Damiani, Damiano

(1922-)

   Screenwriter and director. After studying painting at the Brera Academy, Damiani made documentaries and worked as a screenwriter before directing his first feature film, Il rossetto (Lipstick, 1960), a tense and very effective police thriller, which he quickly followed with Il sicario (The Hit Man, 1960). He subsequently scripted and directed several fine literary adaptations, including L'isola di Arturo (Arturo'sIsland, 1961), from a novel by Elsa Morante, and La noia (The Empty Canvas, 1962), before dabbling in most of the major genres, with comedies such as La rimpatriata (The Reunion, 1963) and spaghetti Westerns such as Quien sabe? (A Bullet for the General, 1967). Forays into the gothic, as in La strega in amore (The Witch in Love, 1966), and a strong affinity with American cinema eventually led to his directing Amityville II: The Possession (1982) in the United States.

   Although his production continued to be varied, he became best known for taut police and Mafia thrillers such as Confessioni di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica (Confessions of a Police Captain, 1971) and Un uomo in ginocchio (A Man on His Knees, 1978), and especially for the first series of the enormously popular television miniseries on the Mafia, La piovra (1983). Subsequent films, such as the historical drama Quel treno per Pietrogrado (Lenin: The Train, 1992) and L'angelo con la pistola (Angel with a Gun, 1992), were also done for television. In the early 1970s Damiani also distinguished himself as an actor, playing a significant supporting role in Florestano Vancini's historical drama Il delitto Matteotti (The Assassination of Matteotti, 1973).