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Dec.5 - Dec.12, 2004 |
Dreams, Passions and Projects of Ferretti
One of cinema's great art directors the subject of Italian book L'arte della scenografia about his life's work
By Carmela Piccione
Originally Published: 2004-11-21
Italian publishing house Electa has prepared a tribute to Dante Ferretti, recipient of many awards and beloved by major international filmmakers; the art director, author of memorable sets that have become the history of cinema, was nominated seven times for an Oscar.
L'arte della scenografia ("The Art of Scenography") is a voyage through his productions, among souvenirs, memories, notes, and beautiful sketches and images of sets. This exceptional patrimony has been assembled for the first time and is accompanied by a long preface with Gabriele Lucci and new photographs by Gianni Berengo Gardin. These show very well the personal poetry and visionary creativity of an artist who managed, with his spectacular reconstructions, to materialize the dreams of directors like Pier Paolo Pasolini, Federico Fellini, Terry Gilliam, Jean Jacques Annaud, Anthony Minghella, Franco Zeffirelli, Martin Scorsese.
Scorsese, the great Italian-American master, who in 1993 wanted Ferretti for the sets of The Age of Innocence, writes in the preface, "For that film, I wanted something unique, a special eye that did not only look at aesthetics but also to the weight, the presence, the substance of beautiful, opulent objects. In every film, Dante gave me some priceless gifts, an inner universe possessing intensity, depth, absolute splendour. From Kundun to Gangs of New York, every time I witnessed a miracle that repeated itself again and again. Even my last production, The Aviator, starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Cate Blanchett, made my esteem for Dante and his skill grow further. His complete dedication to his art, his intuition, his acute introspections, his extraordinary sensitivity... I can hardly imagine," concludes Scorsese, "what I would have done without him."
Dante Ferretti (born in Macerata in 1943) tells something about himself in the book. How he began working in Cinecittą at the age of 17 ("It was like living in a dream dimension...," he says), his friendship with people such as Fellini, Pasolini, Scorsese, Gilliam (with The Adventures of Baron Munchausen Ferretti obtained his first Oscar nomination), his memories, some anecdotes. "Pasolini was an intellectual, a poet," he remembers. "On the other hand, Fellini was a despot, a jealous and overbearing vampire. I learned a lot from both of them. With Federico, we liked to tell each other our dreams: the most incredible, magical, colourful dreams. After comparing dreams, Federico distilled the visions that permeate his films, after filtering them through his own genial personality."
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