Suso Cecchi D’Amico (21 July 1914, Rome – 31 July 2010, Rome) was the daughter of the literary critic Emilio Cecchi and for many years she dedicated herself to translating English and French literature while simultaneously embarking on her career as a journalist. She was married to the music critic Fedele D’Amico. She made her debut as a writer for the silver screen with “Mio figlio professore” (aka “Professor, My Son”, 1946) directed by Renato Castellani, which she wrote along with her father and the playwright Aldo De Benedetti. She worked together with Fellini and Luigi Zampa for the screenplays of “Vivere in pace” (1947) and “L’onorevole Angelina” (aka “Angelina, Member of Parliament”, 1947), which were both directed by the latter. Together with Cesare Zavattini she brought to life some of the most significant works of neorealism, beginning with “Ladri di biciclette” (aka “The Bicycle Thief”, 1948) all the way to “Miracolo a Milano” (aka “Miracle in Milan”, 1951): she had in common… read more
Suso Cecchi D’Amico (21 July 1914, Rome – 31 July 2010, Rome) was the daughter of the literary critic Emilio Cecchi and for many years she dedicated herself to translating English and French literature while simultaneously embarking on her career as a journalist. She was married to the music critic Fedele D’Amico. She made her debut as a writer for the silver screen with “Mio figlio professore” (aka “Professor, My Son”, 1946) directed by Renato Castellani, which she wrote along with her father and the playwright Aldo De Benedetti. She worked together with Fellini and Luigi Zampa for the screenplays of “Vivere in pace” (1947) and “L’onorevole Angelina” (aka “Angelina, Member of Parliament”, 1947), which were both directed by the latter. Together with Cesare Zavattini she brought to life some of the most significant works of neorealism, beginning with “Ladri di biciclette” (aka “The Bicycle Thief”, 1948) all the way to “Miracolo a Milano” (aka “Miracle in Milan”, 1951): she had in common with the screenwriter from the Emilia Region a certain taste for blending together the imaginary with daily life using a dramatic key, yet not extraneous to ironical underscores (similarly to Flaiano, with whom she began to work in 1946 on the film entitled “Roma città libera” directed by Marcello Pagliero). It was the beginning of an extraordinary journey that would see her name alongside those of the most prestigious Italian directors: Michelangelo Antonioni (“I vinti”, 1952; “La signora senza camelie” (aka The Lady Without Camelias, 1953); “Le amiche”, 1955), Francesco Rosi (“La sfida”, 1958; “I magliari” (aka “The Magliari”, 1959); “Salvatore Giuliano”, 1962), Alessandro Blasetti (“Tempi nostri”, 1954; “Peccato che sia una canaglia” (aka “Too Bad She’s Bad”, 1954) and Renato Castellani (“Nella città l’inferno” (aka “…and the Wild Wild Women”, 1958). Yet her partnership with Luchino Visconti was the one that distinguished her works the most: beginning with “Bellissima” (1951), she worked on all of the screenplays directed by the Milanese director, except for “La caduta degli dei” (aka “Luchino Visconti’s The Damned”, 1969) and “Morte a Venezia” (aka “Death in Venice”, 1971). She was willing to get involved even with genre cinema (“spaghetti westerns” such as “L’uomo, l’orgoglio, la vendetta” (aka “Pride and Vengeance”, 1967) directed by Luigi Bazzoni), while at the same time she continued to favour auteur movies: she worked alongside Franco Zeffirelli for “La bisbetica domata” (aka “The Taming of the Shrew”, 1967), “Fratello sole, sorella luna” (aka “Brother Son, Sister Moon”, 1972) and “Gesù di Nazareth” (aka “Jesus of Nazareth”, 1977); with Citto Maselli for “Gli indifferenti” (aka “Time of Indifference”, 1964): with Luigi Comencini for “Le avventure di Pinocchio” (aka “The Adventures of Pinocchio”, 1972); and with Nikita Mikhalkov for “Oci ciornie” (aka “Dark Eyes”, 1987). Following Visconti’s death, she became artistically connected to Mario Monicelli: and most probably the best results of this association are “Speriamo che sia femmina” (1986) and “Il male oscuro” (aka “Dark Illness”, 1990). Amongst her most recent works, “La stanza dello scirocco” (aka “The Room of the Scirocco”, 1998) directed by Maurizio Sciarra and “Il cielo cade” (2000) by Andrea and Antonio Frazzi deserve to be mentioned. The story of her career spanning five decades in motion pictures is described in a book entitled “Storie di cinema… e qualcos’altro”, published by Garzanti in 1996. She passed away in Rome on 31 July 2010. —italica.rai
