Tonti, Aldo

(1910-1988)

   Cinematographer. Having worked for a number of years as a news photographer, Tonti moved to Cinecitta in the mid-1930s, originally employed as a still photographer and cameraman. His first film as director of photography was Flavio Calzavara's Piccoli naufraghi (Young Castaways, 1938), followed by several films directed by Goffredo Alessandrini including Abuna Messias (Cardinal Messias, 1939), Caravaggio, il pittore maledetto (Caravaggio, the Cursed Painter, 1941), and Nozze di Sangue (Blood Wedding, 1941). After working with Augusto Genina on Bengasi (1942), Tonti collaborated with fellow cinematographer Domenico Scala to create the extraordinary visual style of Luchino Visconti's landmark Ossessione (Obsession, 1943).

   In the immediate postwar period Tonti worked on Aldo Vergano's Il sole sorge ancora (Outcry, 1946) and Alberto Lattuada's Il bandito (The Bandit, 1946), Senza pieta (Without Pity, 1948), and Il mulino del Po (The Mill on the Po, 1948). Having photographed Il miracolo (The Miracle), the second episode of Roberto Rossellini's L'amore (Ways of Love, 1948), he returned to work with Rossellini on Europa '51 (The Greatest Love, 1952), Dov'e la liberta (Where Is Freedom? 1954), and India: Matri Bhumi (India, 1959), while also serving as cinematographer on Federico Fellini's Le notti di Cabiria (Nights of Cabiria, 1957). In the 1960s he filmed Carlo Lizzani's Il gobbo (The Hunchback of Rome, 1960) and Marco Ferreri's La donna scimia (The Ape Woman, 1964), and was also the cinematographer on John Huston's Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967).

   With over 120 films to his credit, Tonti retired from the industry after directing photography on the big-budget action adventure Ashanti (1979), directed by Richard Fleisher.

   Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema by Alberto Mira