Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro. VITTORIO STORARO:
WRITING WITH LIGHT
By
Alex Simon
Editor's Note: This aritcle originally appeared in the February 1999 issue of Venice Magazine.
Vittorio Storaro is widely regarded as one of the top cinematographers in the world. Born in Rome in 1940, Storaro went to film school in Italy at Duca D'Aoasta Technical Photographic Institute, the Italian Cinemagraphic Training Center, and the Centro Sperimental di Cinematografia. After meeting another young student of film named Bernardo Bertolucci, a lifelong friendship and partnership was born, with Bertolucci as director and Storaro as cinematographer. Their collaborations include The Spider's Stratagem (1970), The Conformist (1971), Last Tango in Paris (1972), 1900 (1977), and The Last Emperor (1987) for which he won an Academy Award. Storaro's other work behind the camera lens includes the classics Apocalypse Now (1979) for which he won his first Oscar, Reds (1981) his second Oscar, Tucker (1988), Dick Tracy (1990) and Flamenco, his first film for director Carlos Saura in 1995. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art recently honored Storaro with a retrospective of his work, starting with his early films for Bertolucci to the present day.
Storaro's most recent work, Carlos Saura's Tango tells the story of Mario, a former tango star turned director, who is making the ultimate film about the dance Tango. The gangster who finances Mario's film asks him to cast his mistress, which Mario does, and the two begin a passionate and dangerous affair. Tango artfully blends Felliniesque images of Mario's past, present and future, along with some of the most stunning Tango ever captured on film, all highlighted by maestro Storaro's gorgeously saturated colors and brilliantly composed shots. Tango is a feast for the senses, not to be missed.
Signor Storaro sat down recently at the legendary Chateau Marmont in Hollywood to discuss his life as one of the world's greatest cinema artists.
Tango is a fascinating film, as it blends so many different art forms.
Vittorio Storaro: I think that Tango is opening a new eye, a new dimension for myself. After all my interest in adjusting light, from the first part of my life to the study of colors in the second part, in the third part I'm trying to search for balance between opposite elements. Since meeting Carlos Saura there is a new way of seeing for me. It's almost an abstract way of seeing. If it were painting, it would be like going from the Renaissance and arriving to the abstract world of painting. That's the same kind of journey in the visual world that we made in our collaboration. In Tango, he uses the dance as a metaphor to tell the story of one country, of Argentina. The Argentinean community is a mixture of Spanish and Italian. And this film is made by a Spanish director and an Italian cinematographer. We worked from the roots in order to tell the story of Tango. We tried to visualize the journey the main character was making as a journey into the color spectrum. As we liked to say, we were writing with light to tell the story. That is what cinematography is all about. We are continuing this journey with a new project we just finished called Goya Goya.
Tell us how Tango came about.
Originally we thought of doing it like Flamenco, without a story. To let the dancers tell the possibilities of the story. We went to Buenos Aries for a few weeks with (composer) Lalo Schifrin lived in this new world for us. In the end we decided to make it a more personal story, about all of us. Cinema is not only about story, you know. It can be a language of images, of sound, of music and sometimes story is just there to help you go inside one area, and I think Tango is something like that.
Tell us about your friendship and collaboration with Bernardo Bertolucci.
The three sections of my own life can also be classified according to three directors that I worked with during each one. And no doubt, Bernardo Bertolucci belonged to the first part of my life. It was my more innocent part, the discovery, the growing up, the time you are forming yourself, which is my Italian part. Then the second part began with Francis Coppola and Apocalypse Now. Bernardo and I did a good section of our lives together and remain great friends. We never told our stories through the completely conscious side of our minds. Bernardo's characters never say exactly what's on their minds or what the scene is about. There is always some part that belongs to Bernardo's own unconscious, which you have to suggest and present in that way. That's why I say cinematography is again, writing with light. Using the language of light to get across an idea, or a characterization, or a theme that might not necessarily be spoken of directly.
How did you initially become interested in photography?
I became the dream of my own father, who was a projectionist with a big company called Lux Film. He always longed to be part of the process of making films, and pushed me in that direction. So in the beginning, I just followed my father's (wishes) going to different film schools and step by step I became aware of the process and fell in love with the mystery of photography. Step by step you clarify yourself and the process then becomes your own, and it clarifies your own journey.
Tell us about working on Apocalypse Now.
I realized at that point in my life that I musn't be innocent any longer, but that I must be conscious of what I was doing. It was one of the most important changes I ever had, or than anyone has in their own life. Only when things are clear, can changes occur in your life. Cinema gives you a great opportunity to learn new things about yourself. You must always continue to be a student, to continue to learn. And Apocalypse Now helped me to realize this.
Film is really the only art form where all the other art forms can come together, isn't it?
You said something very important, particularly today. Museums today cannot just present to the public drawing, painting or sculpture. Visual art has moved beyond that. There is a dominant art form in every century and in this one, it has been film, there is no question.
Let's talk about Last Tango. At the time you were making it, were you aware how controversial, and how influential, it would be?
No. Usually when you're working on something, those things don't occur to you. You're just doing the work because you feel that's the right way to do it. Even with Tango, at the time we were doing it, we didn't think about (other's reactions). We just thought we were doing it the right way and did it. Looking at it now, I think it's a film that will open up a whole new area in the world of visual art.
