Italian screenwriter Suso Cecchi D’Amico, at 96

August 01, 2010|Alessandra Rizzo, Associated Press

ROME — Screenwriter Suso Cecchi D’Amico, who emerged from the male-dominated post-war Italian cinema to become a celebrated artist and contribute to such milestones as “Bicycle Thieves’’ and “The Leopard,’’ died yesterday at age 96.

Ms. Cecchi D’Amico worked with some of the most renowned Italian directors, including Franco Zeffirelli, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Mario Monicelli, whose movie “Casanova 70’’ earned her an Oscar nomination.

She was equally successful at writing scripts for neo-realistic movies, art-house films, and comedies such as “Big Deal on Madonna Street.’’ Her work helped make the Italian postwar movie scene a vibrant and innovative one.

“It was an extraordinary generation, not just for cinema,’’ said longtime friend Monicelli, himself in his 90s.

“That generation grew out of dramatic events such as Fascism and war,’’ he said, but “those minds put Italy back on its feet, finding a new way to do things, to produce.’’

A long partnership with Luchino Visconti became a defining element in Ms. Cecchi D’Amico’s career, spanning more than two decades and several movies.

Among other titles, she contributed to “The Leopard,’’ the sumptuous depiction of the decline of a Sicilian aristocratic family, based on the book by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and starring Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon.