CARLO DI PALMA

GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHERS

CARLO DI PALMA

Born: 17 April 1925, Rome, Italy, as son of a camera repairman and a mother who sold flowers in the Piazza di Spagna.

Died: 9 July 2004, Rome, Italy.

Education: Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Rome, Italy.

Career: Started as c.asst in 1942. Became c.op in 1950 and doph in 1954.

Was a member of the AIC.

He was the uncle of doph Dario Di Palma [1932-2004].

Awards: Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists 'Silver Ribbon' Award [1965] for 'Il deserto rosso', [1967] for 'L'armata Brancaleone', [1993] for 'Shadows and Fog' & [1997] for 'Mighty Aphrodite'; BAFTA Film Award nom [1968] for 'Blowup'; Italia Cinema Agency's 'Life Achievement Award' [2001]; European Film Awards 'Outstanding European Achievement in World Cinema' [2003].

Carlo Di Palma once compared the job of the cinematographer to that of the painter. Both start with a blank canvas, but while the painter has to add strokes to depict what he wants to show, for Di Palma the task of the director of photography is to take away all but what is essential to the shot. Such a spare, simple-sounding encapsulation of his work was strikingly at odds with his reputation as a master manipulator of light and color.

Di Palma came to prominence in the mid-1960s as a result of his collaboration with director Michelangelo Antonioni on his two masterpieces, 'Il deserto rosso/Red Desert' and 'Blowup'. Although it is the latter film that has remained the better known, largely because of its memorable evocation of the spirit of Swinging London, the former is the more interesting technically.

Antonioni's somewhat expressionist intent was that the color of the landscapes in which his characters found themselves marooned would reflect their inner states. All of his previous films had been made in black and white, and it was Di Palma who persuaded him to venture into color. Having done so, Di Palma found himself having to repaint everything in each frame in the correct shade, be it grass, trees or the very streets of Ravenna, where the film was made. The results were quite unlike anything seen in the cinema before, and showed to the full the creative possibilities of the medium.

For 'Blowup' Di Palma made use of the powers of different lenses, particularly the zoom. The film was essentially a cinematic in-joke; its protagonist was a photographer, its concern the reliability of sight as an interpreter of the truth. Such tricksy notions were a long way from Di Palma's roots in the neorealist movement.

Having been influenced by Gianni Di Venanzo, Di Palma became a director of photography at the start of the 1950s. He soon found himself in demand and turned out a score of pictures before resuming the partnership with Antonioni that had begun on a short film in 1949.

It was while shooting 'Red Desert' that Di Palma began a long professional and personal involvement with actress Monica Vitti. He directed her in three films, though with little critical or commercial reward.

In the mid-1980s, his career took an unexpected turn when he became Woody Allen's cinematographer of choice. The two collaborated on a dozen of the director's films. The Italian later declared that the decade he had spent working in America had been the most enjoyable of his life.

Di Palma made his last contribution to cinema in 2001 with a documentary entitled 'Un altro mondo è possibile/Another World Is Possible'. Latterly he had been in ill-health, and he had restricted himself to supervising lighting effects for concerts in churches in Rome and in the Piazza della Signoria, Florence. [From obituary in 'The Times', July 21, 2004.]

FILMS & TELEVISION
1950	Addio [G. Baggio] ?; short/?m
1951	Luoghi e figure di Verga [Florestano Vancini] b&w; doc/280mtrs
1952	Più che regione [Florestano Vancini] b&w; doc/289mtrs
1952	Portatrici di pietre [Florestano Vancini] b&w; doc/280mtrs
1955	Lauta mancia/Big Dog Lost [Fabio De Agostini] b&w
1957	La più alta del mondo [Florestano Vancini] c; doc/412mtrs
1957	Teatro minimo [Florestano Vancini] c; doc/380mtrs
1957	Ombre e luci sulla ribalta [Bruno Benech] ?; short/?m
1957	Tempo di fede [Bruno Benech] ?; short/?m
1957	Tempo di maschere [Bruno Benech] ?; short/?m
1957	Tra la storia e la leggenda [Bruno Benech] ?; short/?m
1958	Gli ultimi cantastorie [Florestano Vancini] c; doc/380mtrs
1958	La sfida/The Challenge [Francesco Rosi] b&w; 2uc; ph: Gianni Di Venanzo
1959	La grande guerra/The Great War [Mario Monicelli] cs/b&w; 2uc; ph: Leonida Barboni, Roberto Gerardi, Giuseppe Rotunno & Giuseppe Serrandi
1959	L'impiegato [Gianni Puccini] b&w
1959	Kapò [Gillo Pontecorvo] b&w; co-2uc; ph: Aleksandar Sekulovic
1960	Le Svedesi [Gian Luigi Polidoro] b&w
1960	La lunga notte del '43/Long Night in 1943/It Happened in '43 [Florestano Vancini] b&w
1960	Città di Vespignani [Massimo Mida] ?; doc/?m
1960	L'assassino/The Assassin/The Ladykiller of Rome [Elio Petri] Nikkatsuscope/b&w
1961	Divorzio all'italiana/Divorce - Italian Style [Pietro Germi] b&w; uncred cph; ph: Leonida Barboni
1961	Tiro al piccione [Giuliano Montaldo] b&w
1961	Accattone [Pier Paolo Pasolini] b&w; ph trial tests; ph: Tonino Delli Colli
1961	Leoni al sole [Vittorio Caprioli] c
1962	Les quatres vérités/Three Fables of Love [seg 'Le lièvre et la tortue' dir by Alessandro Blasetti] b&w; other seg ph by Jacques Mercanton, Francisco Sempere & Armand Thirard; USA release without seg dir by Luis García Berlanga
1962	El sheriff terrible/Due contro tutti/Two Against All [Antonio Momplet & Alberto De Martino] c; cph: Dario Di Palma & Ricardo Torres
1963	Liolà/A Very Handy Man [Alessandro Blasetti] b&w; ext co-ph; ph: Leonida Barboni & Tonino Delli Colli
1963	Omicron [Ugo Gregoretti] b&w
1963	Amore in quattro dimensioni [seg 'Amore e vita' dir by Jacques Romain] b&w; 4 seg; other seg ph by Tonino Delli Colli (2 seg) & Dario Di Palma (1 seg)
1964	Il deserto rosso/Red Desert [Michelangelo Antonioni] c
1964	Le ore nude/The Naked Hours [Marco Vicario] b&w

