *''

'' (1976)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zurlini, Valerio Italian film directors 20th-century Italian screenwriters Italian male screenwriters Italian theatre directors Film people from Bologna 1926 births 1982 deaths Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia faculty David di Donatello winners Nastro d'Argento winners Directors of Golden Lion winners 20th-century Italian male writers

Biography

Filmography

References

Further reading

External links