"Ennio," For My Mother

Hi, Mom. How are you?

I saw a movie this week that I thought you'd like.  I know you enjoy films about classical composers, and they just released a documentary on the work of Ennio Morricone, "Ennio: The Maestro," also called "The Glance of Music" in some places.  I know you're not much of a fan of modern composers - you've made your thoughts on Igor Stravinsky very clear - but I know that you've liked some of Morricone's music in the past.  More importantly, I think you'll appreciate that this documentary actually talks about the music and not just about the man.  It contains extensive interviews with Morricone himself, where he talks about his work, his influences, and his experiences composing.

I should warn you that "Ennio" is about two and a half hours long.  It's super comprehensive about Morricone's life and career, starting with his time as a child trumpet player, his musical education, and his earliest commercial work as an arranger.  The bulk of the attention is kept on Morricone's film music, and only briefly touches on his other work.  And that makes sense, since the film was put together by Giuseppi Tornatore, the director of "Cinema Paradiso" and "The Legend of 1900."  It doesn't individually discuss all of his film scores - which would be impossible since he's done hundreds - but it covers all the ones you probably know - "The Dollars Trilogy," "The Mission," "Cinema Paradiso," and "The Untouchables."  It's probably too long to watch in one sitting, but you can break it up into parts pretty easily.  Also, most of it is in Italian with subtitles.  That might make some of the more technical discussions harder to follow, but I thought Morricone was pretty good at getting his points across, even though I barely remember anything from music theory classes.

You know I'm a film nut, so I got a lot out of revisiting Italian cinema from Morricone's point of view.  He worked with everybody, including Gillo Pontecorvo, Bernardo Bertolucci, Dario Argento, Mario Bava, Liliana Cavani, Sergio Leone, and Pier Paolo Pasolini before Hollywood came calling.  So many films have Morricone scores that I didn't realize were Morricone.  The funniest realization was that he'd scored a Pasolini comedy, "Hawks and Sparrows," where the credits are set to music and sung by Domenico Modugno.  As always, I now have more movies I want to track down, including Cavani's "I Canibali," and "Sacco & Vanzetti."

You can tell how beloved Morricone is from the people who agreed to be interviewed for the film.  Clint Eastwood is here, of course.  Fellow composers like Hans Zimmer, Quincy Jones, and John Williams are here.  Bruce Springsteen shows up to gush about "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly."  Then there's Oliver Stone, Quentin Tarantino, Barry Levinson, and more directors than I can list.  The film also has some of the last interviews with departed filmmakers like Bernardo Bertolucci, Vittorio Taviani, and Lina Wermuller.  Bertolucci directed "The Last Emperor," which you told me you liked, though Morricone didn't do the music for that one.    

I think the best part of the film is the early stuff with Morricone as a struggling musician.  I'm surprised that there wasn't more attention on Morricone's personal life.  There's some material on his parents, but after he gets married, we don't get anything else about his family or relationships.  His wife and four children didn't participate in the film.  Most of his friends and contemporaries are gone.  Morricone himself, however, contributes plenty.  It's fascinating to hear him talk about his work and his collaborators, and the particular pieces that he remembers creating.  I'm sure that you're not going to like all of the music featured in the film, especially the more experimental work.    

However, I'm curious to know what you think about the more traditional scores.  I'll send you a link to where I got the film.  Let me know if you run into any technical issues.  Would Dad like this?  Well, they spend a lot of time on the "Dollars" movies individually, so Dad might like some of the earlier parts, but he'll probably get bored after that.  

I'll talk to you on Sunday.  Take care of yourself.  Okay.  Love you.  Byeeee.

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