Dino De Laurentiis: 10 essential films
Aug 9, 2019 7:29:07 GMT
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Post by teleadm on Aug 9, 2019 7:29:07 GMT
The Italian Showman or demonical producer Dino De Laurentiis was born 100 years ago in Torre Annunziata, Campania in Italy.
In a career that spanned over 60 years, Dino De Laurentiis proved himself to be a titan of the film industry – a larger than life figure who managed to recover from every costly box office bomb he produced.
De Laurentiis’s career was originally supposed to blossom on the other side of the camera, studying as an actor at the Italian National Film School before the Second World War broke out. Many years later, inspired by the works of Rossellini, he produced a number of neorealist films – most notably Bitter Rice 1949, which brought his name to international attention.
On the centenary of the producer’s birth, BFI (British Film Institute) took a look at 10 essential films he produced:
La strada 1954, directed by Federico Fellini and starring Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart.
Like many later De Laurentiis productions, La strada sharply divided critics on its original premiere. A few years later, it was re-evaluated as a masterpiece and awarded the inaugural Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film after finally releasing in America.
Danger: Diabolik 1968, directed by Mario Bava and starring John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell and Michel Piccoli.
When its original director Seth Holt was fired, De Laurentiis sharply reduced the budget, allocating those funds to his other comic strip adaptation of that year, Barbarella 1968. As a result, Bava had to prioritise style over substance, using kitschy production design to hide the limited sets, and created one of the most unusual comic book movies in cinema history.
Serpico 1973, directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Al Pacino, John Randolph and Jack Kehoe.
It may have been released a year after The Godfather 1972 sprang him to fame, but that didn’t stop De Laurentiis claiming he discovered Al Pacino, seeing him in an off-broadway play and hiring him for the crime biopic being produced by Produzion De Laurentiis.
Face to Face 1976, directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson and Aino Taube.
One of De Laurentiis’s final European films, after a financial scandal surrounding his troubled studio, “Dinocittà” led him to leave Italy.
One of the director’s most celebrated films upon release, earning him a second Best Director nomination, Face to Face is now an unfortunately overlooked Bergman work.
King Kong 1976, directed by John Guillermin and starring Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin and Jessica Lange.
Somewhat less celebrated was De Laurentiis’s first big Hollywood production. Initially premiering to mixed critical responses.
De Laurentiis saw this passion project as an antidote to the new breed of monster movie, claiming that “When Jaws dies, nobody cries. When Kong dies, they all cry".
Year of the Dragon 1985, directed by Michael Cimono and starring Mickey Rourke, John Lone and Ariane.
Both De Laurentiis and American filmmaker Michael Cimino were responsible for costly critical and commercial bombs that threatened to derail their entire careers, but only one managed to get back on their feet time and time again. So, it was only a matter of time before Cimino was rescued from director jail post-Heaven’s Gate 1980 by the producer.
Blue Velvet 1986, directed by David Lynch and starring Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan and Dennis Hopper.
Regarded as a cult oddity on release, Lynch’s nightmarish descent into the dark heart of suburbia is now likely to be considered the greatest film bearing the De Laurentiis name.
Manhunter 1986, directed by Michael Mann and starring William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen and Brian Cox.
Michael Mann’s icily detached adaptation was given the cold shoulder by audiences and critics alike, only to be reassessed in the wake of later screen adaptations of Thomas Harris’s Hannibal Lecter novels. Brian Cox’s performance is chilling due to how ordinary he makes the character appear.
Famously, De Laurentiis passed on adapting the Silence of the Lambs after the failure of Manhunter, but a lengthy studio battle ensured his involvement in all future Lecter productions.
Army of Darkness 1992, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz and Marcus Gilbert.
After the surprise commercial success of Evil Dead II 1987, De Laurentiis agreed to finance a third outing for Bruce Campbell’s Ash, as Sam Raimi sent him back to the middle ages for the period horror romp the director and star had always dreamed of making.
Breakdown 1997, directed by Jonathan Mostow and starring Kurt Russell, J.T. Walsh and Kathleen Quinlan.
The last truly great film bearing the producer’s name.
There are no fast edits or shaky-cam anywhere in sight, and the film’s tension comes as much from watching a well-mannered man’s forced descent into vengeance as it does the bloody revenge he eventually embarks upon.
Complete BFI article
Dino De Laurentiis produced around 180 movies, some sources even mentions between 500 and 600 movies. Yesterday I tried to create a thread about Dino De Laurentiis, trying to scale down 180 movies to between 25 and 30 movies, but found it impossible to get under 50 movies that I thought was important and interesting, but such a thread would have been too long even for me, so I gave up.
