Ennio

Here is Morricone telling you his own story, with countless other well known talents giving insights into how they worked together and how he influenced thier own work, but the broad spectrum here is the story of an immense talent who did far more than it first might seem to change the way that film music played its part in influencing and immersing audiences. So many classics , but so many other rather uninspired disappointing or plain bad films where the best of it was Ennio Morricone's music. This documentary is long and might be a bit too much if you're not a fan of film music, a musician, or of Morricone, but I loved it. I was privileged enough to see him in concert a few years ago , and he did not disappoint.

From the director of Cinema Paradiso comes an earnest, endearing & heartfelt tribute to one of the most popular, prolific & greatest film composers to have ever lived and whose contribution to film scores has been so immense, influential & groundbreaking that cinema will forever be indebted to him. An illuminating & well-rounded documentary, Ennio chronicles & celebrates the life & legacy of Ennio "The Maestro" Morricone.

Written & directed by Giuseppe Tornatore (The Legend of 1900 & Malèna), the film narrates the Italian composer's life story from his quiet & humble beginnings to garnering international fame & fan following with his distinguished film scores. Tornatore utilises interviews, recordings & film clips to paint a fascinating portrait of the legend whose body of work encompassed almost all styles and left an indelible mark on film, music & pop culture.

While the early years accounts are interesting, this documentary comes alive once his work on Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars comes forth. But with an oeuvre as extensive as Morricone's, even 156 mins runtime isn't enough to cover everything however it provides an insight into how his genius mind worked. And though Morricone never rated his scores for westerns as highly as the rest of the world did, he does acknowledge that he often isn't the best judge of his own music.

Overall, Ennio: The Maestro charts the unparalleled career of the legendary film composer with gripping flair but still feels rushed & uneven in its pacing as many events we would've liked seeing explored in detail are skimmed through. Nevertheless, the interest in the picture is never lost and what's included in this 2½ hour documentary is crafted with love & honesty. Serving as a strong testimony to the Maestro's profound impact which can still be felt in more art forms than one, Ennio is a definite recommend.

From the moment we step into Ennio Moriccone's home we become immersed in the man and his work with over 60 years of magnificent music to sample along the way. Yes, we are obviously treated to a segment on his magnificent soundtrack to Once Upon a Time in the West, my personal favourite, together with all the other best known of his cinema accompaniments, but the viewer is also treated to dozens of other snippets of fine music many of which were unknown to me and which I now need to sample. There's an array of luminaries from the world of music and cinema to sing his praises as well but arguably the most engaging feature of this is the man himself, sat at home taking us through his life's work. It's a very long film but the music is so good it doesn't drag for an instant. An impressive piece of work.

S a kid I grew up in the 50s watching the Academy Awards and was baffled by it. Not by the glitz or the movie stars but by why the average Joe would watch an awards ceremony that would honor film cinematographers, editors, animators, foreign films, costume designers composers and a lot more. But I cared because I loved film and watched adoringly. Especially film music where there was no recognition elsewhere at all. ENNIO: THE MAESTRO is about a film music composer so I don't expect a lot of people to share what I thought of the film.

Given that, I need to express what a monumental achievement Giuseppe Tornatore has created. Having followed all kinds of film composers over the years I have always had a passion for a small group that transcended that title and made their careers literally a musical journey through every musical byway that they were challenged with. As Morricone says in this piece film composers are asked to do anything. I have seen dozens of film composer biographies over the years like "In The Tracks of" series, BBC epics and Fred Carlin's Jerry Goldsmith piece. But Tornatore has used his ample filmic skills to pay tribute to one of the greatest, most prolific, wide ranging film composers who ever lived by relating his journey, while he was still alive, and getting him to express the passion that usually comes out only in his music. He does this by every means possible with documentary footage, home movies, old TV shows, interviews, concert footage, snapshots and mostly through Ennio's own words. It is two and a half hours long and all who I talked to (including Marshall Harvey a film editor!) wished it was longer.

Morricone himself relates everything from his childhood to the days his dad, and then he, played trumpet on a number of Italian film scores. It is astounding to watch Ennio describe in detail what he brought to his early arrangements and then compositions to make them different, to make them stand out. The interviews, old and new, are far ranging including his teachers, musicians, singers, film directors, artists he influenced, a number of fellow Italian film composers and a few American ones like Hans Zimmer and John Williams. The film is totally dense with detail to the point I HAVE to see it again. The film ends on the ultimate film music conundrum, is it as purely expressive as absolute music? Is that snobbishness that resulted justified? Morricone answers that decisively. Tornatore has created the ideal tribute/biography that I will not see the likes of again.

Lastly I saw it with a more than half full audience masked and vaccinated. I know this is not possible for many but If you can see it with an audience do so. There are a lot of laughs, emotional moments and audible reactions that will not be there seeing it at home no matter how large a screen you have.

This is a 70 year old's dream film music tribute come true. I was an emotional wreck by the end of it. Thank you Giuseppe.

Sometimes 2.5 hours is just not enough. Its a story over 60 years with a great artist that formed so much. Its the 60's Its the 70's and Its dedication to life to music and when He finally get his well derserved Oscar you will understand.