PUCCINI, GIANNI

(1914-1968)

Critic, screenwriter, director. A film critic who contributed frequently to specialized journals such asBianco e neroandCinema, Puccini distinguished himself in his collaboration on the screenplay ofLuchino Visconti's landmarkOssessione(Obsession, 1943). After the war he worked closely withGiuseppe De Santis, helping to write the screenplays of all of De Santis's early films as well as serving as assistant director onRiso amaro(Bitter Rice, 1949) andNon c'e pace tra gli ulivi(Under the Olive Tree, 1950). In the late 1950s Puccini codirected two witty comedies,Parole di ladro(Honor Among Thieves, 1957) andIl marito(The Husband, 1958) withNanni Loy, before directing his first major solo feature,L'impiegato(The Employee, 1959), another clever comedy with which he also helped to launch the film career ofNino Manfredi. Of the dozen subsequent films that Puccini directed or codirected before his untimely death, the best remembered is undoubtedlyI sette fratelli Cervi(The Seven Cervi Brothers, 1967), a recounting of the last days of a family of seven brothers who were all summarily executed by Fascists in December 1943 for taking part in theResistancemovement.