Vittorio Storaro

Vittorio Storaro

Birth : 1940-06-24, Rome, Lazio, Italy

History

Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. (born 24 June 1940) is an Italian cinematographer widely recognized as one of the best and most influential in Cinema history, for his work on numerous classic films including The Conformist, Apocalypse Now, and The Last Emperor. In the course of over fifty years, he has collaborated with directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Ford Coppola, Warren Beatty, Woody Allen and Carlos Saura. He has received three Academy Awards for Best Cinematography for the films Apocalypse Now (1979), Reds (1981), and The Last Emperor (1987), and is one of three living persons who has won the award three times, the others being Robert Richardson and Emmanuel Lubezki. Description above from the Wikipedia article Vittorio Storaro, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Profile

Vittorio Storaro
Vittorio Storaro

Movies

Coup de Chance
Director of Photography
Fanny and Jean have everything: fulfilled in their professional lives, they live in a magnificent apartment in the high-end districts of Paris and seem to be as in love as the first day they met. But when Fanny crosses, by chance, Alain, a former high school friend, she is immediately hooked. They see each other again, and, very quickly, get closer and closer…
Film, the Living Record of our Memory
Self
Why are we still able, today, to view images that were captured over 125 years ago? As we enter the digital age, audiovisual heritage seems to be a sure and obvious fact. However, much of cinema and our filmed history has been lost forever. Archivists, technicians and filmmakers from different parts of the world explain what audiovisual preservation is and why it is necessary. The documentary is a tribute to all these professionals and their important work.
The King of All The World
Director of Photography
Two dancers who fall in love when they are cast as co-leads on a major production
Kreka: Dreamcatcher
Self
The career of the famous production designer Miljen Kljaković – Kreka and reveals all the beauty and importance of film scenography.
A Rose in Winter
Director of Photography
The true story of Edith Stein, a German Jewish philosopher and feminist who converted to Christianity and became a nun, and died in Auschwitz to became Saint and Martyr, the Patron of Europe with the name Saint Theresa Benedicta of the Cross.
Rifkin's Festival
Director of Photography
The story of a married American couple who go to the San Sebastian Film Festival. They get caught up in the magic of the festival, the beauty and charm of Spain and the fantasy of movies. She has an affair with a brilliant French movie director, and he falls in love with a beautiful Spanish woman who lives there.
A Rainy Day in New York
Director of Photography
Two young people arrive in New York to spend a weekend, but once they arrive they're met with bad weather and a series of adventures.
Wonder Wheel
Director of Photography
The story of four characters whose lives intertwine amid the hustle and bustle of the Coney Island amusement park in the 1950s: Ginny, an emotionally volatile former actress now working as a waitress in a clam house; Humpty, Ginny’s rough-hewn carousel operator husband; Mickey, a handsome young lifeguard who dreams of becoming a playwright; and Carolina, Humpty’s long-estranged daughter, who is now hiding out from gangsters at her father’s apartment.
Close Encounters with Vilmos Zsigmond
Self
A very special encounter between legendary American cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and young French director Pierre Filmon. A personal journey with the brightest shadowmaker and his friends.
Café Society
Director of Photography
The story of a young man who arrives in Hollywood during the 1930s hoping to work in the film industry, falls in love, and finds himself swept up in the vibrant café society that defined the spirit of the age.
Muhammad: The Messenger of God
Cinematography
The events, trials and tribulations of the city of Makkah in 7th century AD.
Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire
Self - DOP
In his early days as an actor, Marlon Brando (1924-2004) was a shy young man with theatrical ambitions, like many others; but his charisma and superb acting skills made him truly unique, so that the doors to the starry sky of Hollywood opened for him. However, his peculiar manners, political commitment and complicated love life always overshadowed his artistic success.
Red Chairs - Parma and the Cinema
The relations between Parma and cinema were so strong for almost the whole of the twentieth century that this city became an early laboratory of ideas and theories on cinema and a set chosen by some of the greatest Italian authors and beyond. Furthermore, a considerable number of directors, actors, screenwriters and set designers were born in Parma who have made their way internationally, testifying to the fact that in this small city in Northern Italy there was a decidedly cinematic air. Red armchairs takes up the thread of this story, wondering why, unique among the Italian provincial cities, Parma has given so much to the cinema, accompanying the viewer on a journey backwards that from the first projections of the Lumière cinema reaches the ultramodern experience of new multiplexes. During this journey we will meet the characters who created the conditions for this diffusion of cinematographic culture in Parma.
And the Oscar Goes To...
Self (archive footage)
