Suso Cecchi d'Amico (1914-2010)

Lady Suso Cecchi d’Amico, the writer of many masterpieces in Italian post-war cinema passed away today, at the age of 96. She was known for her collaborations with Visconti, Castellani, Zampa, Lattuada, Blasetti, De Sica (including Bicycle Thieves), Comencini, Camerini, Antonioni, Monicelli, Rosi, Zeffirelli and Clément. Her works embodies the development of postwar Italian cinema and "her scripts achieve a certain ‘‘transparency,’’ becoming all-but-inextricable from the finished film itself," as Verina Glaessner sums up d'Amico's very long and prolific career. "She has all too modestly described her work as akin to that of the artisan. This emphasizes her professionalism, the literate wellcraftedness of her scripts, and her endless adaptability to the contrasting needs of filmmakers working within competing stylistic conventions."