I'm anxious to see your new film about Goya. Who are some of the painters that have influenced you the most?
Going backwards, I'd say Caravaggio. Being Italian he was the obvious first choice, also the way he used light and dark. He gave me the confirmation that he was the only one that really visualized the journey of light. William Faulkner wrote in one of his stories, I don't know the title in English, about a beam of sun traveling into a room in a similar way that Caravaggio used to paint. Those two elements stayed in my mind and influenced me the most.
When you shoot a film, especially a film with a huge scope like 1900 or Apocalypse, do you storyboard before you shoot?
I'm not able to storyboard, no. Carlos Saura is very good at storyboarding, however. But I use any other elements to visualize the scenes in my script. My scripts are always full of paintings, not always from the same painter, but any image that helps me to connect me to a script. You always need to have one very strong idea to tell. What is the main idea of the picture? What is the idea that will lead the project in the right direction? Once you have that, you go to the script and you have to make that script yours in understanding what is the main concept of the project visually. How I can tell the story through light and color. I really do believe that the human being does not see only with the eyes, but with the entire body. Your body reacts emotionally to different colors without your even knowing it, you know? You feel love, hate, right, wrong, without even knowing it. When a film is in balance with all its elements: visuals, music, editing, performance, then it is successful.
The first film I remember seeing where I was aware of the emotional effects of color was in Antonioni's Blow-Up (1966).
Yes. He was one of the few directors who studied the meaning of color. Sergei Eisenstein (Battleship Potempkin (1925)) also wrote a famous book about color, although he only did one color film, Ivan the Terrible, Part 2 (1946). Throughout his script he made specific notes about the color journey. Color can be used as a language. Unfortunately, today newer filmmakers seem to prefer to tell the audience exactly what's going on and what everything is about instead of using color, production design, music, actors' body language, and camera angles to communicate. Plus with television, we are now used to seeing images on a very small screen, and the original way of making a movie on a wide screen doesn't work very well on a small one. So most directors today do movies with television in mind, which is a major mistake. Soon, those movies will be blown-up as television screens get bigger and have better resolution, and the results will (not look good). So we'll turn to films from other periods, I think. We need a new generation of filmmakers who will try to re-educate the audience and make pictures in a more balanced way. Cinema is a balance between three elements: images, music and words. If you're using balance, you can have a perfect way today of using cinema in a modern way.
Tell us a bit more about the experience of Apocalypse Now.
It's difficult after so much time. Without a doubt, the film changed us all more than any other project we've worked on before or since. Not just because of the physical hardships and the length of time it took, but also because of the meaning of the film, which was a journey where Willard, the main character, is learning many things about the nature of man and of life. Like Heart of Darkness, it was also about how one culture can affect another culture, when they try to take it over. Throughout history, one civilization always thought it was doing good by trying to destroy another civilization, by putting their world on top. Like what the Spaniards did in South America, for example. Apocalypse Now is really a metaphor in this respect. It was difficult to find another project after Apocalypse to fall in love with, that had the right principles. I had to rejuvenate for one year afterwards before I could work again.
I know the relationship between the director and the cinematographer is a very close one. Tell us about your relationship with Francis Coppola, whom you've worked with several times.
We must always remember that cinema is a communal work, not a single work. But we still need a leader to take us on the journey. And that spiritual leader is no doubt the director. We need that person to help us go off together in the same direction, and Francis is a master at that. He also has given me more freedom to stretch myself than anyone else. Also, there is no difference between his private life and his public life. His life is all about family. On the set, his family is always there and the people working on the film are his family, as well. The same is true when you are in his home. He welcomes you as one of the family.
Tell us about working with Warren Beatty on Reds and Dick Tracy.
At first, Warren was my nightmare (laughs). It was very difficult to understand his way of filmmaking in the beginning. Then I began to realize that as an actor, he was seeing the story from the character's point of view, from the inside. With Coppola, Bertolucci and the others, they saw it from the outside. When I understood his point of view, I found it much easier to collaborate with him, and I learned a lot about the relationship between story and character.
Was Dick Tracy difficult to shoot because of its limited color scheme?
Yes and no. German Expressionism influenced more art forms than any other art movement of its time: painting, film, music, and comic books. I said to Warren, "Dick Tracy must be like German Expressionism: about the conflict between opposite colors." They were using so many opposite colors next to each other, to create conflict visually. It was a type of painting that was very strong politically, and worked brilliantly, so that's what we had in mind.
What should a director look for when hiring a cinematographer, and vice-versa, what should a cinematographer look for before working with a director?
I can't answer the first question, but I can the second one. From the first moment I meet a director, I try to express myself. You say 'yes' or 'no,' based on your feeling that this story and this director are going in the same direction that you are going. If you feel that, that you are attracted to the story and the director's vision, then you should do it. You have to have some common ground. If you feel comfortable with all these elements, then they're the right person. Sometimes you meet wonderful, gifted people, but for some reason you don't feel comfortable and you pass, you say 'no thank you,' because they were not going in the same direction you were going at that time. There is always something inside you that will push you in the right direction that you will discover through writing, or music, or performance, that will help you discover who you are and what your life is about. This will help you grow up, and help you learn about yourself. In turn you can give this gift to somebody else: your children, your students, your audience. You share this spirit. And in doing that you feel that you are part of the human journey.
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