Marcello Martinelli is an Italian film director, screenwriter, storyboard artist, and producer. Martinelli was born in Milan in 1952. He studied film and animation at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome before beginning his career as an artist and director in the mid-1970s. Throughout the 1980s, Martinelli worked on various projects, including feature films, television series, and shorts.
In 1990, Martinelli wrote and directed his first feature film, La Vita è bella (Life is Beautiful). The film, which starred Roberto Benigni as a Jewish-Italian family man living in Tuscany during World War II, was a major success, both in Italy and abroad. It won three Academy Awards, including Best Foreign Language Film, and became one of the highest grossing Italian films of all time.
The success of La Vita è bella led to additional opportunities for Martinelli. He directed the crime drama La Voce della Luna (The Voice of the Moon) in 1992, starring Benigni and Paolo Villaggio. The film was well received, though it did not perform as well as his previous film. Martinelli followed this up with the comedy Il Postino (The Postman) in 1995. The film, which starred Philippe Noiret and Massimo Troisi, was a major success, both commercially and critically. It won an Academy Award for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score.
Martinelli continued to make films throughout the 2000s, though none reached the same level of success as La Vita è bella or Il Postino. His most notable films during this period include the drama Una vita spericolata (A Reckless Life) in 2003, the drama Come l'ombra (Like a Shadow) in 2006, and the comedy Il Razionalista (The Rationalist) in 2009.
In recent years, Martinelli has shifted his focus to television. He directed the series Vita da Papi (Life of the Papi) in 2013, the miniseries La caccia (The Hunt) in 2017, and the series La memoria del cuore (The Memory of the Heart) in 2019.
Throughout his career, Martinelli has demonstrated a unique visual style and a flair for storytelling. His films have been praised for their strong performances and thoughtful themes. He continues to be one of the most respected filmmakers in Italy.
