Ruggiero Deodato is a world-famous Italian film director, television producer and screenwriter. The most famous project of Deodato is considered to be the horror film “Cannibal Hell”, filmed in a pseudo-documentary style, deservedly considered to be one of the most brutal films in the history of the world film industry.
Beginning of a creative career
Ruggiero Deodato, whose films are still the subject of fierce debate between filmmakers and moral guardians, was born in Italy in Potenza. After leaving school, he migrated to Rome, where the fateful meeting of the young Ruggiero and Lorenzo - the son of the eminent film director Roberto Rossellini.
The maestro began his career as an assistant director of one of the leading European founders of neorealism. According to Deodato himself, collaboration with Roberto had a huge impact on his work. The director managed to adopt a realistic vision of the world of his mentor. From 1958 to 1967, Ruggiero Deodato collaborated with many legendary directors: atmospheric horror lover Joseph Losey, police thriller creator Riccardo Fred and science fiction pro Antonio Margheriti.
Producer and Director
Since the beginning of the 70s, Ruggiero has been acting as a producer, and has been producing television programs and serial television films. To a certain extent, Deodato's debut as a director can be considered the typical Italian peplum “Ursus, the horror of Kyrgyzstan” (1964). This film is pure fantasy, in which the geographical names are quite funny and do not correspond to reality. The picture began to be removed by Antonio Margheriti, but after his departure Ruggero completed the filming process. Despite the pronounced, obvious genre, the film was made quite qualitatively, and it is very interesting to watch, because the main role in the film is played by the cult personality - Reg Park.
Director becoming
Ruggiero Deodato, whose filmography includes about 25 films, began his career by creating adventure films and musical comedies, like many of his colleagues. In the period from 1964 to 1977, the director directed the adventure film “The Gungalas, the Naked Panther”, the comedy musical “Women and Bersallera”, the western “In the Name of the Father”, the comedy “Zhenabel” and the dramatic thriller “The Wave of Desire”. After the release of the film, the director decidedly switched to creativity in the genres of jallo and horror.
According to the director’s memoirs, he quickly realized that in light genres it’s quite difficult to create your own brand. According to Deodato, in comedies during the filming process, the comedian actors who single-handedly “direct the ball” remain unshakable. The director plays a secondary role. Ruggiero Deodato wanted the responsibility to rest primarily with him, and only after that by the invited masters of the stage.
Everyone knows that Italy is the birthplace of the great filmmakers Visconti, Antonioni and Fellini, but it is also famous for its brilliant horror makers: Dario Argento, Lamberto and Mario Bava, Lucio Fulchi. Each of these has its own place in world cinema. Ruggiero Deodato is positioned by the world cinema community as Monsieur Cannibal. The director received this nickname from the French after the release in 1977 of his first project "Cannibal 3 Hell" and "Cannibal Hell" (1979).
Proponent of true cinema realism
The directing meter itself claims to have no connection with the directors listed above, it is from a “different test”. Since horrormakers created real horror films, and Ruggiero Deodato considers himself a supporter of great realism in cinema. Indeed, his horror projects are quite sophisticated and shocking.
Known in Russia as “Cannibal 3 Hell” - the film is truly ruthless, filmed gloomily and extremely realistic. According to the plot, a self-confident resident of a megalopolis gets into a plane crash over one of the small islands of New Guinea, the plane makes an emergency landing. The four survivors on the first night fall victim to the bloodthirsty cannibal Aboriginal people. The main character tries to escape from the captivity of the cannibal tribe, but his independent existence in the jungle turns an adequate layman into a real killer. Ruggiero Deodato extremely carefully leads the beholder to the conclusion made by one of the secondary characters in the film: "Everyone becomes a link in the survival chain."
The most forbidden in the world
The horror "Hell of the Cannibals" (1979) glorified the director everywhere. Its distribution was banned in more than 60 states, which automatically raised the picture to the status of the most banned film in the world. The script for the film was written by Gianfranco Clerici. Ruggiero filmed his project in a pseudo-documentary manner. The film tells the tragic story that happened with a small film crew in the wilds of the Amazon. A special charm to the picture is given by the unadorned “veracity” of the plot and the characteristic “Deodato” “documentary”. Cinema is recognized as one of the initial examples of film works of the “found film” genre.
After the director created many horror films (“House on the Edge of the Park”, “Predators of Atlantis”, “Counting the Bodies”, “The Phantom of Death”, etc.), but none of the subsequent works shocked the movie community like “cannibalistic” saga".
Work on television
Since the 90s, Ruggiero Deodato, whose photo has not so often appeared on the covers of well-known print media, continued to work on television, and shot television series. According to the director, there are definitely different levels between television and cinema - there is no special drama on TV. Therefore, Ruggiero, agreeing to shoot a particular television movie, requires that only professional actors take part in it. In the 90s, on one of the TV channels of the Russian Federation, the television movie "Ocean", directed by Deodato, was broadcast and enjoyed popularity. Talented, Oscar-winning actors starred in it: M. Adorf, E. Borgnine, I. Papas, M. Berenson, M. Bolsam. Filming lasted about three months in the Canary Islands. The series is distinguished from others by an excellent original plot, a brilliant cast and wonderful music.