Giovanni Pastrone A brilliant example of the talent and spirit of initiative typical of Piedmontese people is Giovanni Pastrone. The history of cinema proved him as one of the most revolutionary characters of the seventh art.Pastrone was born in Asti on 13th September 1882 and soon revealed his wit many-sided personality in his commitment to music (he plaid the violin) and to... accountancy. As a bookkeeper for a film importer from France, he moved to Turin in the early 1900's. Immediately, he took interest in the new means of expression and became director of the "Itala film", an historical producing house, in 1908."La maschera di Ferro" (1909), "Manon Lescault", "Lucia di Lammermoor" (1910), are just some of his first productions. He was a producer, a director and a technician and reached the top of his carrier with "Cabiria" in 1914. For "Cabiria", he hired Gabriele D'annunzio to do the sub-titles and Ildebrando Pizzetti tor wrote the music (The "Sinfonia del Fuoco" is very famous), and worked himself as director under the stage-name of Piero Fosco. Later, still under the stage-name of Piero Fosco he directed other movies such as "Il fuoco" and "Tigre reale", both with Pina Menichelli.Moreover, he revolutioned the technique of cinematographic shot inventing the dolly, the indirect and reflected light and the montage by parallel actions.He died in Turin on 27th June 1959. Massimo Scaglione

 

 

 

 

 

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