Damiano Damiani

Life and career

Born in Pasiano di Pordenone, Italy, Damiani studied at the Accademia di Brera in Milan, then made his début in 1947 with the documentary La banda d'Affari. After a few years as a screenwriter, he directed his first feature film in 1960, Il rossetto.

Before his career as a big screenwriter, Damiani was first a comic cartoonist in association with the "Group of Venice". Focused on the comic Asso di Picche (1945–49) the comic featured a masked vigilante who fights crime all over the globe and is in charge of the crime stopping organization, "Band of Panthers".

A smaller publication to which he also contributed through illustration was Mike Lazy (1946), producing two volumes in Albo Dinamite by Edizioni Il Carro in Milan. Then individually producing his own gangster comic, Pat la Rocca (1946). Two books were published in the collection Collana Gialli Film, also by Edizioni Il Carro. A third comic was scheduled and advertised for release, but never materialised.

Continuing his work in the comic industry, Damiani wrote scripts for the photo comic strip Arizona Kid (1949) published in Mondadori magazines such as Avventuroso Film and Bolero Film. Moving on to work on the launch of a similar magazine, Sogno, alongside editor Luciano Pedrocchi, he also later worked as a screenwriter for an adventure comic I Tre Boyscouts (Edizioni Castello, 1948; which was illustrated by Rino Ferrari, Giovanni Benvenuti and Andrea Bresciani). Later in his career, Damiani did some illustration work for the crime noir comic, Hogart il Giustiziere, which was reprinted and published under the title Bogart il Giusitiziere (1968–69).

His 1962 film, Arturo's Island, won the Golden Shell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. The 1960s were Damiani's "golden decade"; he was praised by critics and his films were box office successes.

In 1966, he directed A Bullet for the General, one of the first political spaghetti Westerns. In 1968, with The Day of the Owl, he started a series of films in which social criticism, often related to the connections between politics and crime, was mixed with spectacular plots. His 1971 film Confessions of a Police Captain won the Golden Prize at the 7th Moscow International Film Festival.

In 1973 Damiani débuted as an actor, playing Giovanni Amendola in Florestano Vancini's The Assassination of Matteotti. He was known to cult horror film fans for directing Amityville II: The Possession in 1982 for Dino De Laurentiis.

In 1984, he directed one of the most famous Italian television series, La piovra, a description of the contemporary Italian Mafia and its involvement in politics.

Death

Damiani died on 7 March 2013, at his home in Rome, from respiratory failure; he was 90 years old.

Filmography

Screenwriter

• The Mysteries of Paris (1957)
• Herod the Great (1958)
• Head of a Tyrant (1959)

Director

• Lipstick (Il rossetto, 1960)
• Blood Feud (1961) aka Il sicario (1960)
• Arturo's Island (L'isola di Arturo, 1962)
• The Empty Canvas (La noia, 1963)
• The Reunion (La rimpatriata, 1963)
• The Witch in Love (La strega in amore, 1966)
• A Bullet for the General (El Chuncho, quien sabe?, 1966)
• The Day of the Owl also known as Mafia (Il giorno della civetta, 1967)
• A Complicated Girl (Una ragazza piuttosto complicata, 1968)
• The Most Beautiful Wife (La moglie più bella, 1970)
• Confessions of a Police Captain (Confessioni di un Commissario di Polizia al Procuratore della Repubblica) (1971)
• The Case Is Closed, Forget It (L'istruttoria è chiusa: dimentichi, 1972)
• The Assassin of Rome (Girolimoni, il mostro di Roma, 1972)
• The Devil Is a Woman (Sorriso del grande tentatore, 1974)
• How to Kill a Judge (Perché si uccide un magistrato, 1974)
• A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (Un genio, due compari, un pollo, 1975)
• Goodbye and Amen (Goodbye e amen, 1977)
• I Am Afraid (Io ho paura) (1977)
• A Man on His Knees (Un uomo in ginocchio) (1978)
• The Warning (L'Avvertimento, 1980)
• Amityville II: The Possession (1982)
• Parole e sangue (1983, TV)
• La piovra (1984, TV)
• Pizza Connection (1985)
• The Inquiry (L'inchiesta, 1986)
• Imago urbis (1987)
• Massacre Play (1989)
• Lenin...The Train (1990, TV)
• The Dark Sun (Il sole buio, 1990)
• Man of Respect (Uomo di rispetto) (1992)
• Angel with a Gun (1992)
• Una bambina di troppo (1994, TV)
• Ama il tuo nemico (1999, TV)
• Alex l'ariete (2000)
• Ama il tuo nemico 2 (2001, TV)
• Another World Is Possible (Un altro mondo è possibile, 2001)
• Assassini dei giorni di festa (2002)

Actor

• 7 Bullets for Gringo (1967) - Journalist with Gen. Elías (uncredited)
• The Case Is Closed, Forget It (1971) - Vanzi's lawyer (uncredited)
• The Assassination of Matteotti (1973) - Giovanni Amendola
• How to Kill a Judge (1975) - Giacomo Solaris' Attorney (uncredited) (final film role)

Awards

• Golden Seashell at San Sebastián International Film Festival for L'isola di Arturo (1962)
• Berlin FIPRESCI Prize – Honorable Mention, for La rimpatriata (1963)
• Silver Berlin Bear – Honorable Mention for Pizza Connection (1985)
• David di Donatello, Alitalia Award, for L'Inchiesta (1986)
• Golden Prize at Moscow Film Festival for Confessione di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica (1971)

Nominations

• Golden Berlin Bear for Pizza Connection (1985)
• Golden Berlin Bear for Il giorno della civetta (1968)
• Golden Berlin Bear for La rimpatriata (1963)

References

References

1. Paolo Mereghetti. (8 March 2013). "Addio a Damiano Damiani". [[Corriere della Sera]].
2. Bardini, Marco. (2015-04-15). "Elsa Morante e il cinema: "L'isola di Arturo" di Damiano Damiani". Cuadernos de Filología Italiana.
3. (2009-12-01). "Lambiek Comiclopedia".
4. Lino Micciché, ''Storia del cinema italiano''. Edizioni di Bianco & Nero, 2001.
5. (8 March 2013). "Morto il regista Damiano Damiani". [[La Stampa]].
6. Marco Giusti. (2007}}<!--). "Dizionario del western all'italiana". Mondadori, 2007.
7. Garofalo, Piero. (2011). "Mafia Movies". University of Toronto Press.
8. (8 March 2013). "Addio a Damiano Damiani, regista della Piovra". [[La Repubblica]].
9. "7th Moscow International Film Festival (1971)". MIFF.
10. (2013-03-07). "Addio a Damiano Damiani,  regista della Piovra".
11. "Berlinale: 1985 Prize Winners". berlinale.de.
12. "Awards for Damiano Damiani".