Background
Paolo Taviani was born on November 8, 1931 in San Miniato, Pisa, Italy. He has a brother, Vittorio Taviani, with whom they always work together, each directing alternate scenes.
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
Roma 2017: Paolo Taviani Al Photocall Di Una Questione Privata
Paolo with his brother Vittorio
Paolo Taviani was born on November 8, 1931 in San Miniato, Pisa, Italy. He has a brother, Vittorio Taviani, with whom they always work together, each directing alternate scenes.
Paolo attended University of Pisa.
Taviani began his career as a journalist. In 1960 he came to the world of cinema with his brother, directing with Joris Ivens the documentary "L'Italia non è un paese povero." They went on to direct two films with Valentino Orsini "Un uomo da bruciare" and "I fuorilegge del matrimonio."
Their first autonomous film was "I sovversivi", with which they anticipated the events of 1968. With actor Gian Maria Volontè they gained attention with "Sotto il segno dello scorpione."
Their next film "Padre padrone", taken from a novel by Gavino Ledda, speaks of the struggle of a Sardinian shepherd against the cruel rules of his patriarchal society. In "Il prato" there are nonrealistic echoes, while "La notte di San Lorenzo" narrates, in a fairy-tale tone, a marginal event in the days before the end of World War II, in Tuscany.
Successes like "Le affinità elettive", and an attempt to woo the international audiences like "Good morning Babilonia", on the pioneers of cinema history, alternate with lesser films like "Fiorile" and "Tu ridi", inspired by the characters and short stories of Pirandello.
In the 2000s, the brothers turned successfully to directing television films and miniseries such as Leo Tolstoy's "Resurrection" and Alexandre Dumas' "Luisa Sanfelice", as well as "La masseria delle allodole", presented at the Berlin Film Festival in the section 'Berlinale Special'.
David Denby, writing in New York, described Paolo Taviani as “possessed of a true folk imagination, elemental and rigorous, harsh and responsive.”
Paolo is married to Lina Nerli Taviani, who has been costume designer of many of his films.