Vittorio Storaro
{{Short description|Italian cinematographer (born 1940)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Vittorio Storaro
| image = VITTORIO STORARO.jpg
| caption = Storaro at Cannes in 2001
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1940|6|24|df=y}}
| birth_place = Rome, Italy
| education = Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia
| occupation = Cinematographer
| years_active = 1960–present
| employer =
| organization = *American Society of Cinematographers
- Associazione Italiana Autori della Fotografia Cinematografica
| known_for = *The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)
- The Conformist (1970)
- Last Tango in Paris (1972)
- 1900 (1976)
- Apocalypse Now (1979)
- Reds (1981)
- The Last Emperor (1987)
- Dick Tracy (1990)
- Café Society (2016)
- Wonder Wheel (2017)
}}
Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. (born 24 June 1940), is an Italian cinematographer widely recognized as one of the best and most influential in cinema history, for his work on numerous classic films including The Conformist (1970), Apocalypse Now (1979), and The Last Emperor (1987). In the course of over fifty years, he has collaborated with directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Ford Coppola, Warren Beatty, Woody Allen, and Carlos Saura.
He has received three Academy Awards for Best Cinematography for the films Apocalypse Now, Reds (1981), and The Last Emperor, and is one of three living persons who has won the award three times, the others being Robert Richardson and Emmanuel Lubezki.
Early life
File:Vittorio Storaro Camerimage.jpg
Storaro was born in Rome. The son of a film projectionist, Storaro began studying photography at the age of 11. He went on to formal cinematography studies at the national Italian film school, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, when he was 18.{{cite web|url=https://britishcinematographer.co.uk/vittorio-storaro-aic-asc-the-early-life-of-mohammad/|title=Back in Time: Vittorio Storaro AIC, ASC / The Early Life of Mohammed|date=27 May 2015 |publisher=British Cinematographer|access-date=23 April 2019}}
Career
Storaro is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential cinematographers of all time.{{cite web|author=Kay, Jeremy|title=And the 11 most influential cinematographers of all time are...|url=https://www.screendaily.com/and-the-11-most-influential-cinematographers-of-all-time-are-/4015572.article|website=Screen Daily|date=16 October 2003|access-date=23 April 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/cinematographer-vittorio-storaro-warns-major-899691|title=Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro Warns of "Major Problem" in the Field|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=4 June 2016|access-date=22 April 2019}}{{cite news|url=http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2015/the-10-most-visually-stunning-movies-shot-by-vittorio-storaro/|title=The 10 Most Visually Stunning Movies Shot by Vittorio Storaro|work=Taste of Cinema - Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists|date=15 September 2015|access-date=23 April 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/jul/09/artsfeatures|title=Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro reveals his inspiration|author=Jones, Jonathan|date=9 July 2003|work=The Guardian|issn=0261-3077|oclc=900948621}} He has worked with many important film directors, in particular Bernardo Bertolucci, with whom he has had a long collaboration.{{cite web|author=Pizzello, Stephen|title=Storaro and Bertolucci Celebrated at Milan International Film Festival|url=https://theasc.com/news/storaro-and-bertolucci-celebrated-at-milan-international-film-festival|website=American Society of Cinematographers|date=6 July 2018|access-date=23 April 2019}} His philosophy is largely inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's theory of colors, which focuses in part on the psychological effects that different colors have and the way in which colors influence our perceptions of different situations.{{cite magazine|url=https://ascmag.com/articles/whos-afraid-of-red-green-and-blue|title=Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC personally details the richly hued artistic strategy he created to shoot Woody Allen's period drama.|magazine=American Cinematographer|date=30 November 2017}}
He first worked with Bertolucci on The Conformist (1970). Set in fascist Italy, the film has been described as a "visual masterpiece".{{cite web|author=Berardinelli, James|year=1994|title=Review: The Conformist|access-date=23 April 2019|url=http://preview.reelviews.net/movies/c/conformist.html|website=ReelViews}}
