Our Lady of Cinecittà: Suso Cecchi d’Amico (1914-2010)

In a way it’s symbolic that the blog restarts today with an obituary dedicated to screenwriter Suso Cecchi d’Amico.

These last few days of silence were indeed spent in mourning after my brave sister-in-law Elena lost her battle with cancer.

It’s difficult to write about entertaining things like art and fashion with a heavy heart, but, like my sister-in-law, Suso was a strong and intelligent woman, so this post is a tribute to both of them.

When I was a young girl Suso Cecchi d’Amico’s name was mainly linked in my mind with some of the best black and white Italian movies from the early days of Cinecittà.

Then, as I grew up, I got to see more films she wrote and co-wrote and constantly followed her work .

I was a teenager when she was invited to speak at a conference organised during a film festival in my hometown.

At the time she was already in her seventies and I distinctively remember she looked like a distinguished and elegant lady and, from the stories and anecdotes she told, you could tell she had a great passion for cinema.

Though her family hailed from Tuscany, Giovanna Cecchi (Suso was a nickname given to her by her family) was born in Rome in 1914 from Emilio Cecchi, a writer and literary critic, and Leonetta Pieraccini, a painter.

Giovanna was first introduced to the world of cinema in the 30s, after her father became the director of CINES, the production company founded by Stefano Pittalunga: Emilio usually brought home a lot of screenplays to read and often asked Giovanna her opinion about them.

The family house was also considered by many artists, writers and screenwriters as a safe haven for intellectual debates and this allowed Suso to grow up in a very stimulating environment. 

Suso’s first screenplay was a collaborative effort with Alberto Moravia and Ennio Flaiano for a film entitled Avatar by Renato Castellani. The film was never shot in the end, but Castellani called Suso again to collaborate on his 1946 film, Mio figlio professore.

Soon after that, Suso gave up her job as a translator to mainly focus on films. She co-wrote with Piero Tellini Vivere in pace (Living in Peace), L’onorevole Angelina (Angelina: Member of Parliament, starring a wonderfully quarrelsome Anna Magnani), both directed by Luigi Zampa, Il delitto di Giovanni Episcopo (Flesh Will Surrender, 1947) by Alberto Lattuada, and co-wrote with Ennio Flaiano, Cesare Zavattini and Pino Mercanti Roma città libera (Rome: Free City, 1946) by Marcello Pagliero.

Suso also collaborated to the screenplay for Luigi Comencini’s Proibito rubare (Hey Boy, 1948) and worked with Vittorio De Sica and Cesare Zavattini on iconic films such as Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves, 1948) and Miracolo a Milano (Miracle in Milan, 1951).

Little by little, Suso became the female answer to the male chauvinism that ruled in Cinecittà and in Italy.

Between the end of the 40s and the early 50s, Suso collaborated with different directors and started working with Luchino Visconti, mainly developing Italian adaptations for the theatre of foreign text such as Hemingway’s The Fifth Column.

The play debuted in March 1945 and was followed by a scandal since the text contained some swearwords and nudity. Yet the reactions to the play mirrored the profound change Italian society was going through. The war had indeed transformed forever Italy's customs and conventions, giving birth to a new society.  

From the stage, Visconti and Suso moved to the big screen, becoming an inseparable duo for roughly thirty years.

Their professional relationship was based on respect, admiration and trust: Visconti used to call the screenwriter "Susanna" while Suso referred to him as "The Count".

Soon Cecchi d'Amico became part of a vital team of talented artists, comprising among the others screenwriter Enrico Medioli, costume designer Piero Tosi and tailor Umberto Tirelli.

Together they gave life to Visconti’s visions: Suso co-wrote Visconti’s masterpieces such as Bellissima (Beautiful, 1951), Senso (Sense, 1954), Le notti bianche (White Nights, 1957), Rocco e i suoi fratelli (Rocco and His Brothers, 1960; this was actually one of her favourite films), Il gattopardo (The Leopard, 1963), Gruppo di famiglia in un interno (Conversation Pieces, 1974) and also worked on the director's last project, La Recherche, based on Proust’s book, that was never filmed.

As the years passed Suso became an essential member of Visconti’s team, she was indeed not only a collaborator but also a confidante. They both loved reading and had the same tastes when it came to literature and cinema. 

Visconti also loved music and liked chatting about this passion with Suso’s husband, music critic Fedele d’Amico – son of Silvio d’Amico, founder of Rome’s Accademia di Arte Drammatica (Drama Academy) – and with soundtrack composer Nino Rota, Suso’s childhood friend.

Suso also co-wrote films for Michelangelo Antonioni such as I vinti (1953), La signora senza camelie (The Lady Without Camelias, 1953) and Le amiche (The Girlfriends, 1955) and met through Visconti his young collaborators Francesco Rosi and Franco Zaffirelli. She co-wrote the former's La sfida (1958) and Salvatore Giuliano (1962) and the latter's Fratello sole, sorella luna (Brother sun, Sister Moon, 1972) and Gesù di Nazareth (Jesus of Nazareth, 1977).

While working with Comencini, Suso also started a collaboration with Mario Monicelli that began with Proibito (Forbidden, 1954), continued with I soliti ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street, 1958) and Casanova 70 (1965) and ended with Le rose del deserto (The Roses of the Desert, 2006).

Nominated to an Oscar in 1966 for the Casanova 70 screenplay, Cecchi d'Amico was the recipient of many awards, among them also a Career Golden Lion at the 1994 Venice Film Festival.

An indefatigable woman – she was still very active even after her 90th birthday – she left us some of the best screenplays ever written in the Italian history of cinema and one great lesson: a screenplay is not to a work of art, but an act of craftsmanship, since it is written by somebody who can turn stories and ideas into memorable images, frames and dialogues.

Suso Cecchi d’Amico, screenwriter, born July 21 1914; died July 31 2010.

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