Film Director Italian

Thousands gather to pay homage to Italian director

Thousands of people lined up in central Florence
to pay their respects to Italian film-maker and opera director Franco Zeffirelli,

he died at the weekend.
The crowd, many of whom had been queueing since early in the morning, broke into applause

as the hearse carrying his coffin arrived at the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence's city hall.
(mobil jenazah)


They applauded again when four pall-bearers carried it
past the replica of Michelangelo's statue of David and inside the building.

It will lie in state there for a day.
Zeffirelli died on Saturday at the age of 96.

His funeral will take place on Tuesday at 11:00 am (0900 GMT) at the city's Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral.

Zeffirelli started out in theater but made his international reputation adapting classics to the screen,

including many of Shakespeare's plays, attracting many major stars.
During a distinguished career as a theater director
he staged Shakespeare productions at the writer's birthplace in Stratford-on-Avon, England and in some of London's top theaters.
He also directed operas at prestigious venues around the world
collaborating with some of the greatest voices of his generation. 

'A great artist'
"The entire world knew the maestro, his work and
what he leaves behind will live on forever
because he was a great man,".
"Florence was always on his mind.

He was always asking me to take him there even when he didn't feel well,".

Zeffirelli was fiercely proud of his home city of Florence,
making a 1966 documentary about it, Per Firenze (For Florence), shortly after devastating floods there.
Richard Burton lent his voice as narrator
and the film raised $20 million towards restoration work in the city.

Zeffirelli also set up a foundation in the city dedicated to making his work widely accessible -- not just his films, but a library of 10,000 books,
as well as preparatory sketches and scenery from his opera productions.
"As a Florentine by adoption, I feel very connected to him,"
"I have seen a lot of his films and yesterday I saw again the documentary that he made on the flooding of Florence.

That (film documentary) brought back memories and I wanted to pay my respects,".
It was his 1965 cinema adaptation of Puccini's La Boheme that stuck in his mind.
He "was a great artist, a great director", who
He was ahead of his time in his vision and his approach to directing.
Zeffirelli will be laid to rest in the family chapel at Florence's Porte Sante cemetery.


https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2019/06/15/franco-zeffirelli-italian-film-and-opera-director-dies-at-96.html

He directed the world's greatest opera singers.

He brought Shakespeare to the cinema-going masses

He was 96.

he died in Rome on Saturday. "
Often appreciated more by the public than critics,

He was the last of a generation of Italian film giants who

He came of age after World War Two,

He directed more than two dozen films.

He worked with stars including …& ….

one of the world's greatest men of culture, passed away this morning.
"Goodbye dear Maestro, Florence will never forget you."

He will "remain in the hearts and the history of this country."

In a 2013 interview to mark his 90th birthday, he said

the general public will remember him most for his 1968 film of Romeo and Juliet, 


One of the high points of his opera career was a triumphant production of Verdi's Aida

It won more than 15 minutes of applause on opening night.

However, his opera were often welcomed more abroad than at home, particularly in the US,


In 1994 was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his "valuable services to British performing arts".
A devout Catholic, he revealed in his 2006 autobiography that

he has been seduced by a priest when he was a teenager.

But he said it was not molestation because there was no violence.
Zeffirelli hated the term, saying it was "undignified".

"Being ex carries with it a great weight of responsibility and difficult social, human and cultural choices".



Mozart-loving mother
He was born to A and B.

Zeffirelli was born in Florence on February 12, 1923, to Alaide Garosi Cipriani, a seamstress, and Ottorino Corsi, a cloth salesman.


Because they were married to other people,
the law at the time meant he could not take either of their surnames and had to be registered by another one.
His mother loved Mozart. She chose "Zeffiretti" after  …

 But a transcription error by a city hall clerk made it forever "Zeffirelli".

"Relatives and friends were horrified and very worried for the future which lay ahead of her,"

"Some advised her to have an abortion, but she refused.

She believed that the child which was about to be born was a monument to her great love."
His mother died of tuberculosis when he was six and

he was raised by an aunt and at times by a group of eccentric ex-pat English women.
Under their influence and tutelage, he learned to love English and Shakespeare,
an experience that formed the basis of his 1999 film Tea With Mussolini, .
"They taught me all the important things in life,"


"These ladies helped me to understand my own city, my own culture and my own upbringing."
Away from the screen and the stage, Zeffirelli was often in the news for his outspoken views.

In 1993, he was criticized by the Vatican for saying there should be capital punishment for women who have abortions.
From 1994 to 2001 he served as a senator for Berlusconi's conservative party, hoping to inject culture into politics.

He later said he regretted the decision.
Speaking in 2017 about his Christian faith,
: "Faith is a gift, I am certain of that. I have it and I must hold on to it tightly.
I know the past will never return but I am not saddened
because I've had a full life, even though it began uphill."