(This blog posting is in honor of my
dear friend Ted)
Rome’s Ara Pacis museum is currently
hosting until May 3rd, 2020 the magnificent “C’era una volta Sergio
Leone” (There was once Sergio Leone) exhibit.
The exhibit, which was presented by Raffaella Leone, Sergio’s daughter
and the managing director of the Leone Group, comes about on the 90th
anniversary of Leone’s birth and the 30th anniversary of his death. The setting and city are both appropriate as
Leone was born in the Trastevere neighborhood of the Eternal City.
Raffaella (center) and sister Francesca Leone.
On hand at the press conference were
also Raffaela’s sister Francesca and their brother Andrea. The exhibit is full of photos and videos that
trace the history of Sergio Leone’s amazing movie career, albeit a short one
with only six movies, but nevertheless movies that left a strong legacy and
which influenced young movie directors such as Steven Spielberg, Martin
Scorsese, a die-hard Leone admirer (Quentin Tarantino, Very fitting indeed that
it was thanks Tarantino’s movie, “The Hateful Eight”, that Morricone won the
Oscar for best soundtrack) and which also helped the fledgling career of
American actor, Clint Eastwood, who went on to international fame thanks to
Leone’s famous “Spaghetti Western” movies, such as Leone’s most famous film, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (Eastwood's previous experience had been with the "Rawhide" series).
The kit that Leone's "noise" team would use for the different sounds in his movies, such as horses and their hooves.
Together with the many artifacts on
Leone’s life and career are also photos of a man who helped make Leone’s films
even more popular, a fellow Roman and one who also went to school with Leone, Ennio
Morricone (now 91), and his extraordinary and touching soundtracks. And hats off to the Maestro as ten
years ago he would get up at 4.30 am, do one hour of exercise and then go to work on his soundtracks (at last count about 500).