Also in 1970, he photographed The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, the directorial debut of Dario Argento and a landmark film in the giallo genre.{{cite news|author=Gallant, Chris|title=Where to begin with giallo|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/where-begin-giallo|publisher=BFI|date=7 June 2018|access-date=23 April 2019}}
The first American film that Storaro worked on was Apocalypse Now (1979). Director Francis Ford Coppola gave him free rein on the film's visual look.{{cite magazine|url=https://ascmag.com/articles/flashback-apocalypse-now|author=Pizzello, Stephen|title=Flashback: Apocalypse Now|magazine=American Cinematographer|date=24 August 2017}} Apocalypse Now earned Storaro his first Academy Award.{{cite web|url=https://britishcinematographer.co.uk/vittorio-storaro-aic-asc-the-art-of-cinematography/|title=Mighty Tome: Vittorio Storaro AIC ASC / The Art of Cinematography|date=3 June 2015 |publisher=British Cinematographer|access-date=23 April 2019}}
He worked with Warren Beatty for the first time on Reds (1981), and ended up winning his second Academy Award.{{cite news|url=https://italoamericano.org/story/2016-9-20/vittorio-storaro|title=Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro: Master of Lights and Colors|date=20 September 2016|work=italoamericano.org|access-date=23 April 2019}}
Storaro won a third Academy Award for The Last Emperor (1987), directed by Bertolucci. Three years later he received a nomination, but did not win, for the Beatty film Dick Tracy.{{cite magazine|author=Bob Fisher|url=https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/2017/11/11/vittorio-storaro-maestro-of-light/|title=Vittorio Storaro: Maestro of Light|year=2004|publisher=International Cinematographers Guild |magazine= ICG Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114050910/https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/2017/11/11/vittorio-storaro-maestro-of-light/ |archive-date=14 November 2017 |via=scrapsfromtheloft.com}}
In 2002, Storaro completed the first in a series of books that articulate his philosophy of cinematography.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/jul/09/artsfeatures|author=Jones, Jonathan|title=Painting with light|work=The Guardian|date=9 July 2003|access-date=23 April 2019}}
He was the cinematographer for a BBC co-production with Italian broadcaster RAI of Verdi's Rigoletto over two nights on the weekend of 4 and 5 September 2010.{{cite news|author=Adetunji, Jo|title=Verdi's Rigoletto given 'cinematic' makeover for BBC|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/jul/25/verdi-rigoletto-opera-bbc-television|work=The Guardian|date=25 July 2010|access-date=23 April 2019}}
Woody Allen's Café Society (2016) was the first film that Storaro shot digitally; he used the Sony F65 camera.{{cite web|author=Giardina, Carolyn|title=Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro on Filming 'Cafe Society' Digitally: "You Can't Stop Progress"|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/cinematographer-vittorio-storaro-filming-cafe-911441|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=15 July 2016|access-date=23 April 2019}}
In 2017, Storaro was honored with the George Eastman Award.{{cite news|url=https://theasc.com/news/vittorio-storaro-asc-aic-honored-with-george-eastman-award|title=Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC Honored with George Eastman Award|publisher=American Society of Cinematographers|date=21 March 2017|access-date=22 April 2019}} The same year he also attended the New York Film Festival at which he debated with Ed Lachman on cinematography and its transition to digital.{{cite news|author=Chris O'Falt|date=13 October 2017|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2017/10/film-digital-debate-cinematography-vittorio-storaro-ed-lachman-new-york-film-festival-1201886690/|title=Digital Cinematography Smackdown: Vittorio Storaro and Ed Lachman Debate, With Love|work=IndieWire|access-date=23 April 2019}}
His other film credits include 1900, Last Tango in Paris, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, One from the Heart, Bulworth, The Sheltering Sky, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Ladyhawke, Tango, and Goya en Burdeos.
With his son Fabrizio, he created the Univisium format system to unify all future theatrical and television movies into one respective aspect ratio of 2.00:1.{{cite news|url=https://www.redsharknews.com/production/item/4996-the-remarkable-rise-of-the-univisium-2-1-aspect-ratio|author=Joe Foster|title=The remarkable rise of the Univisium 2:1 aspect ratio|work=RedSharkNews|date=24 October 2017|access-date=23 April 2019}} As of 2023, this unification has not happened, and the universal replacement of 4:3 televisions by large, wide-screen displays greatly reduces the need to modify scope-ratio films for home theater presentation.