I hope you enjoyed the above anyway!
If you think BFI choosed the wrong movies, please discuss!
In a career that spanned over 60 years, Dino De Laurentiis proved himself to be a titan of the film industry – a larger than life figure who managed to recover from every costly box office bomb he produced.
De Laurentiis’s career was originally supposed to blossom on the other side of the camera, studying as an actor at the Italian National Film School before the Second World War broke out. Many years later, inspired by the works of Rossellini, he produced a number of neorealist films – most notably Bitter Rice 1949, which brought his name to international attention.
On the centenary of the producer’s birth, BFI (British Film Institute) took a look at 10 essential films he produced:
La strada 1954, directed by Federico Fellini and starring Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart.
Like many later De Laurentiis productions, La strada sharply divided critics on its original premiere. A few years later, it was re-evaluated as a masterpiece and awarded the inaugural Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film after finally releasing in America.
Danger: Diabolik 1968, directed by Mario Bava and starring John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell and Michel Piccoli.
When its original director Seth Holt was fired, De Laurentiis sharply reduced the budget, allocating those funds to his other comic strip adaptation of that year, Barbarella 1968. As a result, Bava had to prioritise style over substance, using kitschy production design to hide the limited sets, and created one of the most unusual comic book movies in cinema history.
Serpico 1973, directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Al Pacino, John Randolph and Jack Kehoe.
It may have been released a year after The Godfather 1972 sprang him to fame, but that didn’t stop De Laurentiis claiming he discovered Al Pacino, seeing him in an off-broadway play and hiring him for the crime biopic being produced by Produzion De Laurentiis.
Face to Face 1976, directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson and Aino Taube.
One of De Laurentiis’s final European films, after a financial scandal surrounding his troubled studio, “Dinocittà” led him to leave Italy.
One of the director’s most celebrated films upon release, earning him a second Best Director nomination, Face to Face is now an unfortunately overlooked Bergman work.
King Kong 1976, directed by John Guillermin and starring Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin and Jessica Lange.
Somewhat less celebrated was De Laurentiis’s first big Hollywood production. Initially premiering to mixed critical responses.
De Laurentiis saw this passion project as an antidote to the new breed of monster movie, claiming that “When Jaws dies, nobody cries. When Kong dies, they all cry".
Year of the Dragon 1985, directed by Michael Cimono and starring Mickey Rourke, John Lone and Ariane.
Both De Laurentiis and American filmmaker Michael Cimino were responsible for costly critical and commercial bombs that threatened to derail their entire careers, but only one managed to get back on their feet time and time again. So, it was only a matter of time before Cimino was rescued from director jail post-Heaven’s Gate 1980 by the producer.
Blue Velvet 1986, directed by David Lynch and starring Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan and Dennis Hopper.
Regarded as a cult oddity on release, Lynch’s nightmarish descent into the dark heart of suburbia is now likely to be considered the greatest film bearing the De Laurentiis name.
Manhunter 1986, directed by Michael Mann and starring William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen and Brian Cox.
Michael Mann’s icily detached adaptation was given the cold shoulder by audiences and critics alike, only to be reassessed in the wake of later screen adaptations of Thomas Harris’s Hannibal Lecter novels. Brian Cox’s performance is chilling due to how ordinary he makes the character appear.
Famously, De Laurentiis passed on adapting the Silence of the Lambs after the failure of Manhunter, but a lengthy studio battle ensured his involvement in all future Lecter productions.
Army of Darkness 1992, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz and Marcus Gilbert.
After the surprise commercial success of Evil Dead II 1987, De Laurentiis agreed to finance a third outing for Bruce Campbell’s Ash, as Sam Raimi sent him back to the middle ages for the period horror romp the director and star had always dreamed of making.
Breakdown 1997, directed by Jonathan Mostow and starring Kurt Russell, J.T. Walsh and Kathleen Quinlan.
The last truly great film bearing the producer’s name.
There are no fast edits or shaky-cam anywhere in sight, and the film’s tension comes as much from watching a well-mannered man’s forced descent into vengeance as it does the bloody revenge he eventually embarks upon.
Complete BFI article
Dino De Laurentiis produced around 180 movies, some sources even mentions between 500 and 600 movies. Yesterday I tried to create a thread about Dino De Laurentiis, trying to scale down 180 movies to between 25 and 30 movies, but found it impossible to get under 50 movies that I thought was important and interesting, but such a thread would have been too long even for me, so I gave up.
I hope you enjoyed the above anyway!
If you think BFI choosed the wrong movies, please discuss!
