Vittorio Storaro


Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C., is an Italian cinematographer, widely recognized as one of the best and most influential in cinema history.
Over the course of 50 years, he has collaborated with directors like Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Ford Coppola, Warren Beatty, Woody Allen, and Carlos Saura.
Storaro is one of three living people to have won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography three times, a position he shares with Robert Richardson and Emmanuel Lubezki.

Early life and education

Born in Rome, Storaro is the son of a film projectionist.
He began studying photography at the age of 11, and at the age of 18, he went on to formal cinematography studies at the national Italian film school, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia.

Career

Storaro's philosophy is largely inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's theory of colors, which focuses in part on the psychological effects that different colors have and the way in which colors influence our perceptions of different situations.
He first worked with Bernardo Bertolucci on The Conformist. He then worked on Dario Argento's first directorial feature The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, which is considered a landmark in the giallo genre.
With Francis Ford Coppola, Storaro made his American film debut with Apocalypse Now, which earned him his first Academy Award for Best Cinematography.
Storaro went to win two more Academy Awards in the 1980s, one with Warren Beatty's Reds and one for Bertolucci's The Last Emperor.
In 2002, Storaro completed the first in a series of books that articulate his philosophy of cinematography.
He was the cinematographer for a BBC co-production with Italian broadcaster RAI of Verdi's Rigoletto over two nights on the weekend of 4 and 5 September 2010.
Though working primarily with film cameras, Woody Allen's feature Café Society was Storaro's first project to be shot digitally.
In 2017, Storaro was honored with the George Eastman Award. The same year he also attended the New York Film Festival at which he debated with Edward Lachman on cinematography and its transition from film to digital.
With his son Fabrizio, he created the Univisium format system to unify all future theatrical and television movies into one respective aspect ratio of 2.00:1. As of 2023, this unification has not happened, and the universal replacement of 4:3 televisions by large, wide-screen displays greatly reduces the need to modify scope-ratio films for home theater presentation.

Personal life

Storaro is known for stylish, fastidious, and flamboyant personal fashion. Francis Ford Coppola once noted, "Vittorio is the only man I ever knew that could fall off a ladder in a white suit, into the mud, and not get dirty."

Filmography

Feature film

Documentary film
YearTitleDirector
1994Roma imago urbisLuigi Bazzoni
1995FlamencoCarlos Saura
2010Flamenco FlamencoCarlos Saura

Television

Miniseries
YearTitleDirectorNotes
1974Orlando FuriosoLuca RonconiWith Arturo Zavattini
1983WagnerTony Palmer
1986Peter the GreatMarvin J. Chomsky
Lawrence Schiller
2000Frank Herbert's DuneJohn Harrison
2007CaravaggioAngelo Longoni

TV movies
YearTitleDirectorNotes
1992Tosca: In the Settings and at the Times of ToscaBrian Large
1992Writing with Light: Vittorio StoraroDavid M. ThompsonDocumentary film
2000La traviataPierre Cavassilas
2010Rigoletto a MantovaPierre Cavassilas

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards
YearCategoryTitleResultRef.
1980Best CinematographyApocalypse NowWon
1982Best CinematographyRedsWon
1988Best CinematographyThe Last EmperorWon
1991Best CinematographyDick TracyNomitated

British Academy Film Awards
YearCategoryTitleResultRef.
1980Best CinematographyApocalypse NowNomitated
1983Best CinematographyRedsNomitated
1989Best CinematographyThe Last EmperorNomitated
1991Best CinematographyThe Sheltering SkyWon

American Society of Cinematographers
European Film Awards
YearCategoryTitleResultRef.
2000Best CinematographyGoya en BurdeosWon

Primetime Emmy Awards
YearCategoryTitleResult
1986Best Cinematography for a Miniseries or SpecialPeter the GreatNomitated
2001Best Cinematography for a Miniseries or SpecialFrank Herbert's DuneWon

Cannes Film Festival
YearCategoryTitleResultRef.
1998Technical Grand PrizeTango, no me dejes nuncaWon

International Film Festival of India
YearCategoryResultRef.
2020Lifetime Achievement AwardWon

British Society of Cinematographers
YearCategoryTitleResult
1979Best CinematographyApocalypse NowNomitated
1988Best CinematographyThe Last EmperorWon
1990Best CinematographyDick TracyNomitated

National Society of Film Critics
YearCategoryTitleResult
1972Best CinematographyThe ConformistWon

New York Film Critics Circle Awards
YearCategoryTitleResult
1987Best CinematographyThe Sheltering SkyWon
1990Best CinematographyThe Last EmperorWon

Los Angeles Film Critics Association
YearCategoryTitleResult
1981Best CinematographyRedsWon
1988Best CinematographyThe Last EmperorWon

George Eastman Award
Goya Awards
YearCategoryTitleResult
1996Best CinematographyFlamenco Nomitated
1999Best CinematographyTango, no me dejes nuncaNomitated
2000Best CinematographyGoya en BurdeosWon