Press release
Awards ‘Almería, land of cinema’: TONINO VALERII
26th, April 2007
Tonino Valerii.
ONE REASON TO TONINO AND ONE TO VALERII
Tonino Valerii is a fundamental filmmaker from the best era of Italian film, the fifteen years between 1961 and 1976. And he is so because of his great preparation (with a BA in Directing from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia) and an enviable start to his career (assistant to two of the nation's great filmmakers, Alessandro Blasetti and Sergio Leone). During those years he admirably personalized two of the country’s primordial genres: the Giallo and the Western. That is, his contributions both professionally acknowledge the general features of those genres, and show their own uniqueness through the author’s ethics. With respect to his technical-narrative sense, he brought the virtues of classicism together with the innovations of the era, in another one of Valerii’s wise artistic combinations.
In the Giallo, My Dear Killer stands out, and in the Western Day of Anger. Each of which are electrifying in their development and heartbreaking in their social diagnosis, since the filmmaker identifies both genres with a common perspective, one that is sadly lucid but not defeatist, one that entices triumph but at the same time warns about how negative ingenuous hope can be. They are undoubtedly his masterpieces, but they must not overshadow the multiple virtues of other Valerii movies such as A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die, Go Gorilla Go, and especially the very interesting Lonesome Gun.
Legendary American actors have worked at his command (Henry Fonda, Lee Van Cleef, James Coburn, Van Johnson, Telly Savalas), as have the divos of Italian cinema (Giuliano Gemma, Terence Hill, Franco Nero, Bud Spencer, Giancarlo Giannini), and the acclaimed Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune. His camera has captured our unforgettable people as well (Fernando Rey, Alfredo Mayo, José Suárez, Lola Gaos, Fernando Sancho).
Apart from that, it can be said that Almería played an key role for Tonino Valerii. He first came here working as an assistant on the film that would set off a chain reaction in the local film phenomenon (For a Few Dollars More, by Leone), and from then on filmed the most part of no fewer than four films here: For the Taste of Killing, Day of Anger, The Price of Power, and A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die, in which he brought out the best in the aesthetics and drama of its landscapes and décor. But not alone: Tonino and his wife Rita chose Almeria to spend their honeymoon in 1966. They made the most of their time by looking for outdoor locations for the upcoming For the Taste of Killing: when the virus of film flows in your blood, there is no known cure.
It is as just as it is poetic for Tonino Valerii to come back to Almería then. And I am proud to have him as a friend and I have a dedicated copy of his book Manuale dell’aiuto regista. It is a pleasure to receive him, for now, with these lines, to greet the person with esteem, and the director with admiration, thus uniting, since I too unite them, Tonino and Valerii.
Carlos Aguilar
Film Historian and novelist