From the moment we step into Ennio Moriccone's home we become immersed in the man and his work with over 60 years of magnificent music to sample along the way. Yes, we are obviously treated to a segment on his magnificent soundtrack to Once Upon a Time in the West, my personal favourite, together with all the other best known of his cinema accompaniments, but the viewer is also treated to dozens of other snippets of fine music many of which were unknown to me and which I now need to sample. There's an array of luminaries from the world of music and cinema to sing his praises as well but arguably the most engaging feature of this is the man himself, sat at home taking us through his life's work. It's a very long film but the music is so good it doesn't drag for an instant. An impressive piece of work.

Wonderful documentary. Not only about Ennio's music, but also about films. Italian, French and US films of 1970s, 80s and later. I found myself wanting to rewatch or watch films mentioned in this doc, some of which I didn't even know existed. It makes me appreciate and respect more the Italian cinema of the 20th century, including the so called "spaghetti westerns" of Leone and Corbucci. The doc is masterfully edited and directed, and sound quality is also excellent. It is a bit long but absolutely worth your time, if you appreciate good music and films. I think it's important to watch it in a good cinema, because of quality of music and the images. And finally: was Morricone a genius? Yes, I think he was.

"Ennio" is a really new documentary, but well actually it premiered back in 2021 already, but took until late 2022 to get here to my country Germany. This surprises me a bit because I see that three of the four producing countries are European and I am also not sure where the Japanese impact comes from. But oh well, I am also surprised about some of the other countries, at least Belgium and the Netherlands. Of course, at its center it feels very Italian and this is also the language you will hear the most from beginning to end, especially when Morricone himself is interviewed. So he knew about this getting made of course. It was in a way the final milestone to his long life. There are four other languages included here too, but Portuguese and Chinese seem to be there only in theory and very briefly. Here in Germany, they picked a title that included Morricone's full name because here he is sadly not seen as the legend that he should be seen as and calling it Ennio only, then maybe most would not know what it is all about. Or who it is all about. Or at least they would not know right away. This is a very long film at over 2.5 hours and that is not too common for documentaries, but I liked it. I think it did justice to the protagonist and his really massive body of work. Not just massive in terms of quality, but also in terms of quantity. Both is undeniable. On one occasion, they gave us the numbers of soundtracks Morricone wrote within specific periods of time and those were insane numbers. I mean if you hear the defining composers these days work on three films each year maybe and that is still a lot, but what Morricone did was crazy quantity-wise. There we also found one of the rare occasions when there was a bit of criticism that at one point he almost went a bit for quantity over quality, but this was just temporary. There is at this point probably nobody on the planet who would not consider him an icon or a maestro (master) as he is called so many times during this documentary. It was also nice to see how humble he was during one really old interview. It did feel authentic.

The romance and connection between him and his wife Maria who is referenced on two or three occasions was also sweet and also during a crucial occasion when he dedicates an Oscar to her alone pretty much for always being there for him. It was the Honorary Academy award if I remember correctly. I see she is still alive now in 2023 and about the same age he was when he died not too long ago. I hope she still has a few years left. Anyway, I have not even said that this film got made by Giuseppe Tornatore, a very successful and prolific filmmaker himself and I have not seen too much from him, but I liked his recent Geoffrey Rush movie (that many did not like at all) and I also really enjoyed this one here, so at this point he is a 100% hit for me without misses and a huge success. I think I read somewhere that Tornatore and Morricone were also fairly close friends and I feel like this could be true after watching and not just a loose fake feel-good statement. Morricone really opens up here, also about critical or emotional moments like when the movie 1900 received a bad reception (I watched that very long 1970s film not too long ago) or when Morricone received some very personal praise from somebody who/which meant a lot to him apparently. But all the people interviewed in this film are also a delight. You cannot really find any more suitable fellas. This includes all the big name composers basically, including John Williams and Hans Zimmer, and it was nice to hear what they had to say about him. I especially remember Zimmer's comment about how you only have to hear a very brief moment of (movie) music and then you know immediately it is Morricone. It is kinda true. We realize that as we hear parts from some of the soundtracks he made. Of course, the western film music will always stand out for Morricone I think most will agree because these pieces are indeed incomparable, but there are also other scores that stay in the head. I took a lot of inspiration and music from this documentary.