[Right] with Princess Soraya and Michelangelo Antonioni - "I tre volti"

1964	I tre volti/Three Faces of a Woman [seg #1 'Prefazione (Il provino)' dir by Michelangelo Antonioni] c; 3 seg; other ph: Otello Martelli (2 seg)
1965	5 tombe per un medium/Terror-Creatures from the Grave/Cemetery of the Living Dead/Coffin of Terror/Tombs of Horror [Ralph Zucker (= Massimo Pupillo)] b&w; as Charles Brown
1965	Una questione d'onore/A Question of Honour [Luigi Zampa] c; cph: Luciano Trasatti
1965	L'armata Brancaleone/For Love and Gold [Mario Monicelli] scope/c
1966	Le fate/Les ogresses/The Queens/Sex Quartet [seg #1 'Fata Sabina' dir by Luciano Salce] c; 4 seg; cph (#1): Ennio Guarnieri; other ph: Dario Di Palma (#2), Leonida Barboni (#3) & Armando Nannuzzi (#4)
1966	Blowup [Michelangelo Antonioni] c
1967	La cintura di castità/On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who.../The Chastity Belt [Pasquale Festa Campanile] ts/c
1967	Ti ho sposato per allegria [Luciano Salce] c
1967	La ragazza con la pistola/Girl with a Pistol [Mario Monicelli] c
1968	The Appointment [Sidney Lumet] c
1968	La femme écarlate/The Bitch Wants Blood/The Scarlet Lady/La donna scarlatta [Jean Valère] c
1969	Amore mio, aiutami!/Help Me My Love [Alberto Sordi] c
1969	Dramma della gelosia - tutti i particolari in cronaca/Jealousy, Italian Style [Ettore Scola] p/c
1970	Le coppie/The Couples [seg 'Il frigorifero' dir by Mario Monicelli] c; 3 seg; other ph: Sante Achilli & Ennio Guarnieri
1970	La supertestimone [Franco Giraldi] c
1970	Ninì Tirabusciò [La donna che inventò la mossa] [Marcello Fondato] c
1970	La pacifista/The Pacifist [Miklós Jancsó] c
1971	Noi donne siamo fatte così [Dino Risi] ts/c
1971	Gli ordini sono ordini [Franco Giraldi] c
1977	Kumbha Mela [Michelangelo Antonioni] 16mm/c; doc/18m
1978	Amo non amo/I Love You, I Love You Not/Together? [Armenia Balducci] c
1980	La clemenza di Tito [Jean-Pierre Ponnelle] tv-opera/136m
1981	La tragedia di un uomo ridicolo/Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man [Bernardo Bertolucci] c
1981	The Black Stallion Returns [Robert Dalva] c; addph: Caleb Deschanel, David Myers & Haskell Wexler
1982	Gabriela [Bruno Barreto] tvi/c; addph: Pedro Farkas & Carlos Egberto Silveira
1982	Indentificazione di una donna/Identification of a Woman [Michelangelo Antonioni] partly v/c
1983	Ritorno a Lisca Bianca [Michelangelo Antonioni] tv-doc/b&w/9m/16mm
1984	Hannah and Her Sisters [Woody Allen] c; addph: Jamie Jacobsen
1985	Off Beat [Michael Dinner] c; 2uc: Michael Negrin
1986	The Secret of My Succe$s [Herbert Ross] c

