Here’s a translated version of the Flrestano Vancini obituary that appeared in Reppublica.
The film world is in mourning following the death of director Florestano Vancini at the age of 82. He died on the 18th September, but the news was released only today (20th September) in order to respect the director’s wishes.
Vancini, who was born in Emiliana in 1926, moved into cinema after working as a journalist for local papers. He began his career in the early 50s with some short films and as an assistant to the likes of Mario Soldati and Valerio Zurlini. His first feature film was La lunga notte del ’43, based on one of the ‘Ferraresi stories’ by George Bassani, which also marked the debut of a young Raffaella Carrà.
In his career, Vancini concentrated almost wholly on films of a historical nature. Among his greatest successes were Il delitto Matteotti (70) and Bronte: cronaca di un massacro che i libri di storia non hanno raccontato (71). Among others, there were I lunghi giorni della vendetta, a western made under the pseudonym Stan Vance, La violenza: quinto potere, Amore amaro, Un dramma borghese, La baraonda and La neve nel bicchiere.
During the 80s, Vancini also had considerable success on TV, directing Piovra 2 in 1986, with Michele Placido, and his 93 mini-series Piazza di Spagna. The director also worked as an actor in films such as Francesco Rosi’s Cadaveri eccelenti. He concluded his film career in 2005, after an absence of 21 years, with E ridendo l’uccise, set in the court of the Duca D’Este in the 1500s.
Raffaella Carrà remembered him from her debut: “He was a kind man, an old fashioned gentleman, and his death is very sad”