The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy itself, which began in 1927 when Louis B. Mayer, then head of MGM, led other prominent members of the industry in forming this professional honorary organization. Two years later the Academy began bestowing awards, which were nicknamed "Oscar," and quickly came to represent the pinnacle of cinematic achievement.
Side by Side
Self
Since the invention of cinema, the standard format for recording moving images has been film. Over the past two decades, a new form of digital filmmaking has emerged, creating a groundbreaking evolution in the medium. Keanu Reeves explores the development of cinema and the impact of digital filmmaking via in-depth interviews with Hollywood masters, such as James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Steven Soderbergh, and many more.
L'imbroglio nel lenzuolo
Director of Photography
1905, the cinematograph has reached Southern Italy, and casts fear among the people to whom it seems a devilish trick. They call it "o 'imbroglie din t'o lenzuolo" - "The Trick in the Sheet", as white sheets were used for screening.
I, Don Giovanni
Director of Photography
A drama based on the life of 18th century Italian lyricist Lorenzo da Ponte, who collaborated with Mozart on his "Don Giovanni" opera.
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos
Self
The artistry, triumph and lifelong friendship of the great cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond. With film school equipment, they shoot the Soviet crackdown of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. As refugees they struggle in Hollywood, finally breaking into the mainstream with their pivotal contribution to the "American New Wave."
Schrader's Exorcism
Himself
A documentary chronicling director Paul Schrader's ride through hell and back while making film history with his prequel to The Exorcist. Schrader, after being fired from the production and his version of the film shelved, is brought back 2 years later to complete it on a shoestring budget. In true cinéma vérité style we watch as Schrader and editor Tim Silano work all the angles to get the film on its feet and over to Europe for the world premiere.
Caravaggio
Camera Operator
The tumultuous and adventurous life of Michelangelo Merisi, controversial artist, called by Fate to become the immortal Caravaggio. A violent genius that will dare to defy the ideal vision of the world imposed by the Renaissance painters. A provoker that scandalized patrons and institutions, raising the altars the outcast figures he knew so well: drunkards, vagrants and prostitutes.
Witness to 'Reds'
Self
Cast and crew of "Reds" revisit their memories and stories while making the film.
Giornata Nera
Interviews with Franco Nero and Vittorio Storaro about the film The Fifth Cord.
Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist
Director of Photography
Haunted by terrible acts the Nazis forced him to participate in, the disenchanted Father Lankester Merrin focuses his energies on helping with an archaeological dig in the northern part of Kenya. There, the crew uncovers a church that predates Christian missions into the area, but the discovery also causes strange events to start occurring -- including physical changes to a young, disabled boy, whom Merrin grows to suspect has been possessed by a demon.
Behind the scenes: Last Tango in Paris
self
A behind the scenes look at Bernardo Bertolucci’s classic film about the dark side of the sexual revolution: Last Tango in Paris, starring Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider.
Exorcist: The Beginning
Director of Photography
Having lived through traumatizing events during WWII, Father Lankester Merrin takes a sabbatical from the Church to conduct archaeological excavations in British-administered East Africa. Merrin unearths an ancient Byzantine church believed have been built and then immediately buried to keep down evil from the crypt below. The natives are convinced that uncovering the church has unleashed a demon, and begin to violently clash with the British military troops. As the village rapidly disintegrates into chaos and war, Merrin must face-off with the demon which has taken possession of somebody close to him.
Zapata: The dream of a hero
Director of Photography
This fictionalized portrayal of Emiliano Zapata as an Indigenous Mexican shaman, directed by Alfonso Arau, was reportedly the most expensive Mexican movie ever produced, with a massive ad campaign, and the largest ever opening in the nation's history. Unusual in the Mexican film industry, Zapata was financed independently.
Picking Up the Pieces
Director of Photography
A small New Mexican village discovers a severed hand that is considered a miracle of God, when it actually belongs to a murdered spouse with a husband in search of it.
Mirka
Camera Operator
The isolated lives of people on a farm at the top of the mountains are changed by a ten-year-old child named Mirka.
Goya in Bordeaux
Director of Photography
Francisco Goya (1746-1828), deaf and ill, lives the last years of his life in voluntary exile in Bordeaux, a Liberal protesting the oppressive rule of Ferdinand VII. He's living with his much younger wife Leocadia and their daughter Rosario. He continues to paint at night, and in flashbacks stirred by conversations with his daughter, by awful headaches, and by the befuddlement of age, he relives key times in his life.
Glorious Technicolor
Self - Cinematographer
The history of color photography in motion pictures, in particular the Technicolor company's work.
Tango
Director of Photography
A dangerous love affair inspires a director to create the most spectacular and bodly seductive dance film ever made. 1998 Oscar Nominee Best Foreign Language Film.
Bulworth
Director of Photography
A suicidally disillusioned liberal politician puts a contract out on himself and takes the opportunity to be bluntly honest with his voters by affecting the rhythms and speech of hip-hop music and culture.
