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Portrait: Ennio Guarnieri

Ennio Guarnieri

1930–2019 · Italian cinematographer

Biography

Ennio Guarnieri (Rome, 1930 – 2019) was an Italian cinematographer whose career spanned several decades of Italian cinema and international co-productions. He worked frequently with Mauro Bolognini and Franco Zeffirelli, and on many occasions with Vittorio De Sica, Marco Ferreri and Lina Wertmüller.

He left his studies in Rome and, from 1949 to 1956, worked as assistant cinematographer to Anchise Brizzi. He made his debut as director of photography in 1962 with I giorni contati, directed by Elio Petri. In the late sixties he became a favourite of actresses such as Virna Lisi, Sylva Koscina and Tina Aumont, using soft focus, backlight and scrims extensively. His work on The Garden of the Finzi-Continis earned him a BAFTA nomination for best cinematography.

His first film with Zeffirelli, Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972), won him his first Silver Ribbon for cinematography, and he received a second a decade later for La Traviata. From the 1980s he concentrated mainly on television and advertising. He died in 2019, and his name is associated with the luminous, carefully crafted look of Italian cinema in the sixties and seventies.

Key films

  • The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970), directed by Vittorio De Sica
  • Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972), directed by Franco Zeffirelli
  • Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973), directed by Ennio de Concini and Luigi Comencini
  • La Traviata (1982), directed by Franco Zeffirelli
  • Ginger and Fred (1986), directed by Federico Fellini

Trivia

Two Silver Ribbons

His first collaboration with Zeffirelli, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, earned him his first Silver Ribbon for cinematography. Ten years later he won a second one for La Traviata.

BAFTA nomination

For The Garden of the Finzi-Continis he was nominated for a BAFTA for best cinematography.

On Cinematopedia

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis1970The Cassandra Crossing1976Drama of the Rich1974Drama of the Rich1974Metello1970Talcum Powder1982Talcum Powder1982Brother Sun, Sister Moon1972Medea1969Ginger and Fred1985Hitler: The Last Ten Days1973Swept Away1974The Conjugal Bed1963A Brief Vacation1973

Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.