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CINEMATOGRAPHER · 1902–2000 · ITALY

Otello Martelli

Neorealist grit that opened up into Fellini's nocturnal spectacle.

Born
1902
Died
2000
Country
Italy
Field
Cinematographer
Otello Martelli
Portrait: Radiocorriere (1956), Public domain

KNOWN FOR

  1. 1960La Dolce Vita
  2. 1954La Strada
  3. 1953I Vitelloni
  4. 1946Paisan

WHY THEY MATTER

Federico Fellini's cinematographer through the 1950s, from Variety Lights to La Dolce Vita, after shooting Rossellini's Paisan.

THE LIFE

Martelli was born in Rome and entered the film business in 1920, working through the silent era and the studio films of the 1930s. After the war he shot Roberto Rossellini's Paisan and Stromboli and Giuseppe De Santis's Bitter Rice. His longest partnership was with Federico Fellini, from Variety Lights in 1950 through I Vitelloni, La Strada and Il Bidone to La Dolce Vita and an episode of Boccaccio '70. He also worked with Vittorio De Sica and Pier Paolo Pasolini.

Source: Wikipedia

Also born in 1900–1929

1901–1988 · Japan · Cinematographer

Asakazu Nakai

Kurosawa's camera for rain, mud and vast colour battlefields.

Seven Samurai, 1954Source: Wikipedia

1901–1996 · United States · Cinematographer

John Alton

Hard shadows and pools of light that defined film noir.

T-Men, 1947Source: Wikipedia

Gregg Toland

1904–1948 · United States · Cinematographer

Gregg Toland

Deep focus, with near and far planes sharp at once.

Citizen Kane, 1941Source: Wikipedia