Episode 6: Dante Spinotti (Cinematographer The Last of the Mohicans, Heat, L.A. Confidential)
About the episode:
It's an honour to bring you a chat with one of the greatest living cinematographers, the legendary Dante Spintotti (cinematographer of THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS & HEAT). In this bombshell laden discussion, Dante and I discuss joining the film four weeks into production; his contribution to the film's aesthetic and constructing the titanic face-off between Magua (Wes Studi) and Chingachgook (Russell Means).
About the show:
THE LAST (12 minutes) OF THE MOHICANS is a twelve-episode limited podcast series focusing on the climax of the Michael Mann’s 1992 epic The Last of the Mohicans. The format of the podcast, which slightly differs from ONE HEAT MINUTE, utilises the entire final twelve-minute climax of Mohicans as a portal to explore the themes of the movie, the cross-section of political apparatuses, colonial superpower wrangling, and Mr Mann’s riff on the “great American hero.” With an Academy Award-winning score from Randy Edelman and Trevor Jones, iconic performances, stunning cinematography from Dante Spinotti, a relentlessly paced script from Mann and co-writer Christopher Crowe and masterful orchestration from Mann; the film’s extended finale - triggered by the delivery of tribal justice until the credits roll - is arguably one of the greatest endings to almost any movie ever.
About the movie:
The Last of the Mohicansis adapted (and significantly altered from) James Fenimore Cooper novel, set in 1757, Mohicans follows three trappers who are inadvertently drawn into the French and Indian War when they rescue the daughters of British Colonel and their British Captain escort from an ambush. It stars Academy Award Winner Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Academy Award Winner* Wes Studi, Russell Means, Eric Schweig, Jodhi May and Steven Waddington.
ABOUT DANTE SPINOTTI
Dante Spinotti was born in Tolmezzo, Udine, in the northeastern Italian Region of Friuli. He began his career at RAI (Italian T.V.), before that he spent a lot of time in Kenia as cinematographer for his uncle. In 1985, producer Dino De Laurentiis offered him a chance to work in the USA for the first time with Michael Mann for the feature Manhunter (1986). From that experience, Spinotti became one of the most appreciated cinematographers in Hollywood. His particular vision gives a movie a great sense of reality. Among his works are The Last of the Mohicans (1992) (Academy Nomination), Heat (1995), L.A. Confidential (1997) (Academy Nomination), The Insider (1999) (Academy Nomination), and Wonder Boys (2000). He married his wife Marcella, and they live in Los Angeles, Rome, and Tolmezzo.
