Tonino Delli Colli Will Receive ASC Int'l Award

[Tim Tyler]

Tonino Delli Colli, AIC will receive the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) International Achievement Award which is presented annually to an individual whose body of work has made an enduring impact on the global art form. The award will be presented to Delli Colli during the 19th Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards here at the Century Plaza Hotel on February 20, 2005. Delli Colli was in the front ranks of a new generation of cinematographers who pioneered neorealist cinema after World War II. He earned over 130 cinematography credits between 1944 and 1997. The Ministry of Performing Arts in Italy has presented the prestigious annual David di Donatello Award to Delli Colli four times. He has also earned six top cinematography awards from the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists.

 

His award winning films include TALES OF ORDINARY MADNESS, THE NAME OF THE ROSE, MARIANNA UCRIA, GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, CHINA IS NEAR, ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY and LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL. "Tonino Delli Colli is one of our great artists and it's high time he was singled out for recognition," says ASC President Richard Crudo. "Throughout his career he has been incredibly courageous and imaginative in exploring new possibilities for cinematographers. He is an inspiration to all of us, all over the world."

 

Past recipients of the ASC International Achievement Award include Freddie Young, BSC, Jack Cardiff, BSC, Gabriel Figueroa, AMC, Henri Alekan, Raoul Coutard, Freddie Francis, BSC, Giuseppe Rotunno, ASC, AIC, Oswald Morris, BSC, Billy Williams, BSC, Douglas Slocombe, BSC, Witold Sobocinski, PSC and Miroslav Ondricek, ASC, ACK.

 

Delli Colli was born in Rome in 1923, where his father worked for a film lab. After Delli Colli graduated from junior high school his father instructed him to find a job. "It was for economic reasons and because I wasn't studious," Delli Colli says.

 

About a year after it opened, Cinecitta Studios hired a young Delli Colli in 1938. "They asked me if I wanted to work in the sound department or with the cameramen," Delli Colli recalls. "I said with the cameramen even though I knew nothing about what that meant. I knew absolutely nothing about filmmaking. I had no idea that those few words would determine the course of my life. I learned my trade by watching what the professionals were doing and valuing the advice they gave me. There was also a natural instinct that I can't explain, because it's not a tangible thing. It's just a part of me."

 

His mentors have included cinematographers Mario Albertelli, Ubaldo Arata and Anchise Brizzi. He was an assistant on Albertelli's crew ("He was like a father to me"), and a camera operator for Arata and Brizzi. Delli Colli earned his first credit in 1944 for FINALMENTE SI! (FINALLY YES!). He observes that neorealism was a child born of necessity in post-war Italy, when black-and-white films were being produced on minimal budgets at practical locations. "They were all dramatic, unhappy stories about post-war life," he says. "The defining characteristic of those films was that they were filmed in real environments, partially because the Cinecitta Studio was filled with displaced persons. We used ambient light and what came through the windows as the starting point for our cinematography."

 

Delli Colli was under contract to shoot five films a year for Carlo Ponti and Dino De Laurentiis during the early 1950s. That's how he happened to shoot TOTO A COLORI (TOTO IN COLOR), Italy's first color film in 1952. He recalls that the film had an exposure index of six. "No one else wanted to do it," he recalls, "but they told me I had no choice, because I was under contract. Poor Toto (Antonio Scannagatti)! He had problems with his eyes and we had to use an avalanche of light. As soon as the director called cut, he ran off the stage to get away from that inferno."

 

Delli Colli says that the transition to color film required development of new types of lighting equipment and investments by labs in processing and equipment. It also affected basic concepts for costume and production design and even a rethinking of story concepts.

 

"There is no doubt the cinema has gained something from the advent of color," he says, "but I think it also lost a lot. Black and white made it possible to create unique atmospheres." By the late 1950s, Delli Colli was shooting Italian-American projects. He was working on THE WONDERS OF ALADDIN in 1960, when he heard that a promising new director named Pier Paolo Pasolini was preparing to shoot his first film. When Delli Colli sent word that he was interested, they told him he was too expensive. "I told them to pay me whatever they could," he says. "I believe it was fate, because that day completely changed my career. I did 12 films with him in 15 years (ACCATTONE, THE DECAMERON, MAMMA ROMA, THE CANTERBURY TALES, etc.). Pasolini respected everyone on the set. He assembled a great group of artists, including (production designer) Dante Ferretti and (costume designer) Danilo Donati."

 

Delli Colli met Sergio Leone during the early 1960s when he helped the young director find a producer who financed his film. They subsequently collaborated on THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST and ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA. "He was a meticulous artist, who paid attention to everything he did, right down to the smallest details," Delli Colli says. "He wanted me to light long shots so the audience could see details on screens of all sizes. He wanted them to see individual hairs in each character's beard as well as their eyes. That's one reason why his three-hour films passed quickly for the audience."

 

Delli Colli says that Federico Fellini was "fairly easy to work with ... you just had to get to know him. He had the habit of changing things at the last moment. Fellini never worked with notes or a script. He invented everything on the spot. We shot everything for THE VOICE OF THE MOON in the dark of night. For a scene that was supposed to be lit by fireflies, I had tiny lamps made and suspended them from fishing rods dancing in front of the lens. In THE NAME OF THE ROSE, the only artificial light came from candles, torches and lanterns. I intensified lighting with tiny lamps hidden in fake candles. It was painstaking work that grew out of intuition." Delli Colli concludes, "The great actor Marcello Mastroianni always said that he was lucky because he had the best job in the world. I share that feeling with him. I've met great professionals who have allowed me to express myself as best I can through images. If anyone asks me about my films, and how I created them technically, I always tell them to watch them again because everything is right there. The magic of film can't be put into words." Owen Roizman, ASC, chairman of the organization's Awards Committee says, "Tonino Delli Colli has earned the esteem of our members who are uniquely qualified to appreciate the artistry of other cinematographers. They recognize the power of subtle nuances in his images that are meant to be transparent to audiences. He has compiled a remarkable body of work that has stood the test of time. I am looking forward to this celebration of his artistry."

 

The ASC was formed in 1919 when the Cinema Club of New York and the Static Club of Los Angeles merged. Their primary purpose was to provide a forum where the first generation of cinematographers could meet to discuss ideas for advancing the art and craft of filmmaking. There are currently some 275 active ASC members today with roots in many different countries, and 140 associate members who work in ancillary sectors of the industry that support the art and craft of cinematography.

 

For information about the 19th Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Award, visit the ASC website at www.theasc.com or call 323-969-4333.