Franco Zeffirelli

Gianfranco Zeffirelli was marked by his unique origins. He was born in Florence in 1923, the result of a scandalous love affair, the adulterous relationship between Ottorino Corsi, a silk merchant, and Alaide Garosi, who attended her husband’s funeral carrying the child in her womb. Due to the illegitimate relationship, the newborn was civilly registered with the last name “Zeffirelli”, misnoted from “Zeffiretti”, a word that means something like “light breezes” and which is mentioned in the opera “Cosi Fan Tutte de Mozart”. , a whole premonition of his later direction of formidable operatic productions. The death of his mother when he was barely six years old, caused him to be placed in the care of a group of English expatriate women from their country and established in Florence, who were known as Scorpioni for their penchant for poignant humor. The little boy’s experiences with this singular group, which provided him with a liberal education and the love ofYears later William Shakespeare , and especially with Mary O’Neill, would have a faithful reflection in his autobiographical film Tea with Mussolini (1999). She would never have an easy relationship with his father, someone who scared her, who had multiple love affairs, and who would recognize him late.

From a young age, Zeffirelli cultivated his taste for art, also fostered by the environment of a monumental city that invites him to do so, such as Florence. He enrolls in the Academy of Fine Arts, and also in the University, where he studies Art and Architecture. But his training will continue in another, unexpected way, with the outbreak of World War II. It is about the university of life, that of confrontation and adherence to ideals. The future filmmaker does not agree with the ideas of fascism, and he fights first with the partisans, and then with the allies, with whom he acts as an efficient interpreter.

Peace allows him to resume his artistic training with redoubled spirits. Passionate, vital and hypersensitive, beauty attracts him in all its manifestations. Seeing Henry V (1945) by Laurence Olivier not only confirms his love for Shakespeare, but is also a stimulus for his future dedication to theater and film direction, for which he prepares by working on the radio, and in college theater performances. In addition, he loves sets, sets and costumes, and he prepares himself conscientiously in this field, learning from great professionals of the time, such as Gino Sensani, Mario Chiari and Maria De Matteis, helping in the staging of different operas and plays.

He had his first film experience as Luchino Visconti ‘s assistant director in 1948 with La tierra tremble , and he will repeat this same role in Bellísima (1951) and Senso (1954). While in opera, where he debuted in 1953, he had the good fortune to direct the diva Maria Callas in 1958 in a production of “La Traviata”. He would be able to proudly call her her friend, and would dedicate a biopic to her, her last feature, Callas Forever (2002). The opera would become the starting point for many of her films, with lyrical greats such as Plácido Domingo and Teresa Stratas, La traviata (1982), Cavalleria rusticana (1982) and Otello are exquisite.(1986). He would also address the musical theme in another biopic, that of The Young Toscanini (1988). As regards the theater, already at the end of the forties he ventured on stage with Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams and Anton Chekhov .

Given his growing dominance of the scenic space, and his special training in artistic direction, it is not surprising that when it came to making his fiction debut as a film director, he did so with William Shakespeare and The Indomitable Woman (1967), an adaptation of “The Taming of the Shrew” with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton . They were two established and mature stars, so when it came to undertaking his most popular Shakespearean adaptation, he would realize that it was worth betting on young and unknown interpreters, who would give the type of his characters, which he more than achieved with his wonderful Romeo and Juliet (1968), with the youngsters Leonard Whiting and Olivia Husseygiving life to lovers. Years later, she would be the Virgin Mary in Jesus of Nazareth (1977). The film won two Oscars for photography and costume design, but was also considered in the best film category, and Zeffirelli was nominated for best director. The Italian was also among the scriptwriters, something that would become common in his filmography. His approach to Shakespeare on the big screen would be completed in 1990 with a risky Hamlet where his protagonist, Mel Gibson , did not seem the best choice a priori, but nevertheless gave the Prince of Denmark a very particular personality.

Zeffirelli would always affirm his Catholic faith, so it was not surprising that in 1972 he shot Brother Sun, Sister Moon , the life of Saint Francis of Assisi with extreme aestheticism and beautiful songs, a beautiful way of approaching the life of the “poverello” of Assisi, thinking of the young public. Some, shocked for no reason, would label her as a hippy and smug, perhaps because they compared Roberto Rossellini and Francisco, minstrel of God (1950) with hers, which rather followed the postulates of Italian neorealism.

Although without a doubt the work in which Zeffirelli would express his Christianity in a more conscious way was his monumental miniseries –also released in cinema, in two parts, in many countries–, Jesus of Nazareth . Many well-known actors played small roles, but the director chose someone little known to play Jesus, Robert Powell , as well as other key characters, such as the apostles. The film, with a script by Zeffirelli, Suso Cecchi d’Amico and Anthony BurgessHe was very faithful to the Gospel, and at the same time he had a show of the solemn theatricality typical of the director; The episodic nature of the passages, speeches and miracles seemed inevitable, but he knew how to string them together in a marvelous way, for example in the call of the Apostle Matthew, which allowed the introduction of the parable of the prodigal son and the camaraderie that was born between Peter and Matthew. Zeffirelli will always appreciate the beauty of the Church’s liturgy, and in the Vatican they would ask him for help in broadcasting certain masses of special solemnity on television.

Zeffirelli’s sensitivity and his desire to defend things that mattered to him led him to Champion (1979), a remake of a Hollywood classic, and one of the most tear-jerking films of all time, which depicts the union between a boy and his father. boxer, whom the mother abandoned in the past, a commitment to love and family unity. On the other hand , Amor sin fin (1981) was a real stumble , in which Brooke Shields ‘s pull , fashionable thanks to titles like The Blue Lagoon , from the previous year, was taken advantage of with sentimental impudence. Nor would it be one of his best titles From him The novice(1993), which describes the love tensions of a woman who considers her religious vocation, but who also feels the pull of human love. Perhaps Zeffirelli’s own inclinations, doubts and sufferings were beating in the background, who as an old man recognized his homosexuality, something he has never boasted about, generating misunderstandings on one side or another. In any case, when it comes to picking up helplessness, orphanhood and bewilderment, I would be more successful with Jane Eyre (1996), an adaptation of the Charlotte Brontë classic with Anna Paquin and Charlotte Gainsbourg in the children’s and youth versions of the protagonist.

Author of his own autobiography, and recognized with civil honorary titles in Italy and the United Kingdom, he is the creator of the Fondazione e il Centro per le Arti dello Spettacolo in his hometown, which includes a museum, his archive, and valuable material for study and the promotion of artistic vocations. He lived with his two adoptive sons, Pippo and Luciano.