Maestro Ennio Morricone

First of all I love Ennio's works and maybe I can have a little bias regarding this movie but it was fantastic, a very well made documentary about one of the most influential figures in the music world over the last 70 years. It was well crafted by director Giuseppe Tornatore, who had worked several times with Ennio and there are a lot of guests talking about what Ennio means to them. Clearly it's a documentary and not everybody likes it as a genre but if you are into cinema and scores this is a must watch. Great job!

S a kid I grew up in the 50s watching the Academy Awards and was baffled by it. Not by the glitz or the movie stars but by why the average Joe would watch an awards ceremony that would honor film cinematographers, editors, animators, foreign films, costume designers composers and a lot more. But I cared because I loved film and watched adoringly. Especially film music where there was no recognition elsewhere at all. ENNIO: THE MAESTRO is about a film music composer so I don't expect a lot of people to share what I thought of the film.

Given that, I need to express what a monumental achievement Giuseppe Tornatore has created. Having followed all kinds of film composers over the years I have always had a passion for a small group that transcended that title and made their careers literally a musical journey through every musical byway that they were challenged with. As Morricone says in this piece film composers are asked to do anything. I have seen dozens of film composer biographies over the years like "In The Tracks of" series, BBC epics and Fred Carlin's Jerry Goldsmith piece. But Tornatore has used his ample filmic skills to pay tribute to one of the greatest, most prolific, wide ranging film composers who ever lived by relating his journey, while he was still alive, and getting him to express the passion that usually comes out only in his music. He does this by every means possible with documentary footage, home movies, old TV shows, interviews, concert footage, snapshots and mostly through Ennio's own words. It is two and a half hours long and all who I talked to (including Marshall Harvey a film editor!) wished it was longer.

Morricone himself relates everything from his childhood to the days his dad, and then he, played trumpet on a number of Italian film scores. It is astounding to watch Ennio describe in detail what he brought to his early arrangements and then compositions to make them different, to make them stand out. The interviews, old and new, are far ranging including his teachers, musicians, singers, film directors, artists he influenced, a number of fellow Italian film composers and a few American ones like Hans Zimmer and John Williams. The film is totally dense with detail to the point I HAVE to see it again. The film ends on the ultimate film music conundrum, is it as purely expressive as absolute music? Is that snobbishness that resulted justified? Morricone answers that decisively. Tornatore has created the ideal tribute/biography that I will not see the likes of again.

Lastly I saw it with a more than half full audience masked and vaccinated. I know this is not possible for many but If you can see it with an audience do so. There are a lot of laughs, emotional moments and audible reactions that will not be there seeing it at home no matter how large a screen you have.

This is a 70 year old's dream film music tribute come true. I was an emotional wreck by the end of it. Thank you Giuseppe.

A beautiful tribute, this by Tornatore, to an authentic genius whose value will be understood and metabolized more and more over the years, and not only with regard to film music. On the other hand Morricone was not only the author of some of the most famous soundtracks of the second half of the twentieth century, but also of numerous musical pieces brought to success in the 60s and 70s, as well as symphonies and pieces of contemporary music. (the first, true love of his musical career). Tornatore, who had the privilege of working with him and interviewed him here shortly before he left us, thus manages to show a portrait that for an enthusiast represents a sort of immersion in the history of cinema itself, and becomes gradually more intense. In investigating, thanks also to interviews with directors, actors and producers that Morricone met in his long career, the maniacal perfection of an author born trumpeter in the foretaste, who grew up later at the school of Goffredo Petrassi and literally exploded in the 60s. A career as a true workaholic of the note, but without affecting the production of a long series of masterpieces that have rightfully entered musical history. Two and a half hours of pure enjoyment that every film lover should indulge in.

From the moment we step into Ennio Moriccone's home we become immersed in the man and his work with over 60 years of magnificent music to sample along the way. Yes, we are obviously treated to a segment on his magnificent soundtrack to Once Upon a Time in the West, my personal favourite, together with all the other best known of his cinema accompaniments, but the viewer is also treated to dozens of other snippets of fine music many of which were unknown to me and which I now need to sample. There's an array of luminaries from the world of music and cinema to sing his praises as well but arguably the most engaging feature of this is the man himself, sat at home taking us through his life's work. It's a very long film but the music is so good it doesn't drag for an instant. An impressive piece of work.

There's a part late in the 2.5-hour Ennio: The Maestro where a clip of Quentin Tarantino calling Morricone the great composer of all time (y'know, over Mozart, Beethoven, etc) is played, which other interviewees criticise as hyperbolic. They say maybe 200 years has to pass before Morricone's music is held to that same standard.

I'm going to similarly risk being hyperbolic by saying that this might be the best music documentary I've ever seen. I've seen a lot of great ones, tons of decent ones, and even a number of really awful ones. But director Giussepe Tornatore's love letter to his favourite composer (and Italy's most famous composer) is astoundingly good.

My expectations were high. I love Ennio Morricone's music. I knew Tornatore being the director would make it extra personal and moving. I was excited to hear it was 156 minutes long. And the list of interviewees here is to die for- Clint Eastwood, Quentin Tarantino, Bruce Springsteen, Wong Kar-Wai, Hans Zimmer, John Williams, just to name a few of the most famous ones. And so many more, some of whom give insight into surprising facts about Morricone's youth.

I learnt a lot about the first few decades of Morricone's life, as my knowledge of him only really starts with the Sergio Leone westerns. There's some amazing facts that I can't believe I didn't know about before, like how Morricone almost composed music for Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange.

This film covers all the films you'd want it to, plays so much beautiful Morricone music it's almost emotionally overwhelming, and the Maestro himself as the main interviewee is consistently engaging, insightful, and emotive.

Could've even been longer. He composed hundreds and hundreds of film scores, so I could've happily watched 10 hours of this. It's also extremely moving, especially near the end, but not because it spends a long time on his passing- in fact, it doesn't even mention it. The film argues that Morricone's music is immortal and transcends generations, and that's a powerful and emotional enough takeaway on its own.

(Sidenote- the bit where they broke down how all the different themes from The Mission intersected whilst playing clips from the movie is one of the best sequences from any film I've seen in months; maybe all year).