Muccino, Gabriele

(1967-)

   Director and screenwriter. After serving an apprenticeship as assistant to directors Pupi Avati and Marco Risi, Muccino enrolled at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and studied screenwriting with Leo Benvenuti. He made several short features for RAI television before directing Ecco fatto (That's It, 1998), a frothy generational comedy that received the nomination for the Prize of the City at the Turin International Festival of Young Cinema. His second feature, Come te nessuno mai (But Forever in My Mind, 1999), a portrayal of the trials and tribulations of adolescence in contemporary Italy, was also well received and nominated for the Grand Prix at the Paris Film Festival. His greatest commercial and critical success, however, came with L'ultimo bacio (The Last Kiss, 2001), another engaging generational comedy that was nominated for 10 David di Donatello awards, in the event winning five, and three Nastri d'argento. The film also became a huge international hit, receiving the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and rated among the top 10 films of the year by the American Entertainment Weekly. Muccino's next feature, Ricordati di me (Remember Me, 2003), a portrait of the contemporary Italian family in crisis, was similarly acclaimed, if less commercially successful, prompting a number of offers to work in Hollywood, where Muccino directed The Pursuit of Happyness (2006). Being awarded what is, perhaps, Hollywood's ultimate accolade, Muccino's L'ultimo bacio was remade in the United States as The Last Kiss (2006), directed by Tony Goldwyn.

   Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema by Alberto Mira