If you are a fan of Melvin Bragg’s ‘South Bank Show’ approach to the lives and works of great artists, then this documentary will seem familiar territory.

It is no exaggeration to call Tornatore a great director, just think of his backlist – ‘The Best Offer’, ‘The Legend of 1900’, ‘The Star Maker’ and of course, his seminal autobiographical-ish work, ‘Cinema Paradiso’. The ‘reconstruction of his creative world’ by Barcaroli and Panichi, however, bears all the Braggian hallmarks – ‘in depth’ interviews with colleagues, collaborators and actors telling us what a unique and wonderful creative colossus they have been so lucky to work with. Then there is the apparently un-mediated talking head of the man himself, in warmly lit super close up, voicing-over favourite clips, and the obligatory shots of the great man pensively ambling amid melancholy monochrome, or philosophising while pottering over poignant ruins.

 …we don’t learn much about the man apart from the fact that everyone thinks he’s wonderful…

It’s all so congratulatory. Yet, we don’t learn much about the man apart from the fact that everyone thinks he’s wonderful. The only break in this hagiography was Tim Roth’s aside, that when working on ‘1900’ their stubborn machismo clashed – but we never found out how. Then there was Ben Gazzara, clearly and shockingly on his last legs, telling the camera that for him making movies was all about immortality.

Tornatore plaudits aside, the best bits were the many clips from the great director’s oeuvre. They tell us what we need to know about Tornatore’s working methods, ensuring that every film is a first class film.

Giuseppe Tornatore: Every Film My First Film screens on 3rd September at 2.30 at the Cambridge Film Festival.