{"id":29397,"date":"2025-12-10T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/areademo.beculture.it\/?p=29397"},"modified":"2025-11-16T17:10:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T16:10:10","slug":"dante-ferretti-story-collaboration-with-fellini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/areademo.beculture.it\/en\/dante-ferretti-story-collaboration-with-fellini\/","title":{"rendered":"Dante Ferretti, the architect of dreams between cinema, set design and Fellinian visions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A curious recurrence happily marks Italian culture: the presence of at least two Dantes among the most significant figures of its past and present. The Divine Poet<\/a>, author of the celebrated Commedia<\/em>; and Dante Ferretti<\/strong>, an award-winning set and costume designer who has worked alongside directors such as Pier Paolo Pasolini, Federico Fellini, Terry Gilliam and Martin Scorsese<\/strong>. Let\u2019s retrace the key moments of his career and revisit, as if in an art-house screening, some of the most iconic titles signed by this \u201cliving legend\u201d of world cinema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An early and unstoppable passion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dante Ferretti was born in 1943 in Macerata, a small town in the Marche region. When he was still a baby, an Allied bomb \u2013 aimed at a nearby barracks \u2013 struck his house instead: his father lost a leg but survived, along with his mother and sister. Dante was rescued from the rubble thanks to a neighbour who heard his distant cry. A scene almost worthy of a film, foreshadowing the future of the young Dante.
As a teenager, he attended the city\u2019s Art Institute but, whenever he could, escaped to the cinema<\/strong>: he secretly stole money from his father and, instead of studying, spent his afternoons in front of the big screen, dreaming of joining that world. Those dreams soon materialised when, at just seventeen, he became part of it. After finishing school, he moved to Rome and was immediately put to the test. As assistant to architect Aldo Tomassini, he was entrusted with following \u2013 entirely and simultaneously \u2013 the set designs for two films directed by Domenico Paolella. It was a demanding debut that nevertheless revealed his talent and quick inventiveness beyond any doubt.
Soon after, the same production called him back to work on La parmigiana<\/em> (1963) by Antonio Pietrangeli, alongside set designer Luigi Scaccianoce<\/strong>. Ferretti remained with Scaccianoce for about a decade, gaining essential experience for his artistic growth and recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bozzetto
Bozzetto di Dante Ferretti per L\u2019eta\u0300 dell\u2019innocenza<\/em>, Martin Scorsese<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Encounters with great masters and ultimate acclaim<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

His ability to interpret the director\u2019s vision \u2013 creating believable yet original and innovative settings, even in record time \u2013 emerged right from the start. It wasn\u2019t long before Ferretti received prestigious assignments, such as Medea<\/em> (1969) by Pier Paolo Pasolini<\/strong>, who expressly called him onto the set once filming had already begun. The two had met earlier on Il Vangelo secondo Matteo<\/em> (1964), Edipo re<\/em> (1966) and Uccellacci e uccellini<\/em> (1967), whose sets had been designed by Scaccianoce.
Thus, within two days, Ferretti found himself in Cappadocia, where \u2013 using makeshift materials \u2013 he built the chariot on which Medea, played by Maria Callas, makes her first appearance. His collaboration with the great Bolognese filmmaker was fruitful and long-lasting but \u2013 as Ferretti himself stated in a recent publication \u2013 it always retained a certain formality (they always addressed each other formally), quite unlike the intense, exuberant relationship he would develop with Fellini.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bozzetto
Bozzetto di Dante Ferretti per Medea<\/em>, Pier Paolo Pasolini<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Between the 1960s and 1970s, Ferretti worked with Fellini as well as with other giants of Italian cinema: Elio Petri, Marco Bellocchio, Luigi Comencini. In the 1980s he collaborated with Liliana Cavani, Ettore Scola, Dino Risi and Terry Gilliam<\/strong>, to name a few. Visionary and imaginative, it was precisely Gilliam\u2019s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen<\/em> (1988) that consecrated Ferretti to international cinema<\/strong>, dividing his time thereafter between Rome and Hollywood. There he designed sets for Martin Scorsese, Neil Jordan, Anthony Minghella, Brian De Palma, Tim Burton and others, winning three Academy Awards for Best Production Design<\/strong> with The Aviator<\/em> (2005), Sweeney Todd<\/em> (2008) and Hugo<\/em> (2012).
Despite many extraordinary collaborations, it was his partnership with Fellini \u2013 the dreamer-director, the other \u201cAdriatic\u201d, as one screenwriter called him \u2013 that became the most famous and celebrated. It even inspired a dedicated exhibition<\/strong> at the MIAC Museo Italiano dell\u2019Audiovisivo e del Cinema<\/a>, designed by Ferretti himself together with his wife, set designer Francesca Lo Schiavo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dante Ferretti and Fellini: a special and exclusive bond<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDantino\u201d or \u201cFerrettino\u201d: that\u2019s how Fellini affectionately called his trusted Dante. Their first meeting took place at Cinecitt\u00e0 after the filming of Medea<\/em>. Fellini wanted to hire Ferretti to work alongside Danilo Donati on the set design for Roma<\/em>, but Ferretti didn\u2019t yet feel ready to share space with such a powerful personality, so he politely declined in order to gain more experience.
Exactly ten years later, the two met again for Prova d\u2019Orchestra<\/em> (1978), beginning a creative partnership that lasted for five marvellous films<\/strong>: besides the one just mentioned, Ferretti designed the sets for La citt\u00e0 delle donne<\/em> (1979), E la nave<\/em> va<\/em> (1983), Ginger e Fred<\/em> (1986) and La voce della Luna<\/em> (1990).
\u201cHe was a sort of vampire, day and night. […] He demanded a lot, but he also gave a lot,\u201d Ferretti recalled in an interview some years ago. Their work began with a phone call at six in the morning and ended at midnight, proceeding through constant discussions and reflections, even on topics unrelated to the film \u2013 such as dreams, which fascinated Fellini endlessly. It was a total, profound and fruitful relationship that guided both men to their creative maturity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bozzetto
Bozzetto di Dante Ferretti per The Aviator<\/em>, Martin Scorsese, 2003. Courtesy di Dante Ferretti<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the Rimini-born director\u2019s favourite places was his Fiat 125<\/strong>, which indeed dominates the first room of Felliniana \u2013 Ferretti sogna Fellini<\/em>, the permanent exhibition curated by his close friend. On the walls, a collection of film posters leads visitors into Fellini\u2019s world. Next comes the \u201cCasa di piacere\u201d, a setting inspired by <\/strong>La citt\u00e0 delle donne<\/em><\/strong>, complete with a toboggan slide and showgirls surrounding Marcello Mastroianni. The final room pays tribute to the Fulgor, the cinema where young Federico discovered his love for film. A journey through memories and imagination, a modern Wunderkammer<\/em> in the heart of Cinecitt\u00e0 \u2013 a fitting shrine for these two giants.<\/p>\n\n\n