Personal life
Storaro is known for stylish, fastidious, and flamboyant personal fashion. Francis Ford Coppola once noted, "Vittorio is the only man I ever knew that could fall off a ladder in a white suit, into the mud, and not get dirty."{{cite magazine|author=Kees van Oostrum|url=https://ascmag.com/blog/presidents-desk/president-039-s-desk-men-in-white-suits|title=President's Desk: Men in White Suits - The American Society of Cinematographers|magazine=American Cinematographer|date=2 January 2018}}
Filmography
=Feature film=
| class="wikitable"
! Year ! Title ! Director ! Notes |
| 1962
| With Marco Scarpelli |
| rowspan=2|1969
| Giovinezza giovinezza | |
| Delitto al circolo del tennis
| |
| rowspan=3|1970
| The Bird with the Crystal Plumage | |
| The Conformist
|rowspan=2|Bernardo Bertolucci | |
| The Spider's Stratagem
| With Franco Di Giacomo |
| rowspan=2|1971
| |
| 'Tis Pity She's a Whore
| |
| 1972
| Bernardo Bertolucci | |
| rowspan=4|1973
| |
| Brothers Blue
| Luigi Bazzoni | |
| Corpo d'amore
| |
| Revolt of the City
| |
| 1974
| Giuseppe Patroni Griffi | |
| rowspan=2|1975
| Luigi Bazzoni | |
| Orlando Furioso
| |
| rowspan=2|1976
| 1900 | Bernardo Bertolucci | |
| Submission
| Salvatore Samperi | |
| rowspan=3|1979
| Agatha | |
| Apocalypse Now
| |
| Luna
| Bernardo Bertolucci | |
| 1981
| Reds | |
| 1982
| Francis Ford Coppola | With Ronald Víctor García |
| 1985
| |
| rowspan=2|1987
| Ishtar | |
| The Last Emperor
| Bernardo Bertolucci | |
| 1988
| Tucker: The Man and His Dream | Francis Ford Coppola | |
| rowspan=2|1990
| Warren Beatty | |
| The Sheltering Sky
| Bernardo Bertolucci | |
| 1992
| Tosca | |
| 1993
| Bernardo Bertolucci | |
| 1996
| Taxi | |
| rowspan=2|1998
| Bulworth | Warren Beatty | |
| Tango
|rowspan=2|Carlos Saura | |
| 1999
| |
| rowspan=2|2000
| Mirka | |
| Picking Up the Pieces
|rowspan=2|Alfonso Arau | |
| rowspan=2|2004
| |
| Exorcist: The Beginning
| |
| 2005
| Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist | |
| 2008
| Alfonso Arau | |
| 2009
| Carlos Saura | |
| 2010
| Alfonso Arau | |
| 2012
| Parfums d'Alger | |
| 2015
| Muhammad: The Messenger of God | |
| 2016
|rowspan=2|Woody Allen | |
| 2017
| |
| 2018
| A Rose in Winter | |
| 2019
|rowspan=2|Woody Allen | |
| 2020
| |
| 2021
| Carlos Saura | |
| 2023
| Woody Allen | |
| TBA
| Bach | Carlos Saura | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable"
! Year ! Title ! Director |
| 1971
| Eneide |
Miniseries
| class="wikitable"
! Year ! Title ! Director ! Notes |
| 1974
| Orlando furioso | With Arturo Zavattini |
| 1983
| Wagner | |
| 1986
| Marvin J. Chomsky | |
| 2000
| |
| 2007
| Angelo Longoni | |
Awards and nominations
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Title ! Result ! Ref. |
|---|
| 1980
|rowspan=4|Best Cinematography | Apocalypse Now | {{won}} |
| 1982
| Reds | {{won}} |
| 1988
| The Last Emperor | {{won}} |
| 1991
| Dick Tracy | {{nom}} |
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Title ! Result ! Ref. |
|---|
| 1980
|rowspan=4|Best Cinematography | Apocalypse Now | {{nom}} {{cite web | url = http://www.bafta.org/awards/film/nominations/?year=1979 | publisher = British Academy of Film and Television Arts | title = Past Winners and Nominees – Film Nominations 1979 | access-date = 2008-01-22 }} |
| 1983
| Reds | {{nom}} {{cite web | url = http://www.bafta.org/awards/film/nominations/?year=1982 | publisher = British Academy of Film and Television Arts | title = Past Winners and Nominees – Film Nominations 1982 | access-date = 2008-01-22 }} |
| 1989
| The Last Emperor | {{nom}} {{cite web | url = http://www.bafta.org/awards/film/nominations/?year=1988 | publisher = British Academy of Film and Television Arts | title = Past Winners and Nominees – Film Nominations 1988 | access-date = 2008-01-22 }} |
| 1991
| The Sheltering Sky | {{won}} {{cite web | url = http://www.bafta.org/awards/film/nominations/?year=1990 | publisher = British Academy of Film and Television Arts | title = Past Winners and Nominees – Film Nominations 1990 | access-date = 2008-01-22 }} |
American Society of Cinematographers
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Title ! Result |
|---|
| 1988
|rowspan=2|Outstanding Cinematography | The Last Emperor | {{nom}} |
| 1991
| Dick Tracy | {{nom}} |
| rowspan=2|2001
| Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in a Limited Series | Dune | {{nom}} |
| colspan=2|Lifetime Achievement Award
|{{won}} |
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Title ! Result ! Ref. |
|---|
| 2000
