LIMITED SERIES ENNIO MORRICONE:
ESSENTIAL SCORES FROM A MOVIE MAESTRO OCT 6–NOV 25, 2023
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo) Fri, Oct 6 | 7:30pm | DGT
“Ennio Morricone was more than one of the world’s great soundtrack composers—he was one of the world’s great composers, period. He was one of those musicians who could make an unforgettable melody with just a small fistful of notes.” – John Zorn A jaunty electric guitar riff. A wailing harmonica. A powerful vocal crescendo. The unique elements of an effective film score make it instantly recognizable, sometimes even more so than a famous actor’s face. Such is the case for many of the over 500 original film and television scores written by Italian composer Ennio Morricone (1928–2020), the so-called Maestro of film music, who, according to composer John Zorn, “was always open to trying new sounds, new instruments, new combinations— rarely drawing from the same well twice.” Ennio Morricone developed his ear at a young age as cultivated by his musician father, who encouraged his studies on the trumpet. Though he started his career in television, providing music for Italy’s first-ever broadcast in 1954 on through contemporary productions, Morricone is best remembered for his film scores, most specifically his collaborations with Dario Argento, Sergio Leone, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Elio Petri, and Giuseppe Tornatore in his native Italy, and Brian De Palma, Terrence Malick, and Quentin Tarantino in Hollywood. Over a career spanning eight decades, Morricone’s influence on cinema music will be felt for generations to come. This series offers an overview of many iconic scores from across the Maestro’s multifaceted career. Programmed by K.J. Relth-Miller and Bernardo Rondeau. Notes by K.J. Relth-Miller and Robert Reneau.
A DIRTY SHAME, Photo: Jim Bridges
Cecil B. Demented with A Dirty Shame Sat, Oct 28 | 7:30pm | TMT Cecil B. Demented
PECKER, Photo: Michael Ginsberg
Pecker with Cry-Baby Thu, Oct 26 | 7:30pm | TMT Pecker
A ragtag crew of underground filmmakers known as the Sprocket Holes, who abhor conventional cinema, rebel against the tenets of mainstream Hollywood in this send-up of filmmakers who take themselves too seriously. To further cement the crew’s cinephilic fervor, John Waters imagined a tattoo featuring the name of a boundary-pushing director— Kenneth Anger, Pedro Almodóvar, William Castle—for each member. The Sprocket Holes’s director and leader is the title character (Stephen Dorff) who commands them to kidnap Hollywood star Honey Whitlock (Melanie Griffith) and force her to act in their latest film, shot guerrilla style among unsuspecting Baltimore crowds. DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: John Waters. WITH: Melanie Griffith, Stephen Dorff, Alicia Witt, Adrian Grenier. 2000. 87 min. USA. Color. English. Rated R. 35mm. A Dirty Shame John Waters’s most recent film, A Dirty Shame asks if a concussive knock to the head is all it takes to turn a sex- averse prude—called a “neuter”—into an insatiable sex addict. Ultimately, a Baltimore neighborhood finds itself divided in a war between the neuters and the sex addicts, the latter led by sexual healer Ray Ray (Johnny Knoxville), with several characters—including protagonists Sylvia and Caprice Stickles (Tracey Ullman and Selma Blair)— switching sides more than once. The film’s production design from Vincent Peranio and special effects enable a physical universe that visually and thematically echoes the newfound sexuality experienced by its denizens. DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: John Waters. WITH: Tracey Ullman, Johnny Knoxville, Selma Blair, Chris Isaak. 2004. 89 min. USA. Color. English. Rated NC-17. 35mm.
Pecker (Edward Furlong) is an unassuming but passionate amateur photographer who finds art in the mundane or bleak moments of everyday life in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore. When he becomes an overnight success in New York City, his life and that of his loved ones is turned upside down. While the titular character is presented as a figure similar to photographer Diane Arbus, he is also reminiscent of John Waters himself, who also transitioned from DIY roots to the “legitimate” art world. The film comments on the commercialization of underground art, celebrity, and the risks of selling out. DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: John Waters. WITH: Edward Furlong, Christina Ricci, Mary Kay Place, Martha Plimpton. 1998. 87 min. USA. Color. English. Rated R. 35mm. Cry-Baby Set in the 1950s, Waters’s Cry-Baby follows an endearing gang of juvenile delinquents led by Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker (Johnny Depp). Cry-Baby and his group, known as the Drapes, face off against the conformist Squares when Cry-Baby falls for one of their own, goody-two-shoes Allison (Amy Locane)—wooed by Cry-Baby’s bad-boy with a heart of gold persona. Always heavily involved in the soundtracks of his films, Waters’s specific pairings of song and dance denote his deep musical interest and knowledge. Cry-Baby was Water's first musical film. DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: John Waters. WITH: Johnny Depp, Ricki Lake, Amy Locane, Susan Tyrrell. 1990. 85 min. USA. Color. English. Rated PG-13. 35mm. Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.
This film series is presented by the Academy Museum in partnership with Cinecittà.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ( Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo ) Fri, Oct 6 | 7:30pm | DGT
Once upon a Time in the West ( C’era una volta il west ) Sat, Oct 21 | 7:30pm | DGT
The final film in Sergio Leone’s “Man with No Name” Western trilogy is an epic story of greed and betrayal set against the backdrop of the Civil War. The Good is the bounty hunter Blondie (Clint Eastwood), The Bad is the mercenary Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef), and The Ugly is the bandit Tuco (Eli Wallach), with the three men finding themselves constantly switching alliances in a cross- country search for a hidden fortune. Ennio Morricone’s score includes the soaring “Ecstasy of Gold” as well as his classic main theme, his most instantly recognizable composition, whose cover version by Hugo Montenegro became a hit single in the US. DIRECTED BY: Sergio Leone. WRITTEN BY: Age & Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni, Sergio Leone. STORY BY: Luciano Vincenzoni, Sergio Leone. WITH: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach, Aldo Giuffrè. 1966. 179 min. Italy. Color. Scope. English. Rated R. 4K DCP.
Sergio Leone assembled a memorable international cast for his Western about a young woman (Claudia Cardinale), unexpectedly widowed, who finds herself struggling for survival against powerful forces including the mercenary Frank (an unforgettably evil Henry Fonda). Selected by the National Film Registry in 2009, Leone’s epic features vivid Techniscope cinematography by Tonino Delli Colli, memorable standalone sequences (the train station opening is a classic film all by itself), and a typically magnificent score by Ennio Morricone. DIRECTED BY: Sergio Leone. WRITTEN BY: Sergio Donati, Sergio Leone. STORY BY: Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci, Sergio Leone. WITH: Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson. 1968. 165 min. USA/Italy. Color. Scope. English. Rated PG-13. DCP. Courtesy of Cinecittà, 4K digital restoration by Cineteca di Bologna in association with Paramount and Leone Film Group.
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