Pastrone, Giovanni (1883-1959)

Pastrone, Giovanni

FILM PIONEER, DIRECTOR, ACTOR, SCREENWRITER (ITALY)

BORN 13 Sep 1883, Montechiaro d'Asti, Piemonte - DIED 27 Jun 1959, Torino, Piemonte
GRAVE LOCATION Torino, Piemonte: Cimitero Monumentale, Corso Novara (AMPLIAZIONE PRIMITIVO NICCHIONE 253 A (tomba))

Giovanni Pastrone studied accounting but also the cello. He made several musical instruments himself. His first movie was "La Glue" (1908) and in 1909 he was put in charge of the Itala Film Company. he worked as a producer, but also as a director. In 1912 he directed "La caduta di Troia" (1912). He invented technical equipment like the carello, a mobile camera stand that he invented in 1912.

His "Cabiria" (1914) was influential to other film directors of the silent era like David Wark Griffith. It had subtitles written by Gabriele D'Annuzio. Pastrone was among the first to make use of a moving camera to make his movies more dynamic. He used the pseudonym Piero Fosco to direct several movies. In 1919 Itala Film was acquired by the Italian Cinematrographic Union and two epic movie projects that he had started failed. In 1923 he directed "Povere bimbe" and after that he left the movies.

He refused several offers to make further movies, but in 1931 he supervised the creation of a partial sound track for "Cabiria" that was only at that time publicly attributed to him. He died in 1959 in Turin.

Images

The grave of Giovanni Pastrone at the Cimitero Monumentale, Turin.
Picture by Androom (28 Feb 2014)