'I Giustiziere Bogart'.
Damiano Damiani was an Italian screenwriter and film director, known for such 1960s classics as 'L'Isola di Arturo' ('Arturo's Island', 1962), 'El Chuncho, Quien Sabe?' ('A Bullet fFr the General', 1966) and 'Mafia' AKA 'Il Giorno della Civetta' ('The Day of the Owl', 1968). He began his career as a comic artist however, as part of the so-called "Group of Venice", associated with the comic magazine Asso di Picche.
Early life and comics career
Damiano Damiani was born in 1922 in Pasiano di Pordenone, Friuli, and studied at the Accademia di Brera in Milan. He began his career as a comic artist in the mid-1940s, alongside artists like Hugo Pratt, Dino Battaglia, Paul Campani and Fernando Carcupino. The group produced the comic book magazine about masked vigilante 'Asso di Picche' (1945-1949), written by Mario Faustinelli and Alberto Ongaro. Damiani also contributed to the crime noir feature 'Hogart il Giustiziere'. The story was reprinted as 'Bogart il Giusitiziere' in the comic book Sgt. Kirk in 1968-1969.
'Bogart il Giusitiziere'.
Damiani also drew the comic series 'Mike Lazy' (1946), of which two volumes were published in the collection Albo Dinamite by Edizioni Il Carro in Milan. He was the sole author of the gangster comic 'Pat La Rocca' (1946), of which two comic books appeared in the collection Collana Gialli Film by Edizioni Il Carro. A third volume was advertized, but never released. Damiani subsequently wrote scripts for photo comics published in the Mondadori magazines Avventuroso Film ('Arizona Kid', 1949) and Bolero Film. He was involved in the launch of a similar magazine called Sogno with editor Luciano Pedrocchi, and served as a scriptwriter for the adventure comic book 'I 3 Boyscouts' (Edizioni Castello, 1948), illustrated by Rino Ferrari, Giovanni Benvenuti and Andrea Bresciani.
Film and TV career
Damiani's first film was the documentary 'La Banda d'Affari' (1947). He then worked as a screenwriter for several years, before directing his first feature film in 1960: 'Il Rossetto'. Damiani won the Golden Shell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival for his film 'L' Isola di Arturo' ('Arturo's Island', 1962). A series of box office successes followed, characterized by their moralist tone. His film 'El Chuncho, Quien Sabe?' ('A Bullet for the General', 1966) was one of the first political spaghetti westerns. Starting with 'Mafia', AKA 'Il Giorno della Civetta' ('The Day of the Owl', 1968), Damiani started adding more and more social criticism in his films, while also applying an almost American type of action and storytelling. His crime drama film 'Confessioni di un Comissario di Polizia al Procuratore della Repubblica' ('Confessions of a Police Captain', 1971) won the Golden Prize at the 7th Moscow International Film Festival in 1971 and the Prix lntemational de l'Academie du Cinema at the Étoile de Cristal Awards in 1972. In 1973 he debuted as an actor in Florestano Vancini's 'The Matteotti Murder'. Later on, Damiani directed the cult horror film 'Amityville II: The Possession' (1982) for producer Dino de Laurentiis. He was also responsible for the direction of the highly popular Italian TV series 'La Piovra', about the involvement of the mafia in Italian politics. His final feature film was 'Assassini dei Giorni di Festa' (2002).
Death
Damiano Damiani passed away in 2013 in Rome, from respiratory failure. He was 90 years old.
'L'Uomo di Gomma'.