Ennio (2021)

Directed by: Giuseppe Tornatore | 156 minutes | documentary, biography | Starring: Ennio Morricone, Quentin Tarantino, Hans Zimmer, Clint Eastwood, Oliver Stone, John Williams, Terrence Malick, Barry Levinson, Wong Kar-Wai, Dario Argento, Giuseppe Tornatore, Quincy Jones, Roland Joffé, Bruce Springsteen, Lina Wertmüller, James Hetfield, Phil Joanou, Marco Bellocchio, Enzo G. Castellari, Joan Baez, Mychael Danna, Mike Patton, Carlo Verdone, Liliana Cavani, Laura Pausini, David Puttnam, Vittorio Taviani, Zucchero

156 minutes of film fragments of classics with music by Ennio Morricone (1928-2020), that can’t be a punishment, can it? Certainly not for the movie fan. The man who, according to himself, sometimes made the most wonderful contributions to film music, did so for the best: Sergio Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, Brian de Palma and Quentin Tarentino, to name just a few.

Classics like ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ and ‘The Untouchables’, we all know the subtle yet dramatic contributions of Morricone, a rather withdrawn man who was not happy with meddling directors, as evidenced by the series of talking heads that passes us by. But that’s how the big ones are: stubborn and autonomous. What good is a flute for Ennio if he wants a string ensemble?

Those unruly collaborations did produce masterpieces, and that’s how it often goes. It makes Ennio’s objections a bit petty, but the work certainly isn’t. ‘Ennio’ is a meticulous document, all the enthusiasm and detail come to the fore. A bit of food for professional deformants like the reviewer; ‘Ennio’ is a long one, although quite varied because of the many highlights in Morricone’s work.

This documentary is solid to the bone: no exaltation, no juicy life stories either. Dedication, dedication, dedication, and again. Morricone seems like a ballet dancer, with grace and discipline in line. Person and work seem perfectly matched, and that is also a bit of the problem with ‘Ennio’: privately there were not that many waves, and that is part of it; this reviewer is also waiting for sensations, which rarely come.