Taxi
Director of Photography
A young girl, after failing an exam, is forced by her father, a taxi-driver, to learn his profession. Soon she discovers that her father is not only a driver but also a member of a racist group eliminating immigrants, homosexual, transvestite, etc. people. She also falls in love with a boy, also a taxi-driver and a "socio" of the group.
Little Buddha
Director of Photography
After the death of Lama Dorje, Tibetan Buddhist monks find three children — one American and two Nepalese — who may be the rebirth of their great teacher.
Visions of Light
Self
Cameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography and of the "DP" (the director of photography), illustrating their points with clips from 100 films, from Birth of a Nation to Do the Right Thing. Themes: the DP tells people where to look; changes in movies (the arrival of sound, color, and wide screens) required creative responses from DPs; and, these artisans constantly invent new equipment and try new things, with wonderful results. The narration takes us through the identifiable studio styles of the 30s, the emergence of noir, the New York look, and the impact of Europeans. Citizen Kane, The Conformist, and Gordon Willis get special attention.
Tosca
Cinematography
Contemporary Rome is the setting for this unique and highly innovative version of Puccini's Tosca, performed in the Roman locations--and at the same times of day--as Puccini had written into his score. Thus the action opens in the beautiful 16th century church of Sant'Andrea della Valle at noon, where Cavaradossi (Domingo) is painting a portrait, moves to the Farnese Palace that evening where Tosca (Malfitano) dramatically stabs the lustful Scarpia (Raimondi) and finally in the battlements of Castel Sant'Angelo at dawn the following day where the last moments of the drama are completed.
Writing with Light: Vittorio Storaro
Self
Documentary about Vittorio Storaro, cinematographer of Apocalypse Now, The Last Emperor, Reds, Il Confimista, 1900. Vittorio Storaro talks about his work, along with collaborators like Warren Beatty and Bernardo Bertolucci and peers like Nestor Almendros. On-set footage from Dick Tracy and The Sheltering Sky. Storaro explains his zany theories about light and colour, and gives a potted history of lighting in the cinema. Sublime.
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
Self
A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.
The Sheltering Sky
Director of Photography
An American couple drift toward emptiness in postwar North Africa.
Dick Tracy
Director of Photography
The comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when Breathless Mahoney makes advances towards him while he is trying to battle Big Boy Caprice's united mob.
New York Stories
Director of Photography
Three stories happening in New York. The first, by Scorsese, is about a painter who creates his works helped by high volume music and an attractive assistant; second, by Coppola, is about a rich and bold 12 years old who helps her separated parents to reconciliate; third, by Allen, is a witty piece of comedy about the impossibility of getting rid of the son's role.
Tucker: The Man and His Dream
Director of Photography
Ypsilanti, Michigan, 1945. Engineer Preston Tucker dreams of designing the car of future, but his innovative envision will be repeatedly sabotaged by his own unrealistic expectations and the Detroit automobile industry tycoons.
The Last Emperor
Director of Photography
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.
Ishtar
Director of Photography
Two terrible lounge singers get booked to play a gig in a Moroccan hotel but somehow become pawns in an international power play between the CIA, the Emir of Ishtar, and the rebels trying to overthrow his regime.
The Making of Captain EO
Self
Documentary of the making of Michael Jackson's Captain EO film for the Disney theme parks.
Captain EO
Cinematography
In this 3-D science fiction film that was shown at Disney theme parks, the infamous Captain EO and his ragtag crew are sent on a diplomatic mission through space to deliver a gift to the mysterious and menacing Supreme Leader of a desolate industrial planet.
Ladyhawke
Director of Photography
Captain Etienne Navarre is a man on whose shoulders lies a cruel curse. Punished for loving each other, Navarre must become a wolf by night whilst his lover, Lady Isabeau, takes the form of a hawk by day. Together, with the thief Philippe Gaston, they must try to overthrow the corrupt Bishop and in doing so break the spell.
The Making of 'One from the Heart'
Himself
A short documentary on the Francis Ford Coppola musical One From the Heart.
One from the Heart
Director of Photography
Hank and Frannie don't seem to be able to live together anymore. After a five-year relationship, lustful and dreamy Frannie leaves down-to-earth Hank on the anniversary of their relationship. Each one of them meets their dream mate, but as bright as they may seem, they are but a stage of lights and colors. Will true love prevail over a seemingly glamorous passion?
Reds
Director of Photography
An account of the revolutionary years of the legendary American journalist John Reed, who shared his adventurous professional life with his radical commitment to the socialist revolution in Russia, his dream of spreading its principles among the members of the American working class, and his troubled romantic relationship with the writer Louise Bryant.
Luna
Director of Photography
While touring in Italy, a recently-widowed American opera singer has an incestuous relationship with her 15-year-old son to help him overcome his heroin addiction.
