Mario Sequi Biography
Mario Sequi was born in Monserrato in 1913. As a young man, he attended the Circolo Sant'Ambrogio in Monserrato, which, after the consolidation of the fascist regime, became a center of liberal cultural aggregation, under the guidance of president Pierino Atzeni, until his temporary closure by the regime in the 1930s. In this context and climate, Mario Sequi became passionate about theatrical activities and began to play small parts as an actor in some comedies in Sardinian-Campidanese performed in the theater of the Circolo di Sant'Ambrogio. Having completed his high school studies and obtained his accountant diploma, Mario Sequi left Sardinia and moved to Rome to enroll in the Academy of Dramatic Art directed by Maestro Silvio D'Amico and at the same time began acting in the theater as an actor. However, he soon had to interrupt this activity due to vocal cord surgery due to a tumor and turned his attention towards cinema. In fact, he had the opportunity to make his debut in the theater at a very young age as an assistant director and organizer and to be directed to the cinema by Gennaro Righelli who, in 1930, chose him as an assistant for the film The Song of Love. Subsequently, Sequi worked as an assistant director, screenwriter and production manager. In the 1940s, he collaborated with others on the screenplay of a good film by Giacomo Gentilomo, O' sole mio. In 1948, he had the opportunity to debut as a director in The Island of Monte Cristo (1950), with Franca Marzi, Claudio Gora, Carlo Ninchi and Fausto Guerzoni. He subsequently directed other good films of a dramatic and popular genre which achieved considerable success. Among these, the film Altura, from 1950, deserves to be remembered for its stylistic effectiveness and incisiveness of the narrative. According to specialized critics, his subsequent works, some of which were important, did not confirm the notable level of quality of Altura and, even, in the last films of the early 70s, Sequi, adapting to the producers' offer, indulged in a very questionable way the tastes of a cinema audience attracted by films with an erotic background. However, Mario Sequi will remain a great director in the history of Italian cinema with the creation of 11 films, which, with the exception of the last ones, deal with themes from costume adventure to social drama.
