Giuliano Montaldo Biography
Giuliano Montaldo was born in Genoa in 1930. Before becoming a director, he worked as a theater actor and made his film debut acting in two films by Carlo Lizzani, Achtung! Bandits! (1951) and Chronicles of Poor Lovers (1954).
Subsequently, he collaborated as assistant director to authors such as Elio Petri, Lizzani himself and Gillo Pontecorvo. He then decided to dedicate himself to directing and directed his first film, Pigeon Shoot (1961), which deals with the end of the Second World War through the eyes of a soldier of the Republic of Salò in a crisis of values.
His next film, Una bella gritta (1965), focuses on the Italian reality of the period, offering the portrait of a cynical man who tries to exploit the economic boom, but which is ultimately destroyed.
Montaldo continued to explore moments of Italian history through figures and institutions of power. He directed Gott mit uns (1970), which tells the story of the desertion trial and shooting of two Wehrmacht soldiers, and Sacco e Vanzetti (1971), which analyzes the trial and unjust conviction of two anarchists. He also made Giordano Bruno (1973), which traces the philosopher's life and death by fire.
The director then dedicated himself to historical television fiction, directing the blockbuster Marco Polo (1982), much appreciated by the general public for its precision in environmental reconstruction and for its attention to the customs and mentalities of the time.
In the 1990s, Montaldo directed two documentary films, There Will Be a Time (1992) and The Seasons of the Eagle (1997). In 1999 he was appointed president of Rai Cinema SpA
