Ennio: The Maestro

Giuseppe Tornatore pays tribute to Ennio Morricone with an almost perfect documentary.

This documentary biopic comes very close to being a perfect example of the genre. Originally given the simple title Ennio it is now more widely known as Ennio: The Maestro. The change was doubtless made to give a clearer hint as to the identity of the individual to whom the film pays tribute. However, for most filmgoers these days there is only one Ennio: Morricone. The great Italian composer, who died on 6th July 2020 at the age of 91, was the winner of two Oscars. The first of these was an honorary lifetime award bestowed on him in 2006 but, even more significantly in some ways, he would win in 2015 for his score for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, prime evidence of a talent that remained wholly intact at an age when he could well have been in retirement.

The filmmaker here is Giuseppe Tornatore who also puts in a personal appearance as one of the many artists who express their admiration for the composer. Those seen here – a vast number – include fellow composers such as Italy’s Nicola Piovani, Hans Zimmer, Mychael Danna and John Williams, film directors ranging from Bernardo Bertolucci and Clint Eastwood to Roland Joffé and Marco Bellocchio and personalities from the world of music as contrasted as Joan Baez, Phil Joanou, Giuliano Montaldo and Antonio Pappano. For the general public the name of Morricone immediately brings to mind the music which played such a crucial role in the films of Sergio Leone, the westerns in particular but hardly less importantly Once Upon a Time in America. But many who go to see Ennio: The Maestro will realise for the first time the extent of his work: not only was his cinema output vast (he scored something like 500 films) but in addition he maintained a second career as a composer of classical music. The latter sphere gave us concertos, symphonic works and even an opera but is only touched on here in relatively general terms. However, the film does include more detailed footage relating to his cantata Voices from the Silence which was inspired by the tragedy of 9/11.

Central to this film is the substantial footage of Ennio Morricone talking on camera. That he is so articulate is the luck of the draw, but Tornatore and his editor, Massimo Quaglia, are masterly in the way that they integrate comments by the other interviewees so smoothly into the footage of Morricone himself. They provide variety without ever interrupting the flow of the film and, while some of these comments are brief and could have been longer, the brevity is apt given that Ennio: The Maestro lasts for over two and a half hours. Naturally we are given film extracts and it is intriguing to be reminded of the fact the Morricone was not infrequently the composer on titles that are well remembered but are not necessarily associated with him immediately. These include, for example, Fists in the Pocket, Before the Revolution, The Battle of Algiers, Queimada! and Days of Heaven. There are also extracts from concerts with the composer conducting and intriguing material concerning his early work in the field of pop music where he emerged as a brilliant arranger.

Morricone’s own comments reveal him as being astute, analytical and honest about his work including the admission that his highly supportive wife, Maria, to whom he was married for well over sixty years was often a better judge of the themes he came up with than he was himself. He is also a good teller of tales such as how he was unable to go ahead with requested scores for The Bible and A Clockwork Orange. On occasion a particular score gets more detailed consideration (one such being that for The Mission) but it is all good stuff and especially fascinating are those film scores that found him quoting classical composers or bringing in elements of his own more experimental music. The film has no problem at all in sustaining its considerable length.

When it comes to Morricone's character, it is suggested early on that he was enigmatic even if he didn't seem to be. However, the film indirectly provides plenty of clues about the man. Morricone who had been mentored early on by the classical composer Goffredo Petrassi emerges as a man who felt insecure. It appears likely that his self-doubts despite his success arose from his taking to heart the opinions of those in the world of classical music who regarded composing for the cinema as an inferior trade. As a man of both worlds, he felt that he always had to prove himself even to himself given that his greatest fame came from his film scores.

Ennio: The Maestro is in essence as fine a portrait of Morricone as one could have wished for even if I have said that it falls slightly short of perfection. The failure lies in the film’s final section when Tornatore builds up comments from Tarantino and others which suggest that Morricone’s music will not only last forever but is of a quality that puts him on a level with Beethoven and Bach. This is clearly hyperbolic nonsense and including it is an error of judgement on the director’s part. It stands out all the more because one of the film’s great achievements is to persuade us effortlessly that Ennio Morricone was an even greater film composer than we had thought. For that very reason the excessive praise is unfortunate, but this is an admirable work and Tornatore can be proud of it.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Featuring  Ennio Morricone, Hans Zimmer, Robert Faenza, Bernardo Bertolucci, Nicola Piovani, Roland Joffé, Giuseppe Tornatore, Joan Baez, Clint Eastwood, Dario Argento, Quentin Tarantino, Phil Joanu, John Williams, Bruce Spingsteen, Antonio Pappano, Giuliano Montaldo, Pat Metheny, Mychael Danna.

Dir Giuseppe Tornatore, Pro Gabriele Costa, Gianni Russo and Peter De Meagd, Ph Fabio Zamarion and Giancarlo Leggeri Ed Massimo Quaglia, Music Ennio Morricone.

Piano b Productions/Potemkino/Fu Works/Gaga/Terras/Blossoms Island Pictures-Dogwoof Pictures.
156 mins. Italy/Belgium/Netherlands/Japan. 2021. UK Rel: 22 April 2022. Cert. 15.