Italo Pacchioni (29 March 1872 – 11 July 1940) was an Italian inventor, photographer and filmmaker, pioneer of Italian cinema, inventor of a camera and projector inspired by the cinematograph of Auguste and Louis Lumière.[1]
Italo Pacchioni | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 29 March 1872 Mirandola, Emilia-Romagna Italy |
| Died | 11 July 1940 (aged 68) Milan, Lombardy Italy |
| Occupation(s) | Inventor filmmaker |
| Years active | 1896–1902 |
Biography
editEarly life, career and legacies
editItalo Pacchioni was born on 29 March 1872, in Mirandola, Italy. In 1896, he witnessed the first public screenings of the Lumière brothers in Paris where he wrote down and memorized the detailed operation of the Lumière cinematograph.[2] With the help of his brother Enrico and a mechanic whose surname is only known, Veronelli, he assembled a camera and projector similar to the cinematograph of Auguste and Louis Lumière.[2]
His first motion picture, Arrivo del treno nella stazione di Milano, was a straight parody of the Lumières, but it had the advantage of a far more stunning setting than the Lumières' La Ciotat. Additionally in 1896, Pacchioni created three one-minute staged productions, which he and his family performed: La gabbia dei matti (The Madhouse), Battaglia di neve (Snow fight), and Il finto storpio (The Fake Cripple). I funerali di Umberto I (1900), I funerali di Giuseppe Verdi (1901), La fiera di Porta Genova, Il vecchio verziere di Milano, Ginnasi della Mediolanum, and other actualities were also filmed by Pacchioni in the years that followed.[3]
After the first screening performed on 31 October 1896 in Mirandola,[1] Italo Pacchioni along with Rinaldi and Ronzoni, toured Italy with his invention and proposed 45-minute shows, unlike those of the Lumière which lasted no more than 25 minutes. The tour included 10, 15, at times even 20 films, depending on the amount of the paying audience. The sound consisted of improvised musical groups, there were no captions and, if necessary, the titles were shouted from the projection booth.[2][4]
The pioneer abandoned all cinematographic activities in 1902. He then opened a photographic studio in Milan, and later opened two others, one in Busto Arsizio and one in Abbiategrasso.[2]
Death
editHe died on 11 July 1940, in Milan, Italy. He was remembered and cited in the first cinema manuals.[4]
Filmography
edit- 1896: Arrivo del treno alla Stazione di Milano
- 1896: Ballo in famiglia
- 1896: La battaglia di neve
- 1896: Le gabbie dei matti
- 1896: Il finto storpio al Castello Sforzesco
- 1898: La Fiera di Porta Genova
- 1898: Il vecchio Verziere
- 1898: I ginnasti della Mediolanum
- 1899: Il Re Umberto I in visita alla Marina
- 1900: I funerali di Umberto I
- 1901: I funerali di Giuseppe Verdi
See also
edit
Notes
edit- ^ a b Viviana Bruschi (2000). "Il pioniere solitario del cinema italiano". Fatti e figure della Mirandola (in Italian). pp. 117–120.
- ^ a b c d "Biografia di Pacchioni su sempreinombra.com" (in Italian). 25 September 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ^ "Who's Who of Victorian Cinema". www.victorian-cinema.net. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ a b "Manifesto 0 | Italo Pacchioni | biografia-filmografia". manifesto0. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
External links
edit- "Italo Pacchioni" (in Italian). Mymovies.it.
- "Italo Pacchioni". IMDb.
- "Italo Pacchioni alle Giornate del Cinema Muto 2009" (in Italian). sempreinpenombra.com. 25 September 2009.