Umberto_Lenzi_filmography

Umberto Lenzi filmography

Umberto Lenzi filmography

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Umberto Lenzi (August 6, 1931 – October 19, 2017) was an Italian film director whose filmography encompassed a ranges of genres across a prolific career. Born in Massa Marittima, Tuscany, Lenzi studied law before enrolling at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome.[1] As part of his studies, he wrote and directed the short film Ragazzi di Trastevere, based on Pier Paolo Pasolini's novel Ragazzi di vita.[2] During this time, he worked as a film critic for the Centro's journal Bianco e Nero, and was an avid follower of both European and American films, favouring the work of directors John Ford, Raoul Walsh, and Michael Curtiz.[3]

Lenzi pictured in black-and-white
Lenzi at the 2008 Sitges Film Festival

Lenzi's production career began as a location scout for the 1958 film Raw Wind in Eden; his directorial debut would come with 1961's pirate film Queen of the Seas.[lower-alpha 1][1] Lenzi worked across a broad variety of film genres, helming Spaghetti Westerns, gialli, spy films, war films, and poliziotteschi across his career.[1][5] He was also an early figure in the cannibal boom as a result of his work on 1972's Man from the Deep River, along with later cannibal follow-ups Eaten Alive! (1980) and Cannibal Ferox (1981); these films would feature on the United Kingdom's "video nasties" list of banned releases.[1] Although dismissive of his horror films and their cult following among fans, Lenzi believed that his work on genre films, and that of his peers in the Italian film industry, effectively bankrolled more artistic output from his compatriots.[1]

Stylistically, Lenzi regularly made use of prominent close-up shots of his actors and employed zoom lens effects,[1] but preferred to be seen primarily as a storyteller who was not heavy-handed with cinematic effects.[6] Towards the end of his film career, Lenzi worked on foreign productions in the United States, including Welcome to Spring Break and Ghosthouse (both 1988), as well as directing a pair of television films for ReteItalia, La casa delle anime erranti and La casa dei sortilegi. He would continue to produce small-market films for a few years before retiring from film-making to become an author of detective fiction.[5] Lenzi died at the age of 86, on October 19, 2017.[1][5]

Filmography

A black-and-white headshot of Pier Paolo Pasolini
Lenzi's studies at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia included the direction of a short film based on the novel Ragazzi di vita by Pier Paolo Pasolini (pictured).[2]
A headshot of Glenn Saxson
1966's Kriminal (star Glenn Saxson pictured), an adaptation of the comic of the same name, is considered the first film adaptation of an Italian fumetti neri comic.[7]
A stack of VHS tapes
Several of Lenzi's films were included on the United Kingdom's "video nasty" list. Actor Me Me Lai, who had starred in Mangiati vivi! and Il paese del sesso selvaggio, later worked as an English police officer responsible for confiscating the same films she featured in.[1]
A black-and-white headshot of Carroll Baker
Several of Lenzi's giallo thrillers starred Carroll Baker (pictured in 1962).[5]
More information Year, Italian release title ...

Footnotes

  1. Lenzi's first film as a director, the 1958 Greek production Mia Italida stin Ellada, was never released.[4]
  2. The British Film Institute's archive credits Lenzi under the pseudonym Henrik Montgomery, alongside Bruno Mattei, as directors of this film;[136] other sources solely credit it to Mattei.[137]
  3. Year of release in Italy[140]
  1. [1]
    Gaughan, Gavin (November 5, 2017). "Umberto Lenzi: Italian cult director who made his mark as an innovator of the cannibal genre". The Independent. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  2. [2]
    Ercolani 2019, p. 30.
  3. [3]
    Ercolani 2019, p. 21.
  4. [4]
    Curti 2013, p. 296.
  5. [5]
    Vitali, Alessandra (October 19, 2017). "È morto Umberto Lenzi, papà del Monnezza e dei film più amati da Tarantino". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  6. [6]
    Ercolani 2019, pp. 21–22.
  7. [7]
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  11. [11]
    Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 41.
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  61. [61]
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    Curti 2013, p. 142.
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General

References

  • Capua, Michaelangelo (2014). Yul Brynner: A Biography. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786480357.
  • Curti, Roberto (2013). Italian Crime Filmography, 1968–1980. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476612089.
  • Curti, Roberto (2016). Diabolika: Supercriminals, Superheroes and the Comic Book Universe in Italian Cinema. Midnight Marquee Press. ISBN 978-1-936168-60-6.
  • Curti, Roberto (2016b). Tonino Valerii: The Films. McFarland. ISBN 1476626189.
  • Curti, Roberto (2019). Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1980-1989. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476672434.
  • Ercolani, Eugenio (2019). Darkening the Italian Screen: Interviews with Genre and Exploitation Directors Who Debuted in the 1950s and 1960s. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476635385.
  • Kinnard, Roy; Crnkovich, Tony (2017). Italian Sword and Sandal Films, 1908–1990. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476662916.
  • Lancia, Enrico; Melelli, Fabio (2006). Attori stranieri del nostro cinema. Gremese Editore. ISBN 8884404258.
  • Paul, Louis (2015). Italian Horror Film Directors. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786487493.
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