Ruggero Deodato
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Ruggero Deodato (born 7 May 1939) is 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 ...
,
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. ...
, and sometime
actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
. His career has spanned a wide-range of genres including peplum,
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
,
drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
,
poliziottesco Poliziotteschi (; singular ''poliziottesco'') constitute a subgenre of crime and action films that emerged in Italy in the late 1960s and reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s. They are also known as ''polizieschi all'italiana'', ...
and
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
, yet he is perhaps best known for directing violent and gory
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
s with strong elements of realism. His most notable film is '' Cannibal Holocaust'', considered one of the most controversial and brutal in the history of cinema, which was seized, banned or heavily censored in many countries, and which contained special effects so realistic that they led to Deodato being arrested on suspicion of murder. It is also cited as a precursor of found footage films such as ''
The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural horror film written, directed and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez (director), Eduardo Sánchez. It is a fictional story of three student filmmakers—Heather Donahue, Mic ...
'' and '' The Last Broadcast''. The film strengthened Deodato's fame as an "extreme" director and earned him the nickname "Monsieur Cannibal" in France. Deodato has been an influence on film directors like
Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...
,
Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
and
Eli Roth Eli Raphael Roth (born April 18, 1972) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. As a director and producer, he is most closely associated with the horror genre, having directed the films '' Cabin Fever'' (2003) and ''Hoste ...
.


Biography


Early life and career

Deodato was born in Potenza, Basilicata, and moved to
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 ...
with his family as a child. He went to
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and started as a musician playing piano and conducting a small orchestra at 7 years old. Once back to Italy, he quit music after his private teacher sent him away for
playing by ear Playing or learning by ear is the ability of a performing musician to reproduce a piece of music they have heard, without having seen it notated in any form of sheet music. It is considered to be a desirable skill among musical performers, especi ...
. Deodato grew up on a farm and at eighteen grew up in the neighborhood where Rome's major film studios are located. Through a friendship with the son of Rossellini, it was there that he learned how to direct under
Roberto Rossellini Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such ...
and
Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies. He is the older bro ...
; he helped to make Corbucci's '' The Slave'' and '' Django'' as an assistant director. Later on in the 1960s, he directed some comedy, musical, and thriller films, before leaving cinema to do TV commercials. In 1976 he returned to the big screen with his ultra-violent police flick ''
Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man ''Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man'' ( it, Uomini si nasce poliziotti si muore) is a 1976 Italian poliziotteschi crime film, directed by Ruggero Deodato and starring Marc Porel and Ray Lovelock. Cast * Marc Porel as Fred * Ray Lovelock as Tony ...
''. In 1977 he directed a jungle adventure called ''
Last Cannibal World ''Ultimo mondo cannibale'' (English: ''Last Cannibal World''; also known as ''Cannibal'', ''Jungle Holocaust'' and ''The Last Survivor'') is a 1977 Italian cannibal exploitation film directed by Ruggero Deodato and written by Tito Carpi, Gianfr ...
'' (also known as ''Jungle Holocaust'') starring British actress
Me Me Lai Me Me Lai (born 3 November 1951), sometimes billed as Me Me Lay or Meme Lay, is a Burmese-British actress and television host who worked mainly in British and Italian films, most notably in the horror genre. Life She was born on the night of 3 ...
with which he 'rebooted' the cannibal film / mondo genre started years earlier by Italian director
Umberto Lenzi Umberto Lenzi (6 August 1931 – 19 October 2017) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and novelist. A fan of film since young age, Lenzi studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and made his first film in 1958 which went unr ...
.