I also really liked the collaboration between him and Joan Baez that is elaborated on in here. I always had a bit of a hard time warming up to her, which surprised me because I love Leonard Cohen and the two were so close, but finding out about and listening to the "Here's to You", also the orchestra/choir version later on, gave me goosebumps. I would like to watch the film now that the song was made for. Anyway, I can impossible mention all the interviewees here, but was cool to see James Hetfield because I adore Metallica and I knew they also could not get enough of "Ecstasy of Gold". It was funny to see him sing to the tune as well during one concert, even if honestly it was maybe not one of his brightest moments music-wise. No offense though. I love the man. Nicola Piovani I definitely have a very soft spot for since seeing "La vita è bella" the very first time and I listened to the soundtrack so many times since then. So yeah, it was nice to see Piovani here. Tarantino is always a treasure and Bertolucci is also interesting. Malick too, but he was included very briefly only. More Eastwood would have been cool too. Honestly, all the interviewees were solid or even really good and insightful. There are only two exceptions. Number one would be Bruce Springsteen. Just can't stand him and he also did not add a lot and is not worthy of Morricone's music and second would be Alessandro De Rosa. I think he studied Morricone's career or something, but I could have done without him. Or at least with less screen time. He should not have been in this on so many occasions. But the good easily outweighs the weak when it comes to the interviewees. Also interesting that they got Sergio Leone's family to be a part of this with how close Morricone and Leone were. Was it his children? I am not sure, not too important anyway, the insight is there too without a doubt. It was just an enjoyable watch all along.

The dramatic tension they included on a few occasions was nice as well. I did not know about Morricone's doubts linked to composing film music and if it makes him really worthy and a serious musician. I also liked how he got to accept it, even if he stayed always close to his old mentor from the way things are shown here and this mentor was not big on film music gently-speaking. The second somewhat dramatic arc was Morricone at the Oscars and how they simply would not give him the trophy until the honorary award in his final years and, as a surprise to many, he then even won a competitive Oscar for working with Tarantino. I knew about Morricone's history with the Oscars, but I heard noises of surprise from other viewers in my screening when once again somebody else won. No offense to David Byrne though. He is also utterly talented. Tarantino's comments on this collaboration and the initial doubts were also as entertaining as it always is to listen to him. He does not have too much screen time either, but you could see he admires Morricone a lot, like when he talks about the scene from one of the old western where the protagonist has to find a specific grave. In general, this documentary is also an awesome watch for film buffs as you will find so many interesting movies and inspirations. For me, "The Untouchables" also stayed in the mind. Awesome film, even if there is a big spoiler. Another would be the one where I sadly forgot already the title, but the introduction there when we have a vocalist sing the cast and credits to us was awesome and so funny. Definitely something different and you cannot get into a better spirit and mood when starting to watch a film. I wanna see that one too.

In general, you learn so much about Morricone while watching these 2.5 hours that I would encourage everybody to see this film, fans of Morricone and also those not too familiar with him. I did not know for example that the score from "The Untouchables" was from him or also how much he apparently adored "The Mission". And even if you still won't warm up too much to Morricone (which is almost impossible though), then it is worth it for seeing all the other film legends from this movie. So many nice anecdotes here too, like about Morricone's own past as a trumpet player. How he had to take over from his ailing dad to make money for the family when he was still very young. How performing on stage to make a living temporarily cost him his love for music even a little bit. How he would step away from the trumpet in general to not hurt his father until the latter died. How he played it at a friend's wedding again and so on. There is also talk about some creative conflicts between him and filmmakers, even if towards the end they always say pretty much that he was right all along. I could go on and on here with some of the comments. It is always better if the elaborations come from the one that the documentary is all about, not just here with "Ennio", but in every documentary, so we can be sure or at least more positive that it is all authentic and not hear-say or even make-believe. Now I regret it a bit that I did not take the chance and see (or listen to) the man in person when he came here at a really high age already and performed live, but oh well. His music will always be featured in concerts for sure and with this documentary I am a bit shocked that it is not in the Oscar race at all. Disappointing. I feel like it could have been a very valid choice even for a documentary to finally make an impact in the Best Picture race. Oh well, it's just awards anyway. We will always have the music. For me, "Ennio" is one of the very finest films from 2021. Highly recommended and you absolutely do not wanna miss out on this one, regardless of big or small screen. It's all there: the anecdotes, the insight, the nostalgia, the sublime class. It's close to masterpiece territory. Thank you, Maestro.