Career

Both born in San Miniato, Tuscany, Italy, the Taviani brothers began their careers as journalists. In 1960 they came to the world of cinema directing, with Joris Ivens the documentary L'Italia non è un paese povero (Italy is not a poor country), and they went on to direct two films with Valentino Orsini Un uomo da bruciare (1962) and I fuorilegge del matrimonio (1963).

Their first autonomous film was I sovversivi (The Subversives, 1967), with which they anticipated the events of 1968. With actor Gian Maria Volontè they gained attention with Sotto il segno dello scorpione (Under the Sign of Scorpio, (1969) where one can see the echoes of Brecht, Pasolini and Godard.

In 1971 they co-signed the media campaign against Milan's police commissioner Luigi Calabresi, published in the magazine L'espresso.

The revolutionary theme is present both in San Michele aveva un gallo (1971), an adaptation of Tolstoy's novel The Divine and the Human, a film greatly appreciated by critics, and in the film Allonsanfan (1974), in which Marcello Mastroianni has a role as an ex-revolutionary who has served a long term in prison and now views his idealistic youth in a much more realistic light, and nevertheless gets entangled in a new attempt in which he no longer believes.

Their next film Padre padrone (1977) (Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival), taken from a novel by Gavino Ledda, speaks of the struggle of a Sardinian shepherd against the cruel rules of his patriarchal society. In Il prato (1979) there are nonrealistic echoes, while La notte di San Lorenzo (Saint Lorenzo's night) (1982) narrates, in a fairy-tale tone, a marginal event in the days before the end of World War II, in Tuscany, as seen through the eyes of some village people. The film was awarded the Special Jury Award in Cannes.

Kaos (1984)—another literary adaptation—is a poignantly beautiful and poetical film in episodes, taken from Luigi Pirandello's Short Stories for a year. In Il sole anche di notte (1990) the Taviani brothers transposed in 18th century Naples the story from Tolstoy's "Father Sergius".

From then onwards, the Taviani's inspiration proved faltering. Successes like Le affinità elettive, (1996, from Goethe) and an attempt to woo the international audiences like Good morning Babilonia, (1987), on the pioneers of cinema history, alternate with lesser films like Fiorile (1993) and Tu ridi (1996), inspired by the characters and short stories of Pirandello.

In the 2000s, the two brothers turned successfully to directing television films and miniseries. They gave a respectful adaptation of Tolstoy's Resurrection (2001) and Luisa Sanfelice (2004) a sort of romantic-popular ballad from a book by Alexandre Dumas.

Literary adaptations continue with La masseria delle allodole (2007), presented at the Berlin Film Festival in the section 'Berlinale Special'.

Their film Caesar Must Die won the Golden Bear at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2012. The film was also selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.

Filmography

As film directors

1950s-1960s

• San Miniato, luglio '44 (1954)
• L'Italia non è un paese povero (with Joris Ivens, 1960)
• Un uomo da bruciare (together with Valentino Orsini, 1962)
• I fuorilegge del matrimonio (with Valentino Orsini, 1963)
• I sovversivi (1967)
• Sotto il segno dello scorpione (1969)

1970s-1980s

• San Michele aveva un gallo (1972)
• Allonsanfàn (1974)
• Padre Padrone (1977)
• Il prato (1979)
• La notte di San Lorenzo (1982)
• Kaos (1984)
• Good Morning, Babylon (1987)

1990s

• Il sole anche di notte (1990)
• Fiorile (1993)
• Le affinità elettive (1996)
• Tu ridi (1998)

2000s

• Un altro mondo è possibile (2001)
• Resurrezione (TV film, 2001)
• Luisa Sanfelice (TV miniseries, 2004)
• La masseria delle allodole (2007)
• Caesar Must Die (2012)
• Wondrous Boccaccio (2015)

As screenwriters

1950s-1960s

• San Miniato, luglio '44 (with Valentino Orsini and Cesare Zavattini, 1954)
• Un uomo da bruciare (with Valentino Orsini, 1962)
• I fuorilegge del matrimonio (with Lucio Battistrada, Giuliani G. De Negri, Renato Niccolai and Valentino Orsini, 1963)
• I sovversivi (1967)
• Sotto il segno dello scorpione (1969)

1970s-1980s

• San Michele aveva un gallo (based on a story by Tolstoy, 1972)
• Allonsanfàn (1973)
• Padre padrone (based on a book by Gavino Ledda, 1977)
• Il prato (with Gianni Sbarra, 1979)
• La notte di San Lorenzo (with Giuliani G. De Negri and Tonino Guerra, 1982)
• Kaos (based on short stories by Pirandello, 1984)
• Good Morning, Babylon (with Tonino Guerra, 1987)

Since the 1990s

• Il sole anche di notte (with Tonino Guerra, 1990)
• Fiorile (with Sandro Petraglia, 1993)
• Le affinità elettive (based on a novella by Goethe, 1996)
• Tu ridi (based on short stories by Pirandello, 1998)
• Resurrezione (based on a novel by Tolstoy, 2001)
• Luisa Sanfelice (based on a novel by Alexandre Dumas, père, 2004)

Soundtrack composers

For their first eight films

In chronological order:

• Gianfranco Intra: Un uomo da bruciare
• Giovanni Fusco: I fuorilegge del matrimonio, I sovversivi
• Vittorio Gelmetti: Sotto il segno dello scorpione
• Benedetto Ghiglia: San Michele aveva un gallo
• Ennio Morricone: Allonsanfan
• Egisto Macchi: Padre padrone
• Ennio Morricone: Il prato

Nicola Piovani

Nicola Piovani their favourite composer: eight films together, from La notte di San Lorenzo to Luisa Sanfelice; a series only interrupted for Le affinità elettive (music by Carlo Crivelli).

Favourite classical composers

• Mozart
  • Adagio from Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in Padre padrone
  • Cavatina L'ho perduta from Nozze di Figaro in Kaos
• Wagner:
  • Baritone aria O du mein holder Abendstern from the 3rd act of Tannhauser in Notte di San Lorenzo
• Rossini:
  • Sinfonia from Guglielmo Tell (Good Morning Babilonia)
  • Aria dei gatti (Tu ridi)
• Chopin and Tchaikovsky in Resurrezione

Awards

• 1977: Palme d'or at Cannes Film Festival for Padre Padrone - Father and Master.
• 1977: Grand Prix for Padre Padrone - Father and Master, Berlin International Film Festival
• 1978: Special David di Donatello for Padre Padrone - Father and Master.
• 1982: Grand Prix at Cannes Film Festival for The Night of the Shooting Stars.
• 1983: David di Donatello for Best Film and David di Donatello for Best Director for The Night of the Shooting Stars.
• 1984: Italian Golden Globes Golden Globe for Best Film for The Night of the Shooting Stars.
• 1985: Italian Golden Globes Golden Globe for Best Film for Kaos.
• 1985: David di Donatello for Best Script for Kaos.
• 1986: Leone d'Oro (Golden Lion) Life Career of the Venice International Film Festival.
• 2002: Golden St. George at the 24th Moscow International Film Festival for Resurrection
• 2005: Italian Golden Globes Career Prize
• 2007: Efebo d'oro for La Masseria delle Allodole.
• 2008: Laurea Honoris Causa in "Cinema, Theatre and Multimedia Production" by the Faculty of Literature and Philosophy of the University of Pisa.
• 2012: Golden Bear and Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Berlin International Film Festival for Caesar Must Die.
• 2012: David di Donatello for Best Film and David di Donatello for Best Director for Caesar Must Die.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]