Base, Giulio 1964-

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BASE, Giulio 1964-

PERSONAL: Born December 9, 1964, in Turin, Italy. Education: La Sapienza University, M.A.; studied theology at University of Vatican City; also studied acting in Florence, Italy. Hobbies and other interests: Soccer, travel, reading.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Medusa Film, Via Aurelia Antica 422/424, 00165 Rome, Italy. E-mail—base@ mclink.it.

CAREER: Actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. Actor in films, including Il portaborse (also known as The Yes Man), Framax Film, S.A., 1991; Crack, 1991; Caldo soffocante, 1991; Lest, 1993; Teste rasate, 1993; Caro diario (also known as Dear Diary), Fine Line Features, 1994; Lovest, 1997; Il macellaio (also known as The Butcher), Medusa Distribuzione, 1998; La lingua del santo (also known as Holy Tongue), Medusa Distribuzione, 2000; and Il compagno americano, 2003. Actor in television series, including Nessuno escluso (miniseries), 1997; Lui e lei (miniseries), 1998; Valeria medico legale, 2000; Diritto di difesa, 2004; and Don Matteo IV (miniseries), 2004. Actor in television movies, including Gli occhi dell'amore, 2001, and Maria Goretti, 2003. Director of films, including Crack, 1991; Lest, 1993; Poliziotti (also known as Policemen), 1994; (and producer) Lovest, 1997; La Bomba, 1999; Once upon a Time in Little Italy, 1999; and Padre Pio, 2000. Director of television programs, including Padre Pio—Tra cielo e terra, 2000; Non ho l'età, 2001; Gli occhi dell'amore, 2001; Non ho l'età 2 (miniseries), 2002; Maria Goretti, 2003; and Don Matteo IV (series), 2004. Appeared on stage in The Mayor.

MEMBER: Mensa.

AWARDS, HONORS: Best New Director Award, San Sebastian International Film Festival, 1991, for Crack; Grand Jury Prize, Rencontres du Cinema d'Annecy, for Lovest; best director award, Festival of Movies of Latin Worlds, for Poliziotti; Audience Award, Los Angeles Italian Film Awards, 1999, for La Bomba.

WRITINGS:

SCREENPLAYS

(And director) Crack, Columbia Tristar, 1991.

(And director) Lest (title means "The East"), 1993.

(With others; and director) Poliziotti (also known as Policemen), Interfilms, 1994.

(And producer and director) Lovest (title means "The West"), G. B. Productions, 1997.

(And director) La Bomba, Medusa Film/Freeway, 1999.

Once upon a Time in Little Italy, Medusa Film, 1999.

SIDELIGHTS: Giulio Base is a popular performer on the Italian screen—he studied under the great actor Vittorio Gassman—as well as a director and screenwriter. Base was first inspired to become an actor by his father, who loved films and often took Base and his brother to the theater when they were children. He wanted to become an actor at first because that was the most visible, understandable role in making films, but once he entered the industry he was attracted towards behind-the-camera creative roles as well. In his early acting days, Base was cast as "devil's characters," as he described it on his Web site; he also portrayed a "kind lawyer" in the Italian miniseries Lui & Lei. "Last but not least," Base wrote, "I'm the leading male in Valeria, Medico Legale, one of the biggest [successes] of Italian television, year 2000."

In 1991 Base stepped behind the camera to make his first feature, Crack. This film, as well as Base's third creation, Poliziotti, are considered his "dark" works, in contrast to the rest of his films, which are primarily comedies. As a screenwriter and director, Base can be thought of as influenced by contemporary American cinema. On his Web site, his listing of "My Favorite Movies" is heavily populated with the works of U.S. directors Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Sam Peckinpaugh, and Oliver Stone. Accordingly, one of Base's movies, Lovest, is set during a cross-country trip through America. Two characters, played by Base and Gianmarco Tognazzi, traverse the nation in a convertible, "looking for something very . . . special," according to the director. "It is a kind of comedy, but a very strange one: almost mystical." The film is a sequel to Base's second work, Lest, in which the same two friends travel by car through Eastern Europe.

Base's film La Bomba is also clearly inspired by American films about the mafia, particularly those of Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. The film is about two young Italian men, Nino and Sergio, who come to New York to audition for the prestigious Actors Studio. In New York they meet another Italian, Gaetano, who is waiting tables in a Little Italy restaurant and also hoping to become an actor. Nino and Gaetano both have successful auditions and are accepted. Sergio, who is not, takes over Gaetano's job at the restaurant. The restaurant's owner is insufferable, and Nino and Gaetano decide to play a practical joke on him—they call the restaurant pretending to be from the Mafia and demand $3,000. If they do not get the money, they say, they will blow the place up. To their amazement, the owner falls for it and gives them the money. Here, they realize, is a much better way to support themselves than waiting tables. The three and their sidekick Daisy, an aspiring actress, quickly become rich—as well as one of the most feared crime "families" in New York. The film was praised by several Italian critics for its intelligent mixing of the American mafia-film genre with commedia all'italiana.