Ennio

There's a part late in the 2.5-hour Ennio: The Maestro where a clip of Quentin Tarantino calling Morricone the great composer of all time (y'know, over Mozart, Beethoven, etc) is played, which other interviewees criticise as hyperbolic. They say maybe 200 years has to pass before Morricone's music is held to that same standard.

I'm going to similarly risk being hyperbolic by saying that this might be the best music documentary I've ever seen. I've seen a lot of great ones, tons of decent ones, and even a number of really awful ones. But director Giussepe Tornatore's love letter to his favourite composer (and Italy's most famous composer) is astoundingly good.

My expectations were high. I love Ennio Morricone's music. I knew Tornatore being the director would make it extra personal and moving. I was excited to hear it was 156 minutes long. And the list of interviewees here is to die for- Clint Eastwood, Quentin Tarantino, Bruce Springsteen, Wong Kar-Wai, Hans Zimmer, John Williams, just to name a few of the most famous ones. And so many more, some of whom give insight into surprising facts about Morricone's youth.

I learnt a lot about the first few decades of Morricone's life, as my knowledge of him only really starts with the Sergio Leone westerns. There's some amazing facts that I can't believe I didn't know about before, like how Morricone almost composed music for Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange.

This film covers all the films you'd want it to, plays so much beautiful Morricone music it's almost emotionally overwhelming, and the Maestro himself as the main interviewee is consistently engaging, insightful, and emotive.

Could've even been longer. He composed hundreds and hundreds of film scores, so I could've happily watched 10 hours of this. It's also extremely moving, especially near the end, but not because it spends a long time on his passing- in fact, it doesn't even mention it. The film argues that Morricone's music is immortal and transcends generations, and that's a powerful and emotional enough takeaway on its own.

(Sidenote- the bit where they broke down how all the different themes from The Mission intersected whilst playing clips from the movie is one of the best sequences from any film I've seen in months; maybe all year).

First of all I love Ennio's works and maybe I can have a little bias regarding this movie but it was fantastic, a very well made documentary about one of the most influential figures in the music world over the last 70 years. It was well crafted by director Giuseppe Tornatore, who had worked several times with Ennio and there are a lot of guests talking about what Ennio means to them. Clearly it's a documentary and not everybody likes it as a genre but if you are into cinema and scores this is a must watch. Great job!

Wonderful documentary. Not only about Ennio's music, but also about films. Italian, French and US films of 1970s, 80s and later. I found myself wanting to rewatch or watch films mentioned in this doc, some of which I didn't even know existed. It makes me appreciate and respect more the Italian cinema of the 20th century, including the so called "spaghetti westerns" of Leone and Corbucci. The doc is masterfully edited and directed, and sound quality is also excellent. It is a bit long but absolutely worth your time, if you appreciate good music and films. I think it's important to watch it in a good cinema, because of quality of music and the images. And finally: was Morricone a genius? Yes, I think he was.

This film is perfect: there are all the Morricone's genius and all his love for Music. This film is great in taking the spectator inside his composition and his works with the presence of several sequences of the films with Morricone's soundtracks.

Some moments and some sequences are heartbreaking for whom loves cinema.

What else? You have to watch it. And all it could be possibile thanks to the huge work made by Tornatore. Thanks for this.

Moving, exiting, fulfilling. I ended up in tears. Go see this movie. It's a work of art, the worthy tribute for the great artist and humble man. Grazie, Giuseppe Tornatore, we owe you.