Review: 'Ennio,' a loving tribute to the maestro of the soundtrack
Published in Entertainment News
Toward the end of “Ennio,” which premiered at the 2021 Venice International Film Festival a year after the composer’s death, director Tornatore lays on the memorializing and the summary myth-making hosannas pretty thickly. It’s not a short film, at roughly two and a half hours. It’s also so rich in its detail, and sheer musical variety, you’re grateful for the excess. Morricone referred to his primary, theoretically opposing realms as “absolute music,” purely personal compositions for the concert hall, versus his “film music,” complementing images created by a director (though often Morricone composed prior to filming, working from the screenplay).
Yet listening to what he wrote for Terrence Malick’s “Days of Heaven,” or countless other reasons to be glad for Morricone’s existence, you hear something else. You hear the inspired midpoint between those two polarities: absolute film music.
———
'ENNIO'
3.5 stars (out of 4)
No MPA rating
Running time: 2:36
How to watch: Through April 4 at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago; musicboxtheatre.com.
———
©2024 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Comments