Ennio, it is the title of a documentary signed by the Italian Giuseppe Tornatore and devoted to his compatriot, also collaborator on many of his films like Cinema Paradiso, the composer Ennio Morricone. We discover unexpected facets of the musician, made famous in the 1960s by the soundtracks he composed in particular for the westerns of another compatriot, Sergio Leone.
Ennio Morricone imitating the cry of the coyote and recounting with mischief how he came up with the idea for the theme of the film The good, the bad and the ugly… This is one of the many nuggets of this documentary, shot by one of the directors, Giuseppe Tornatore, with whom the musician has collaborated the most.
But with which filmmaker Maestro, as he was called with deference, did he not work? From Sergio Leone to Quentin Tarentino via Dario Argento or Roland Joffé, the great artists of the 7th art have secured the services of the Italian composer. A demanding artist who imposed himself, from his first scores for the image in the 1960s, as the third author of the film, with the scriptwriter and the director.
Giuseppe Tornatore followed Ennio Morricone for five years, from 2015 to 2020, the year of his death. We see him at work, composing tirelessly – he is credited with five hundred scores – scribbling on a sheet of paper, without the aid of an instrument.
► Read also : Ennio Morricone, once upon a time in Italy
He would have dreamed of composing only absolute music, like his classmates at the Rome Conservatory where he began by learning to play the trumpet, but had to work to feed his family.
Yet it was by composing commissioned soundtracks that he demonstrated his genius -rewarded by numerous prizes including an honorary Oscar in 2007-, and that his work will remain as one of the major pieces of music of the 20th century. century…