L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano " Basically, I like im- ages, I was born with images and I like to tell a story through them. This is my life." The passion for the light and the colors that determine the depth and the aesthetics of a shot, as well as the artistic sensitivity with which he man- ages to paint his own films, have led cinematographer Dante Spinotti to illuminate the greatest Hollywood movie sets. From L.A. Confidential, to Heat, from Public Enemy to The Last of Mohicans, Spinotti had his debut in Rome in the world of televi- sion, a reality that he soon abandoned to devote himself entirely to the seventh art. Al- though he worked in Italy with Benigni, Olmi, Tornatore and Salvatores, in America Spin- otti has worked on historical blockbusters, comedies and action films, and he was nom- inated for an Oscar for The In- sider in 1999. "For several years I would go back and forth from Italy. My first ex- perience was in North Car- olina with Dino De Laurentiis, where I shot Crimes of the Heart with Diane Keaton, Sissy Spacek and Jessica Lange in 1986," the director of photography of Friulian ori- gin tell me, from his home in Santa Monica. Dante, what was your first Hollywood movie? My first real Hollywood m o v i e w a s B e a c h e s w i t h Bette Midler, produced by D i s n e y a n d J e f f r e y Katzenberg in 1988. At the end of the film, I was offered a c o n t r a c t f o r f o u r m o r e f i l m s w i t h B e t t e M i d l e r , including a film as director, but at the time I didn't feel like directing. And is this something that you have re-consid- ered over the years? No, being a film director is one of the most difficult jobs in the world. You must have the desire to tell a story but also know how to manage the actors, the script; and that's something I had no interest in. The only excep- tion is that I made documen- taries about my hometown in Carnia. You were one of the first to believe in digital, which later proved to be a successful bet. How did y o u u n d e r s t a n d i t s potential? The big difference is this. A painter can paint and then change what he doesn't like. A musician can listen to his compositions and work on it, the same goes for a writer. In cinema we couldn't do this with film. We had our expe- rience and professionalism but sometimes we shot in the dark, and we weren't quite s u r e h o w t h e l i g h t w o u l d come out in the scene. With digital you can realize this in real time, so you can correct. And this is an extraordinary thing because it allows you to evaluate what you see, be faster and even braver if you want. Before we would add more light so as not to risk it being dark. With digital you s e e e x a c t l y w h a t y o u a r e doing and this is a phenome- nal advantage. How do you work on the images? M y g r e a t c o l l e a g u e Vittorio Storaro says that each of us has within two thousand years of cultural experience of humanity; and each of us has his or her per- s o n a l v i s u a l e x p e r i e n c e , which helps when you have a doubt while making a film. In addition to this, our job is basically to support a story and the emotions it conveys. The director of photography, with the light, the shots, the use of lenses and the camera, must support these emotion- al aspects. If you rejoice with the protagonist, the image must sustain this sense of j o y . S a m e w i t h f e a r a n d drama. It is a matter of func- tionality and we must also consider the language of the film, the environments, the temporality of the film. All elements that show you how to approach the scenes pho- tographically. T h e l i g h t i n L A , t h e famous Golden Hour, is s a i d t o b e f o u n d o n l y here. What do you think about it? I noticed it the very first time I came here with Enzo Biagi; we came to America f o r a m o n t h . B a c k t h e n I became aware of this light which has its own peculiari- ty: it is very blue and clear, almost white. In Italy there is a more Mediterranean and golden light. Why did you come to A m e r i c a w i t h E n z o Biagi? I came with him in 1974 to do some interviews about P a t r i c i a H e a r s t , w h o w a s k i d n a p p e d b y a g r o u p o f y o u n g p e o p l e ; i t w a s t h e period of the Symbionese uprisings, in Italy there were the Red Brigades, on which I had made a documentary. W h a t m e m o r i e s d o y o u h a v e a b o u t t h o s e first trips to California? I had been in Los Angeles f o r t e n d a y s a f e w y e a r s before, to investigate the discoveries in the world of special effects made with SILVIA GIUDICI Dante Spinotti smiles behind the camera. Photo: Dante Spinotti O s c a r n o m i n a t e d D a n t e S p i n o t t i : " M e , cinema and my Los Angeles" LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY Continued to page 24

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