Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Cinema Paradiso

Ennio Morricone Birthday Tribute & “Ennio” on Kanopy

Remembering Ennio Morricone on his birthday.

The streaming platform Kanopy is highlighting Giuseppe Tornatore’s epic Morricone documentary, “Ennio” (2021), among its featured offerings for November.

There was something about the then-young filmmaker that struck a chord with the composer when he agreed to write the music for “Cinema Paradiso” in 1988. The movie went on to win an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and of course the music became one of Morricone’s most beloved scores. Morricone scored every one of Tornatore’s films thereafter. Whenever he pondered retirement in an interview, he was always careful to mention that he might be tempted back by another Tornatore project. His final film score was for Tornatore’s “Correspondence” in 2016.

I posted some observations on the documentary after watching it in March. You’ll pardon me if my “review” wound up being almost as long as the movie!

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1314087782843615&set=a.883855802533484

Access to Kanopy is free with your public library card, but you’ll need to sign up if you don’t already have an account..

View the trailer here:

November 10, 2024
Summer Movie Music From Across the Pond

With just a little over a week left in August, summer has nearly run its course, but there’s still time for a quick European vacation. This week on “Picture Perfect,” we glance across the pond for an hour of music from foreign films with summer settings.

“A Summer Story” (1988), based on a tale of John Galsworthy, tells of a young London lawyer and a farm girl who fall profoundly in love at the turn of last century. Georges Delerue provides the poignant score.

The juxtaposition of “Igmar Bergman” and “comedy” may seem like something of an oxymoron, but the dour Swede’s “Smiles of a Summer Night” (1955) proves to be a witty examination of the folly of the human heart. Frequent Bergman collaborator Erik Nordgren wrote the music.

Director Yves Robert adapted the memoirs of Marcel Pagnol, who spent his childhood summers in the south of France, into two lovely films, “My Father’s Glory” and “My Mother’s Castle” (both 1990). We’ll hear music composed for both by Vladimir Cosma. Pagnol’s experiences in Provence marked him for life, informing the films and writings of his maturity, including “The Baker’s Wife,” and “Jean de Florette.”

Finally, we’ll have a generous sampling from one of Ennio Morricone’s most beloved scores, that for “Cinema Paradiso” (1988). “Cinema Paradiso,” set in a post-war Sicily where it seems always to be summer, is a nostalgic paean to the shared experience of film and the significance it holds in our lives. It won a special jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival and was honored with an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

Join me for summer overseas this week, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – ALL NEW! – Saturday at 11:00 AM EDT/8:00 AM PDT

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

August 23, 2024
Ennio Morricone Bittersweet Genius

There is something just so innately Italian about the music of Ennio Morricone. So often in his works the smiles and tears commingle. He really caught the bittersweet essence of what it is to be alive. If he had lived a hundred years earlier, he might have been one of the great opera composers. When he’s not in badass spaghetti western mode, that is.

Happy birthday, Ennio Morricone, wherever you are.

“Cinema Paradiso”

“The Mission”

“Once Upon a Time in the West”

And, just so I don’t take the gas pipe, “The Ecstasy of Gold” from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”

Which I would request to be played at my funeral, if not for “Navajo Joe”

November 10, 2022
Summer Film Scores A European Vacation Soundtrack

With two weeks left in August, there’s still time for a quick European vacation. This week on “Picture Perfect,” we glance across the pond for an hour of music from foreign films with summer settings.

“A Summer Story” (1988), based on a tale of John Galsworthy, tells of a young London lawyer and a farm girl who fall profoundly in love at the turn of last century. Georges Delerue provides the poignant score.

The juxtaposition of “Igmar Bergman” and “comedy” may seem like something of an oxymoron, but the dour Swede’s “Smiles of a Summer Night” (1955) proves to be a witty examination of the folly of the human heart. Frequent Bergman collaborator Erik Nordgren wrote the music.

Director Yves Robert adapted the memoirs of Marcel Pagnol, who spent his childhood summers in the south of France, into two lovely films, “My Father’s Glory” and “My Mother’s Castle” (1990). We’ll hear music composed for both by Vladimir Cosma. Pagnol’s experiences in Provence marked him for life, informing the films and writings of his maturity, including “The Baker’s Wife,” and “Jean de Florette.”

Finally, we’ll have a generous sampling from one of Ennio Morricone’s most beloved scores, that for “Cinema Paradiso” (1988). “Cinema Paradiso,” set in a post-war Sicily where it seems always to be summer, is a nostalgic paean to the shared experience of film and the significance it holds in our lives. It won a special jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival and was honored with an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

Music is the universal language. Join me for summer overseas on “Picture Perfect,” this Friday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical NetworkWWFM and wwfm.org.

August 16, 2019
Ennio Morricone at 90 Celebrating a Maestro

This week on “Picture Perfect,” we’ll stick a feather in our cap and call it Morricone.

Ennio Morricone, author of over 500 film and television scores, is perhaps the most prolific movie composer of all time. Tomorrow will mark his 90th birthday(!).

We’ll celebrate this extraordinary artist by revisiting some of his most indelible inspirations, including selections from “Cinema Paradiso” (1988), “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966), “The Mission” (1986), “Once Upon a Time in the West” (1968), “Navajo Joe” (1966), “The Untouchables” (1987), and his Academy Award winning music for “The Hateful Eight” (2015).

I’d hate for you to miss it. Join me this Friday evening at 6:00 EST, as we salute Italy’s maestro of the movies. It’s Morricone at 90, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

November 9, 2018

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