CECCHI D'AMICO, SUSO

(1914-)

(Born Giovanna Cecchi.) Screenwriter. Married to musicologist Fedele D'Amico, and daughter of scholar, writer, and sometime artistic director of theCinesstudios,Emilio Cecchi, Suso Cecchi D'Amico is universally acknowledged as perhaps the greatest, and certainly the most prolific, screen-writer in postwar Italian cinema, having written or collaborated on the screenplays of over 100 films in a career that has spanned six decades.

With a background in literature and translation, Cecchi D'Amico first came to screenwriting working with her father and with directorRenato CastellanionMio figlio professore(Professor, My Son, 1946).A year later her contribution to the script ofLuigi Zampa'sVivere in Pace(To Live in Peace, 1946) attracted a sharedNastro d'argentofor Best Story. Having thus quickly discovered a natural talent for writing for the cinema, she subsequently contributed to practically all of the key films of the major postwar directors, includingVittorio De Sica'sLadri di biciclette(Bicycle Thieves, 1948),Michelangelo Antonioni'sLa signora senza camelie(The Lady without Camelias, 1953),Mario Monicelli'sI soliti ignoti(Big Deal on Madonna Street, 1958), andFrancesco Rosi'sSalvatore Giuliano(1962). She developed a particularly long and fruitful partnership withLuchino Visconti, working with him on most of his films from the 1950s onward, includingBellissima(1951),Senso(The Wanton Countess, 1954),Rocco e i suoi fratelli(Rocco and His Brothers, 1960), andIl Gattopardo(The Leopard, 1963), while at the same time also collaborating with Zampa onProcesso alla citta(The City Stands Trial, 1952), with Castellani onEprimavera(It's Forever Springtime, 1952) andNella citta l'inferno(Hell in the City, 1959), and withLuigi ComencinionLa finestra sul Luna-Park(The Window to Luna Park, 1956). Her filmography also includes most ofAlessandro Blasetti's postwar films, among themFabiola(1949),Prima comunione(Father's Dilemma, 1950),Peccato che sia una canaglia(Too Bad She's Bad, 1955) andIo, io, io. . .e gli altri(Me, Me, Me. . .and the Others, 1966).

Widely respected as the doyenne of Italian screenwriters, she has continued to work with both established and emerging directors. Most recently, while helping Mario Monicelli turn out more caustic social satires such asPanni sporchi(Dirty Linen, 1999), she also collaborated with Martin Scorsese on his epicdocumentaryon Italian cinema,My Voyage to Italy(1999). In a brilliant career that has spanned six decades, she has received the Nastro d'argento eight times, theDavid di Donatellotwice, the special Luchino Visconti Award, and, in 1994, a special David for lifetime achievement.