Puccini, Gianni

(1914-1968)

   Critic, screenwriter, director. A film critic who contributed frequently to specialized journals such as Bianco e nero and Cinema, Puccini distinguished himself in his collaboration on the screenplay of Luchino Visconti's landmark Ossessione (Obsession, 1943). After the war he worked closely with Giuseppe De Santis, helping to write the screenplays of all of De Santis's early films as well as serving as assistant director on Riso amaro (Bitter Rice, 1949) and Non c'e pace tra gli ulivi (Under the Olive Tree, 1950). In the late 1950s Puccini codirected two witty comedies, Parole di ladro (Honor Among Thieves, 1957) and Il marito (The Husband, 1958) with Nanni Loy, before directing his first major solo feature, L'impiegato (The Employee, 1959), another clever comedy with which he also helped to launch the film career of Nino Manfredi. Of the dozen subsequent films that Puccini directed or codirected before his untimely death, the best remembered is undoubtedly I sette fratelli Cervi (The Seven Cervi Brothers, 1967), a recounting of the last days of a family of seven brothers who were all summarily executed by Fascists in December 1943 for taking part in the Resistance movement.

   Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema by Alberto Mira