Giuliano Montaldo

Giuliano Montaldo (22 February 1930 – 6 September 2023) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. He was known internationally for his biographical docudrama Sacco & Vanzetti, which was nominated for the Palme d'Or, and the historical miniseries Marco Polo (1982), which won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series. He served as the 5th President of the Accademia del Cinema Italiano.

Biography

Early life and career Montaldo was born in Genoa in 1930. He had his first acting experiences in "mass theatre" productions conducted by the Italian Communist Party. While he was still a young student, Montaldo was recruited by the director Carlo Lizzani for a role in the war drama Attention! Bandits! (1951). Following this experience he began an apprenticeship as an assistant director of Lizzani, Elio Petri, and Gillo Pontecorvo, as well as appearing in Abandoned (1955).

He was Pontecorvo's second unit director for The Battle of Algiers (1966). The director originally wanted him to play the part of Colonel Mathieu, leader of the French Army paratroopers and principal antagonist of the film. Montaldo talked him out of it, believing audiences wouldn't take the film seriously with him in the role.

His cinema career continued with Machine Gun McCain, a US-set gangster picture starring John Cassavetes as a convicted bank robber recruited to rob a mob-run Las Vegas casino. The film also starred Peter Falk (in the first of several collaborations with Cassavetes), Britt Ekland and Gena Rowlands. It was nominated for the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or, the first of two times Montaldo would be nominated for the honor.

Montaldo then directed a thematic trilogy about the abuses of the military, judicial and religious power. The first film, The Fifth Day of Peace (1970), was based on the 13 May 1945 German deserter execution. The second, Sacco and Vanzetti (1971), was about the trial, conviction, and executions of two Italian-American anarchists over false charges of murder. The film was a widespread critical success, earning Montaldo his second Palme d'Or nod, and is credited with spreading awareness of the duo's story worldwide. The soundtrack, written by Ennio Morricone and Joan Baez, is also well-regarded. The third film of Montaldo's trilogy was Giordano Bruno (1973), about the Italian philosopher and scientist who was executed by the Catholic Church for heresy.

In 1971, he was a member of the jury at the 7th Moscow International Film Festival.

In 1975, he was a second unit director for the Terence Hill-starring Spaghetti Western A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe.

In 1978, he directed the thriller Closed Circuit. Originally produced for television, the film was nominated for the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.

In 1982, he directed the internationally co-produced television miniseries Marco Polo. The series, which aired on NBC in the United States, was the first Western film or television production to be shot on-location in the People's Republic of China, including location shooting in the Forbidden City. The series won Outstanding Limited Series at the 34th Primetime Emmy Awards.

In 1987, he directed Control, an ensemble drama starring Burt Lancaster, Ben Gazzara, Kate Nelligan, Ingrid Thulin and Erland Josephson; and The Gold Rimmed Glasses, which was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

In 1989, he directed Time to Kill (1989), with Nicolas Cage, based on Ennio Flaiano's novel of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.

Later works and retirement Between 1999 and 2008, he was the President of RAI's film production subsidiary Rai Cinema.

In 2008, he was awarded honorary citizenship of the city of Narni.

Personal life Montaldo was married to Vera Pescarolo, an assistant director and the daughter of actress Vera Vergani. Their daughter, Elisabetta Montaldo, is a costume designer.

In 2020, Fabrizio Corallo made the documentary Vera & Giuliano, about the private and professional life of the couple.

Death Montaldo died on 6 September 2023, at the age of 93.

Filmography As director

Acting roles