Success and controversies

Late in 1979 he returned to the cannibal subgenre with the incredibly controversial '' Cannibal Holocaust''. The film was shot in the
Amazon Rainforest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...
for a budget of about $100,000, and starred
Robert Kerman Robert Charles Kerman (December 16, 1947 – December 27, 2018), also known as R. Bolla, was an American actor who had a noted pornographic acting career during what is considered to be the "golden age" period of the porn film industry during ...
,
Francesca Ciardi Francesca Ciardi (born 26 July 1954) is an Italian film actress. She was one of four actors whom the Italian police believed had been murdered in the making of the 1980 horror film '' Cannibal Holocaust''. The film was considered so realistic, th ...
, and
Carl Gabriel Yorke Carl Gabriel Yorke (born November 23, 1952) is an American actor. He was one of four actors who the Italian police believed had been murdered in the making of the 1980 horror film, '' Cannibal Holocaust''.Ruggero Deodato (interview), ''In the Ju ...
. The film is a
mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...
about a group of filmmakers who go into the Amazon Rainforest and subsequently stage scenes of extreme brutality for a Mondo-style documentary. During production, many cast and crew members protested the use of real animal killing in the film, including Kerman, who walked off the set. Deodato created massive controversy in
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and all over the world following the release of ''Cannibal Holocaust'', which was wrongly claimed by some to be a
snuff film A snuff film, or snuff movie, or snuff video, is a type of film that shows, or purports to show, scenes of actual homicide. The concept of snuff films became known to the general public during the 1970s, when an urban legend alleged that a cland ...
due to the overly realistic
gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitouli ...
effects. Deodato was arrested on suspicion of murder, and was subsequently forced to reveal the secrets behind the film's
special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...
and to parade the lead actors before an
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
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in order to prove that they were still alive. Deodato also received condemnation, still ongoing, for the use of real animal torture in his films. Despite the numerous criticisms, ''Cannibal Holocaust'' is considered a classic of the horror genre and innovative in its found footage plot structure. Deodato's film license was temporarily revoked and he would not get it back until three years later, which then allowed him to release his 1980 thriller '' The House on the Edge of the Park'', which was the most censored of the '
video nasties Video nasty is a colloquial term popularised by the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association (NVALA) in the United Kingdom to refer to a number of films, typically low-budget horror or exploitation films, distributed on video cassette that ...
' in the
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for its graphic violence. His '' Cut and Run'' is a jungle adventure thriller, containing nudity, extreme violence and the appearance of
Michael Berryman Michael John Berryman (born September 4, 1948) is an American character actor. Berryman was born with hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, a rare condition characterized by the absence of sweat glands, hair, and fingernails; his unusual physical ...
as a crazed, machete-wielding jungle man.


Late career

In the 1980s, he made some other slasher/horror films, including ''
Body Count A body count is the total number of people killed in a particular event. In combat, a body count is often based on the number of confirmed kills, but occasionally only an estimate. Often used in reference to military combat, the term can also r ...
'', ''
Phantom of Death ''Phantom of Death'' ( it, Un delitto poco comune, Literal translation, lit. 'An Uncommon Crime') is an Italian giallo directed by Ruggero Deodato and released in 1988. It starred Michael York, Donald Pleasence and Edwige Fenech. The film was r ...
'' and ''Dial Help''. In the 1990s he turned to TV movies and dramas with some success. In 2007, he made a cameo appearance in '' Hostel: Part II'' in the role of a cannibal. Deodato has made about two dozen films and TV series, his films covering many different genres, including many action films, a western, a barbarian film and even a family film called ''Mom I Can Do It''. He is also helping to develop a cannibal-themed video game called ''Borneo: A Jungle Nightmare''.''


Personal life

Deodato was married to actress Silvia Dionisio from 1971 to 1979. He has a son from the marriage. His current partner is Micaela Rocco. In 2019, the filmmaker was honored with a documentary about his life and career called '' Deodato Holocaust''. Directed by Brazilian filmmaker Felipe M. Guerra, it was released in May of that year at the Fantaspoa Film Festival, in Brazil, with the presence of Ruggero. The documentary consists of a series of interviews that Guerra made with the Italian director, edited with images from Deodato's movies and personal photos. In 2021, ''Deodato Holocaust]'' was released on Blu-Ray in Sweden and Germany.


Unmade Projects

Throughout his career Deodato was attached to a number of projects which either did not come to fruition or for various reasons were assigned to other directors. He was originally attached to
The New York Ripper ''The New York Ripper'' ( it, Lo squartatore di New York) is a 1982 Italian ''giallo'' film directed by Lucio Fulci. The film is about a police lieutenant who is tracking a sadistic killer who slashes women with a switchblade and straight-razors ...
,
The Last Shark ''Great White'' (a.k.a. ''The Last Shark''; it, L'ultimo squalo) is a 1981 Italian horror film directed by Enzo G. Castellari, having originally been assigned to Ruggero Deodato. In the film James Franciscus and Vic Morrow attempt to save hun ...
,
Casablanca Express ''Casablanca Express'' is a 1989 Italian action war film starring Jason Connery and Francisco Quinn that was filmed in Morocco. It was produced by Pietro Innocenzi and Umberto Innocenzi and directed by Sergio Martino. The film was later featur ...
, and Amazonia: The Catherine Miles Story. Unmade projects included, a snake thriller, Rattles, and a 1983 sequel to Cannibal Holocaust entitled Cannibal Fury, which was to enter production in 1983.


Filmography


As director


As actor


Video Games


References


Bibliography

* Harvey Fenton, Julian Grainger, Gian Luca Castoldi, ''Cannibal Holocaust: And the Savage Cinema of Ruggero Deodato'', FAB Press, 1999


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deodato, Ruggero 1939 births Italian film directors Horror film directors Living people People from Potenza Giallo film directors