[Striped cap] with Woody Allen [right] - "Radio Days" - photo by Brian Hamill

Thys Ockersen Archive

1986	Radio Days [Woody Allen] c
1987	September [Woody Allen] c
1988	Family Business [Sidney Lumet] announced as doph, but replaced by Andrzej Bartkowiak
1989	Roma [Michelangelo Antonioni] c; comm doc/9m; also seg of '12 registi per 12 città'; prod Ministero del Turismo e dello Spettacolo
1990	Il ciurma/The Crew [Michelangelo Antonioni] unrealized
1990	Alice [Woody Allen] c; optical ph: Angus Bickerton
1991	Shadows and Fog [Woody Allen] b&w
1991	Husbands and Wives [Woody Allen] c
1992	Manhattan Murder Mystery [Woody Allen] c
1993	Bullets over Broadway [Woody Allen] c
1994	Il mostro/The Monster [Roberto Benigni & Michel Filippi] c
1994	Don't Drink the Water [Woody Allen] tvm; 2uc Prague: Petr Hlinomaz
1994	Mighty Aphrodite [Woody Allen] c
1995	Everyone Says I Love You [Woody Allen] c
1996	Deconstructing Harry [Woody Allen] c
2001	Un altro mondo è possibile/Another World Is Possible [various] c; doc/60m & 120m; other ph: Luca Bigazzi, Franco Di Giacomo, a.o.
2002	Anything Else [Woody Allen] announced as doph, but replaced by Darius Khondji

FILMS AS CAMERA ASSISTANT/OPERATOR
1940	Caravaggio il pittore maledetto [Goffredo Alessandrini] c.asst; ph: Aldo Tonti
1941	Fari nella nebbia [Gianni Franciolini & Marco Elter] co-c.asst; ph: Aldo Tonti
1942	Un colpo di pistola/A Pistol Shot [Renato Castellani] co-c.asst; ph: Massimo Terzano
1942	Ossessione [Luchino Visconti] co-c.asst (replaced Gianni Di Venanzo, who was called up for military service); ph: Aldo Tonti
1942	Il romanzo di un giovane povero [Guido Brignone] c.asst; ph: Tino Santoni
1945	Paisà/Paisan [Roberto Rossellini] co-c.asst; ph: Otello Martelli; filmed 1943-44
1945	La vita ricomincia/Life Begins Anew [Mario Mattoli] c.asst; ph: Ubaldo Arata
1945	Roma città aperta [Roberto Rossellini] co-c.asst; ph: Ubaldo Arata
1946	Eugenia Grandet [Mario Soldati] c.asst; ph: Václav Vích
1947	L'ebreo errante/The Wandering Jew [Goffredo Alessandrini] c.asst; ph: Václav Vích
1948	Ladri di biciclette/The Bicycle Thief/Bicycle Thieves [Vittorio De Sica] c.asst; ph: Carlo Montuori
1949	L'amorosa menzogna/Loving Lie [Michelangelo Antonioni] short/10m; c.op; ph: Renato Del Frate
1950	Domani è troppo tardi [Léonide Moguy] c.op; ph: Mario Craveri
1951	Napoleone [Carlo Borghesio] c.op; ph: Renato Del Frate
1951	Lo scocciatore pubblico no. 1 [Riccardo Moschino; doc] c.op; ph: Gianni Di Venanzo
1951	Achtung! Banditi! [Carlo Lizzani] co-c.op; ph: Gianni Di Venanzo
1952	È arrivato l'accordatore/Zero in amore/The Piano Tuner Has Arrived [Duilio Coletti] c.op; ph: Renato Del Frate
1952	Personaggi di un sogno [Aldo Rubens; doc] c.op; ph: Gianni Di Venanzo
1952	Il tallone d'Achille [Mario Amendola & Ruggero Maccari] c.op; ph: Renato Del Frate
1952	I morti non pagano tasse [Sergio Grieco] c.op; ph: Renato Del Frate
1952	Serenata amara [Pino Mercanti] c.op; ph: Renato Del Frate
1952	Non è vero... ma ci credo [Sergio Grieco] c.op; ph: Vincenzo Seratrice
1953	Ivan [il figlio del diavolo bianco] [Guido Brignone] c.op; ph: Mario Montuori
1953	Lulù [Fernando Cerchio] c.op; ph: Mario Albertelli & Vincenzo Seratrice
1954	Tripoli, bel suol d'amore/I quatro bersaglieri [Ferruccio Cerio] c.op; ph: Mario Montuori
1954	La vergine moderna [Marcello Pagliero] c.op; ph: Mario Montuori
1957	Il grido/The Cry [Michelangelo Antonioni] 2nd c.asst; ph: Gianni Di Venanzo
1958	Avventura a Capri [Giuseppe Lipartiti] c.op; ph: Václav Vích
1959	Guardatele ma non toccatele [Mario Mattoli] c.op; ph: Riccardo Pallottini

FILMS AS DIRECTOR
1972	Teresa la ladra/Teresa the Thief [feature] ph: Dario Di Palma
1974	Qui comincia l'avventura/Blonde in Black Leather/Lucky Girls [+ co-scrpl] ph: Dario Di Palma
1975	Mimì Bluette... fiore del mio giardino [feature] ph: Alfio Contini
1984	L'addio a Enrico Berlinguer [doc; co-d: various] ph: Dario Di Palma, Angelo Lotti, Claudio Ragona, a.o.
1999	The End (Teleteatro) [v/c; short/4m; seg of 3-part 'An Embroidered Trilogy', a video project by Francesco Vezzoli] ph: ?

IEC