Ennio (2021)
(Giuseppe Tornatore, Italy/Belgium/Netherlands/Japan 2021, 156 min., DCP, Italian, English, French, Portuguese, and Chinese with English subtitles)
Giuseppe Tornatore, director of the beloved Cinema Paradiso, turns his camera on his longtime collaborator Ennio Morricone in a moving and comprehensive profile of the composer. Tornatore’s documentary portrait explores the breadth of the maestro’s career, from his early Italian pop songs to the fistful of unforgettable film scores he wrote, including The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Days of Heaven, The Mission, and hundreds of others. This examination thoughtfully captures insightful commentary from Morricone’s closest collaborators and contemporaries, featuring testimonies from artists and directors including Bernardo Berolucci, Marco Bellocchio, Guiliano Montaldo, Dario Argento, Clint Eastwood, Joan Baez, Quentin Tarantino, and more. Ennio affords the master one last chance to recount his career and deconstruct the artistic process that led him to win two Academy Awards and author over 500 unforgettable soundtracks. The film was shot shortly before Morricone’s death in 2020 and is making its first appearance in the United States.
Introduction by Mark Watters, Emmy-winning composer and Director of the Beal Institute for Film Music and Contemporary Media at the Eastman School of Music.