Biography of Ermanno Olmi

(Treviglio, Bergamo, 1931)

Born to a family of country folk, he moved to Milan when he was very young to work at Edison Volta: he organised the company's cinematographic service, directing - between 1953 and 1961 - about thirty documentaries, including "La diga sul ghiacciaio" (1953), "Tre fili fino a Milano" (1958), "Un metro è lungo cinque" (1961). In the meantime he made his debut in full-length feature films with "Il tempo si è fermato" (1960), which narrates the friendship between a student and the watchman of a dam, in the isolation and solitude of the high mountains. One years later his film "The Job (Il posto)" (1961), was favourably received by the critics; it is a pleasant little work on the aspirations of two young men in their first job. His attention to everyday aspects, the small things in life, is confirmed in his next work, "The Engagement (I fidanzati)" (1963), set in a working-class environment, though giving way in parts to intimism. His next film was "And there came a man (...E venne un uomo)" (1965), a biography of Pope John XXIII, fortunately free from claims of sainthood. After a period of work without any great success ("One fine day (Un certo giorno)", 1969; "The Scavengers (I recuperanti)", 1970; " In the Summertime (Durante l'estate)", 1971; "The Circumstance (La circostanza)", 1974), the director found the inspiration of his best days in the harmonious structure of "The Tree with the Wooden Clogs (L'albero degli zoccoli)" (1978), winner of the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1982, with "Keep on Walking (Cammina cammina)", he dealt with the story of the Magi in an allegorical key. Then came a serious illness which kept him at Asiago, away from the screen, for a long time. He returned in 1987 with the claustrophobic and anguished "Long Live the Lady! ( Lunga vita alla signora!)", which was awarded the Silver Lion in Venice; he was to receive the Gold Lion the following year with "The Legend of the Holy Drinker (La leggenda del santo bevitore)" (1988), a lyrical adaptation - by Tullio Kezich and the director himself - of a beautiful story by Joseph Roth. After the documentary "Down the River (Lungo il fiume)" (1992), he directed "The Secret of the Old Woods (La leggenda del bosco vecchio)" (1993): clumsily drawn from Buzzati's "Il taglio del bosco" and starring an off-key Villaggio, it is perhaps his most disappointing result. His latest work, "Profession of Arms (Il mestiere delle armi)" (2001), marks his return to the peak of inspiration: reconstructing the last days in the life of the sixteenth-century mercenary leader Giovanni delle Bande Nere, he presents an intense and inspired work, successfully presented at the Cannes Festival.

F. T.

Filmography of Ermanno Olmi