Vittorio Storaro

VITTORIO STORARO Rome, 1940

His father, a projectionist at Studio Lux Film, encouraged him to study photography when Vittorio was 11 years old. At 16, he graduated as a Master Photographer from the Duca d'Aosta Technical Institute and gained practical experience at a photography lab. At 18, he became certified as a Color Cinematographer and one of the youngest students at the Experimental Cinematography Center, where he graduated in the Cinematography department. In 1966, he worked as a camera assistant on Bernardo Bertolucci's first film, 'Before the Revolution,' and in 1968, he became a director of photography for the first time in Franco Rossi's 'Youth, Youth.' After working with Dario Argento on 'The Bird with the Crystal Plumage,' in 1970, he returned to collaborate with Bertolucci on 'The Spider's Stratagem,' a film that marked the beginning of a fruitful partnership between Storaro and the director. Among his notable works are 'The Conformist' (1970), 'Last Tango in Paris' (1972), and '1900' (1976). In 1979, he shot the film that established him, 'Apocalypse Now' by Francis Ford Coppola, for which he won his first Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 1980. He won his second Oscar in 1982 for Warren Beatty's 'Reds' (1981) and in 1988 for Bertolucci's 'The Last Emperor' (1987), for which he also won the David di Donatello Award in 1988. It is rare that films remain relevant, especially after more than twenty years since their creation. However, this is the case with the films for which Storaro served as the cinematographer, which, both for thematic reasons and stylistic considerations, still appear extraordinarily modern today. We find ourselves not only dealing with excellent cinematic products but also with genuine artistic content, conceived based on clearly decipherable conceptual tendencies. Photography, in fact, as a concrete (paper-based) element and a tool for symbolically depicting reality, breaks into the cinematic narrative. The images that Storaro can create activate a more effective process of analysis than words and sounds alone.