Damiano Damiani (23 July 1922 – 7 March 2013) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and comic book creator. He made his film directing debut with the 1960 feature film Il rossetto (Lipstick) , and became known for his politically-charged crime films, like The Day of the Owl (1968) and Confessions of a Police Captain (1971), as well as the Zapata Western A Bullet for the General (1966).
Poet and director Pier Paolo Pasolini referred to him as "a bitter moralist hungry for old purity", while film critic Paolo Mereghetti said that his style made him "the most American of Italian directors".
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Early life and education
Damiani was born in Pasiano di Pordenone, Friuli (now a part of Friuli-Venezia Giulia) in 1922, and studied at the Accademia di Brera in Milan.
Comics career
Before his career as a filmmaker, Damiani was first a comic cartoonist in association with the so-called "Group of Venice", with Fernando Carcupino, Hugo Pratt and Dino Battaglia.
Focused on the comic Asso di Picche (1945–49) the comic featured a masked vigilante who fights crime all over the globe and is in charge of the crime stopping organization, "Band of Panthers".
A smaller publication to which he also contributed through illustration was Mike Lazy (1946), producing two volumes in Albo Dinamite by Edizioni Il Carro in Milan. Then individually producing his own gangster comic, Pat la Rocca (1946). Two books were published in the collection Collana Gialli Film, also by Edizioni Il Carro. A third comic was scheduled and advertised for release, but never materialised.
Continuing his work in the comic industry, Damiani wrote scripts for the photo comic strip Arizona Kid (1949) published in Mondadori magazines such as Avventuroso Film and Bolero Film. Moving on to work on the launch of a similar magazine, Sogno, alongside editor Luciano Pedrocchi, he also later worked as a writer for an adventure comic I Tre Boyscouts (Edizioni Castello, 1948; which was illustrated by Rino Ferrari, Giovanni Benvenuti and Andrea Bresciani). Later in his career, Damiani did some illustration work for the crime noir comic, Hogart il Giustiziere, which was reprinted and published under the title Bogart il Giusitiziere (1968–69).
Film career
In 1947, he directed the short documentary La banda d'Affori, and was an art director and production designer in the film industry for a time. After a few years as a screenwriter, he directed his first feature film in 1960, Lipstick.
His 1962 film, Arturo's Island, won the Golden Shell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. The 1960s were Damiani's "golden decade"; he was praised by critics and his films were box office successes.
In 1966, he directed A Bullet for the General, one of the first political spaghetti Westerns. In 1968, with The Day of the Owl, he started a series of films in which social criticism, often related to the connections between politics and crime, was mixed with spectacular plots. His 1971 film Confessions of a Police Captain won the Golden Prize at the 7th Moscow International Film Festival.
In 1973 Damiani débuted as an actor, playing Giovanni Amendola in Florestano Vancini's The Assassination of Matteotti. He was known to cult horror film fans for directing Amityville II: The Possession in 1982 for Dino De Laurentiis.
In 1984, he directed one of the most famous Italian television series, La piovra, a description of the contemporary Italian Mafia and its involvement in politics. His last feature film was Assassini dei giorni di festa, directed in 2002.
Death
Damiani died on 7 March 2013, at his home in Rome, from respiratory failure; he was 90 years old.
Filmography
Screenwriter
The Mysteries of Paris (1957)
Herod the Great (1958)
Head of a Tyrant (1959)
Actor
7 Bullets for Gringo (1967) - Journalist with Gen. Elías (uncredited)
The Case Is Closed, Forget It (1971) - Vanzi's lawyer (uncredited)
The Assassination of Matteotti (1973) - Giovanni Amendola
How to Kill a Judge (1975) - Giacomo Solaris' Attorney (uncredited) (final film role)
Awards
Golden Seashell at San Sebastián International Film Festival for L'isola di Arturo (1962)
Berlin FIPRESCI Prize – Honorable Mention, for La rimpatriata (1963)
Silver Berlin Bear – Honorable Mention for Pizza Connection (1985)
David di Donatello, Alitalia Award, for L'Inchiesta (1986)
Golden Prize at Moscow Film Festival for Confessione di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica (1971)
Nominations
Golden Berlin Bear for Pizza Connection (1985)
Golden Berlin Bear for Il giorno della civetta (1968)
Golden Berlin Bear for La rimpatriata (1963)
