Ermanno Olmi

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Ermanno Olmi (2013)

Ermanno Olmi (born July 24, 1931 in Treviglio , Bergamo ; † May 5, 2018 in Asiago , Vicenza ) was an Italian film director , screenwriter and cameraman .

Works

After the Second World War , Olmi worked as an employee at the Edison-Volta electricity company in Milan , where he became the leisure activities officer in 1952 and made around forty documentaries about the facility and the employees' hobbies. With Edison's financial means, he was able to shoot his first feature film When time stood still in 1959 . Il Posto followed in 1961 : a young man from a poor family comes to the big city (Milan) to work as an employee for a large company. In 1963, Olmi directed The Fiancés , in which he accompanies an engaged couple who are separated for 18 months due to the job the fiancé has to accept.

Although Olmi himself saw his work as an answer to Italian neorealism , his films fit into this artistic concept. In the films, as in many films of neorealism, amateur actors appear at the original locations. They are shot in long, slow shots and comment on the social reality of the lower classes, although the neorealists tend to be reluctant to express a decided political opinion. Olmi's refusal to caricature or condescend his characters, his apparent affection for his characters and those around them, make it difficult to classify him.

A man came: In the footsteps of John XXIII from 1964 was his first deliberately commercial work. A certain day (1969) is about a problematic middle-class character, with I Recuperanti he delivered a new edition of When time stood still in 1970 . In 1978 Olmi was awarded the Golden Palm for The Wooden Shoe Tree at the Cannes Film Festival . In 1979, the film received another major award, a César for best foreign film. In the film, Olmi tells of life on an estate in Lombardy in the 19th century: poor families live dependent on the landowner. Although it means a great sacrifice, they send one of their children to school.

In the years that followed, Olmi made only a few films. In 1988 he received the Golden Lion for The Legend of the Holy Drinker based on the novel by Joseph Roth at the Venice Film Festival . In this masterpiece of cinematic storytelling, Olmi shows an alcoholic tramp in Paris to whom a stranger lends 200 francs, on the condition that the money be donated to a band as soon as he can afford it. The film was based on the script by Tullio Kezich , with whom Olmi had already worked repeatedly in the 1960s.

In 1996, the film adaptation of the Bible, Die Bibel - Genesis, was broadcast on German television Olmis . True to his style, he renounced special effects and star casts in favor of sensitive narrative threads. Only the main actor Omero Antonutti comes from a modern, western country, the other actors were residents of the location in Morocco ; Nomads who still live like in biblical times.

His film The Medici Warrior won the David di Donatello in nine categories in 2002 , including best director, best screenplay and best film.

Ermano Olmi was married to actress Loredana Detto, who starred in his 1961 drama The Job . The marriage resulted in son Fabio Olmi, who works as a cameraman and worked with his father on the 2001 adventure film The Medici Warrior .

Filmography (selection)

B = script, K = camera, R = direction, P = production, S = editing

  • 1959: When time stood still (Il tempo si è fermato) - (R, B)
  • 1961: The Job (Il posto) - (B, R)
  • 1962: The betrothed (I fidanzati) - (R, B)
  • 1963: The basilisks (I basilischi) - (P)
  • 1965: A man came: In the footsteps of John XXIII. (E venne un uomo) - (B, R)
  • 1968: A certain day (Un certo giorno) - (R, B)
  • 1978: The wooden shoe tree (L'albero degli zoccoli) - (B, S, K, R)
  • 1983: And they followed a star (Cammina Cammina) - (B, K, S, R)
  • 1987: Long live the Signora! (Lunga vita alla signora!) - (B, S, R)
  • 1988: The legend of the holy drinker (La leggenda del santo bevitore) - (R, B)
  • 1994: The Bible - Genesis (Genesi - La creazione e il diluvio) - (R, B, K)
  • 2001: The Medici Warrior (Il mestiere delle armi) - (R, B)
  • 2003: Cantando dietro i paraventi - (R, B)
  • 2007: The Duchess of Langeais (Ne touchez pas la hache) - (P)
  • 2007: Hundred Nails (Centochiodi) - (R, B)
  • 2011: Il villaggio di cartone - (R, B)
  • 2014: Torneranno i prati - (R, B)

honors and awards

Web links

Commons : Ermanno Olmi  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Maurizio Porro: È morto il regista Ermanno Olmi, aveva 86 anni . In: Corriere della Sera , May 7, 2018, accessed May 7, 2018 (Italian).
  2. ↑ Olmi wins lifetime award at Venice film festival . Associated Press on Sep 5, 2008 at 8:42 PM GMT
personal data
SURNAME Olmi, Ermanno
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian film director, screenwriter and cameraman
DATE OF BIRTH July 24, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Bergamo , Italy
DATE OF DEATH May 7, 2018
Place of death Asiago , Italy