Apocalypse Now
TV Photographer (uncredited)
At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.
Apocalypse Now
Director of Photography
At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.
Agatha
Director of Photography
England, 1926. An American journalist looks for mystery writer Agatha Christie when she suddenly disappears without explanation, leaving no trace.
1900
Director of Photography
The epic tale of a class struggle in twentieth century Italy, as seen through the eyes of two childhood friends on opposing sides.
Submission
Director of Photography
In wartime France, Pharmacist Eliane (Lisa Gastoni) begins a torrid affair with her shop assistant Armand (Franco Nero), but she soon becomes dominated by him. He demands more and more from her, humiliating her and putting her family at risk.
Abicinema
Self
Footprints
Director of Photography
Alice, a young translator, finds the real world slowly merging with her recurring nightmares as she tries to solve the puzzle of her recent memory loss. A postcard leads her to the island of Garma where the locals seems to know her. Is she who she thinks she is? And what significance does her dream of an astronaut abandoned on the moon have?
Identikit
Director of Photography
Lise, a mentally unbalanced middle-aged woman, travels from her home in London to Rome, Italy where she embarks on a fatal destiny that she had helped to arrange for herself — a premeditated search for someone, anyone, with whom she could form a dangerous liaison.
Giordano Bruno
Director of Photography
Fleeing from his enemies in the Catholic Church, the free thinking philosopher, poet and scientist Giordano Bruno has found some protection in Venice. But the Roman Inquisition, fearing his influence in Europe, wants to bring him on trial for 'heresy'.
Brothers Blue
Director of Photography
A group of young desperados is hunted for several years by a determined bank guard
Malicious
Director of Photography
A widower and two of his sons become infatuated by their beautiful housekeeper, and all three set out to seduce her using their own unique methods.
Last Tango in Paris
Director of Photography
A recently widowed American begins an anonymous sexual relationship with a young Parisian woman.
Body of Love
Director of Photography
An estranged father and son on holiday bond over the beautiful foreign girl they find unconscious on the beach.
'Tis Pity She's a Whore
Director of Photography
Annabella marries Soranzo. She happens to also be pregnant by Giovanni — who also happens to be her brother. Destiny, and jealousies threaten to expose her past, and Soranzo plots revenge.
The Fifth Cord
Director of Photography
A journalist finds himself on the trail of a murderer who's been targeting people around him, while the police are considering him a suspect in their investigation.
The Conformist
Director of Photography
A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.
The Spider's Stratagem
Director of Photography
A young man returns to his countryside hometown to investigate the unclear circumstances behind the death of his father, ostensibly killed by Fascists in 1936, before his birth. As he unravels a web of lies that seems to encompass the whole town, he finds himself entangled in the same web.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Director of Photography
An American writer living in Rome witnesses an attempted murder that is connected to an ongoing killing spree in the city, and conducts his own investigation despite himself and his girlfriend being targeted by the killer.
The Rage Within
Director of Photography
A University professor is being blackmailed by his own daughter for having an affair with one of her friends.
Youth March
Director of Photography
Our Husbands
Camera Operator
Three episodes about Italian husbands and their relationships.
Before the Revolution
Assistant Camera
The study of a youth on the edge of adulthood and his aunt, ten years older. Fabrizio is passionate, idealistic, influenced by Cesare, a teacher and Marxist, engaged to the lovely but bourgeois Clelia, and stung by the drowning of his mercurial friend Agostino, a possible suicide. Gina is herself a bundle of nervous energy, alternately sweet, seductive, poetic, distracted, and unhinged. They begin a love affair after Agostino's funeral, then Gina confuses Fabrizio by sleeping with a stranger. Their visits to Cesare and then to Puck, one of Gina's older friends, a landowner losing his land, dramatize contrasting images of Italy's future. Their own futures are bleak.
Attack of the Normans
Camera Operator
An evil duke kidnaps the good king and tries to make the virtuous queen his bride and the peasants take arms.
Appuntamento in Riviera
Camera Operator
In the study of a lawyer, two young spouses tell their story. The singer Tony manages to reach the much coveted success, and can thus marry his girlfriend. But a clause in his record contract obliges him to remain a bachelor for two years.
His Women
Camera Operator
Stefano Garbelli is employed by a pharmaceutical company. One evening Daniela, a young independent prostitute, approaches Stefano pretending to be a nurse. They get together, but Daniela has a sinister plan.
Pugni, pupe e marinai
Camera Operator
Three sailors are sent to an island by their commander to steal a boat, but they are sunk by an enemy ship. Saved from the shipwreck by a fishing boat, they have to get back to the island before their commander knows about their adventure.
Love, Freedom and Treachery
Assistant Camera
During WW2, in a Nazi-occupied country, a local partisan blows-up a German military train, prompting the Germans to take civilian hostages to be shot if the culprit doesn't surrender before a deadline.