| Best Cinematography | Goya en Burdeos | {{won}} {{cite web |url=http://www.europeanfilmacademy.org/htm/4Winners2000.html |title=European Film Awards 2000 – The Winners |publisher=European Film Awards |access-date=2008-01-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070815190144/http://www.europeanfilmacademy.org/htm/4Winners2000.html |archive-date=2007-08-15 |url-status=dead }} |
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Title ! Result |
|---|
| 1986
|rowspan=2|Best Cinematography for a Miniseries or Special | Peter the Great | {{nom}} |
| 2001
| Frank Herbert's Dune | {{won}} |
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Title ! Result ! Ref. |
|---|
| 1998
| Technical Grand Prize | Tango, no me dejes nunca | {{won}} {{cite web | url = http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4917/year/1998.html | title = Festival de Cannes: Tango | work = festival-cannes.com | publisher = Festival de Cannes | access-date = 2010-07-17 }} |
International Film Festival of India
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Result ! Ref. |
|---|
| 2020
| Lifetime Achievement Award | {{won}} |
British Society of Cinematographers
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Title ! Result |
|---|
| 1979
|rowspan=3|Best Cinematography | Apocalypse Now | {{nom}} |
| 1988
| The Last Emperor | {{won}} |
| 1990
| Dick Tracy | {{nom}} |
National Society of Film Critics
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Title ! Result |
|---|
| 1972
| The Conformist | {{won}} |
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Title ! Result |
|---|
| 1987
|rowspan=2|Best Cinematography | The Sheltering Sky | {{won}} |
| 1990
| The Last Emperor | {{won}} |
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Title ! Result |
|---|
| 1981
|rowspan=2|Best Cinematography | Reds | {{won}} |
| 1988
| The Last Emperor | {{won}} |
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Result |
|---|
| 2017
| Lifetime Achievement Award | {{won}} |
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Category ! Title ! Result |
|---|
| 1996
|rowspan=3|Best Cinematography | Flamenco (de Carlos Saura) | {{nom}} |
| 1999
| Tango, no me dejes nunca | {{nom}} |
| 2000
| Goya en Burdeos | {{won}} |
References
{{reflist}}
; General
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite web
| url = http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?id=vittoriostoraro.htm
| title = Vittorio Storaro Movie Box Office Results
| publisher = Box Office Mojo
| access-date = 6 February 2008}}
- {{cite web
| url = http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:112513~T2
| title = Vittorio Storaro > Filmography
| publisher = Allmovie
| access-date = 22 January 2008}}
- {{cite web
|url = http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearchInput.jsp
|title = Search Page
|publisher = Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
|access-date = 16 January 2008
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080921143432/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearchInput.jsp
|archive-date = 21 September 2008
|url-status = dead
}}. Note: User must define search parameters, i.e. "Vittorio Storaro."
{{refend}}
Further reading
- Masters of Light - Conversations with cinematographers (1984) Schaefer, S & Salvato, L., {{ISBN|0-520-05336-2}}
- Writer of Light: The Cinematography of Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC (2000) Zone, R., {{ISBN|0-935578-18-8}}
- Vittorio Storaro: Writing with Light: Volume 1: The Light (2002) Storaro, V., {{ISBN|1-931788-03-0}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|id=0005886|name=Vittorio Storaro}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050221085534/http://www.cameraguild.com/interviews/chat_storaro/storaro_interview.htm International Cinematographers Guild Interview ]
- [http://storarovittorio.com/ Vittorio Storaro Website (Italian or English)]
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Vittorio Storaro
|list =
{{Academy Award Best Cinematography}}
{{BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography}}
{{Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography}}
{{British Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film}}
{{Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie}}
{{European Film Award for Best Cinematographer}}
{{IFFI - Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award}}
{{Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography}}
{{National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematographer}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Storaro, Vittorio}}
Category:Best Cinematographer Academy Award winners
Category:Best Cinematography BAFTA Award winners
Category:Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia alumni
Category:David di Donatello winners
Category:European Film Award for Best Cinematographer winners