Berlusconi, one year after his death: from ‘Il Caimano’ to ‘Them’, the films that tell it

With his death, on 12 June 2023, an era of politics, scandals, trials, parties and phrases that became memes came to an end

ROME – It is undeniable: Silvio Berlusconi has made a piece of Italian history. A leader who was capable of dividing Italy like, perhaps, no one had ever done. With his death, on 12 June 2023, an era of politics, scandals, trials, parties and phrases that became memes came to an end. All without ever losing his indecipherable smile, accompanied by Apicella’s notes. There are many directors who have tried to decipher the man behind the politician. Paolo Sorrentino did it with ‘Loro 1’ and ‘Loro 2’ or Nanni Moretti with ‘Aprile’ or ‘Il Caimano’, up to the docuseries ‘The young Berlusconi’, released this year on Netflix.

BERLUSCONI, ONE YEAR FROM DEATH: THE FILMS THAT THEY TELL IT

APRIL BY NANNI MORETTI

‘Aprile’ by Nanni Moretti, released in 1998, opens with Emilio Fede’s speech on TG4 to announce Silvio Berlusconi’s victory in the 1994 political elections. Nanni Moretti, who plays himself, is disconcerted by the victory of right and is thinking of making a documentary on the figure of Berlusconi and on the conflict of interests. The project, however, was shelved for a musical.

THE CAIMAN BY NANNI MORETTI

‘The Caiman’ by Nanni Moretti, released in 2006, tells the story of a B-movie producer, Bruno Bonomo, who in the 70s dedicated himself to trash cinema with his wife but is now going through a difficult time, both both professionally and humanly: his production company is on the verge of bankruptcy and his marriage is falling apart. His only lifeline seems to be the script of a young director, Teresa, who would like to make a film, entitled ‘The Caiman’, which tells the life of Silvio Berlusconi. However, the producer’s economic problems forced him to shoot only the last scene, which perhaps more than all the others makes the true meaning of the film clear. Silvio Berlusconi enters the courtroom to attend the reading of the sentence of the trial, presumably the SME trial. He is alone, he is no longer powerful and none of his allies are close to him: he is sentenced to 7 years. Nonetheless, he leaves the Palace of Justice admonishing the judges to fear the reaction of the people, who would not have allowed the persecutory condemnation of one of their elected officials and, after having made statements to journalists, a group of people come to cheer him as he is entering his machine. As the judges leave, however, the same people who had celebrated the condemned man begin to throw everything at them, including Molotov cocktails. Images that today make one think of the assault on Capitol Hill by Donald Trump’s fans.

VIDEOCRACY – STOP APPEARING BY ERIK GANDINI

‘Videocracy – Bastaappear’ is a documentary released in 2009 directed by Erik Gandini. It is an analysis of how in Italy the power of television influences the behavior and choices of the population, as it is the main source of information for almost all people. The spotlight is above all on Silvio Berlusconi’s media empire and how this is the source of his political power. In the documentary there are Fabrizio Corona and Lele Mora (who at the end of the film utters the expression “just appear”, which appears as the title) as characters of videocracy and the loss of social values.

THEM 1 AND 2 BY PAOLO SORRENTINO

‘Loro 1’ and ‘Loro 2’ is a film by Oscar winner Paolo Sorrentino divided into two parts with Toni Servillo as Silvio Berlusconi and Elena Sofia Ricci as his ex-wife Veronica Lario. The director tells the story of the man behind the politician, in all his indecipherable facets. Sorrentino paints the portrait of a man in his intimacy and fragility struggling with advancing age and expectations.

1994, TV MINI-SERIES BORN FROM AN IDEA BY STEFANO ACCORSI

‘1994’ is the last chapter of the television miniseries, by Sky, born from an idea by Stefano Accorsi, also an actor here in the role of Leonardo Notte. Set in 1994 between Rome and Milan, the plot follows the story of the characters involved in the complex Italian political scenario of that year. The judicial investigations that went down in history with the expression ‘Clean Hands’ which led to the end of the First Republic continue, while the first political elections of the so-called Second Republic are taking place. Here Berlusconi is played by Paolo Pierobon and described as a figure who craves power.

SILVIO FOREVER BY ROBERTO FAENZA AND FILIPPO MACELLONI

‘Silvio Forever’ is a 2011 docufilm directed by Roberto Faenza and Filippo Macelloni, with the narrative voice of Neri Marcorè. The film features journalists Gian Antonio Stella and Sergio Rizzo, authors of the investigative book ‘La casta’, as screenwriters, and contains numerous period films, including a clip of an interview that Berlusconi gave to Enzo Biagi in 1987, Roberto Benigni’s kiss at the Telegatti ’87 and the speech in which he announced his “descend into the field”, broadcast on all Italian television.

THE YOUNG BERLUSCONI

This year the docuseries ‘The Young Berlusconi’ debuted on Netflix. Three episodes, lasting 50 minutes each, which delve into the iconic and unpublished archives, among the testimonies of Silvio Berlusconi’s closest collaborators – well-known figures, but also technicians, authors, advertisers, key figures who contributed to his personal success and to that of his television – and of those who opposed and criticized him. A behind-the-scenes story of the cultural enterprise that changed the customs and consumption of entire generations, first in Italy and then throughout Europe, commercial TV.

The docuseries deals with Berlusconi’s success from his beginnings as an entrepreneur to the invention of commercial television in the mid-1970s up to the 1994 political elections. Son of the economic boom of the early 1960s, Silvio Berlusconi launched himself, like many in those years, into the construction business. He created Milan 2, a futuristic new town surrounded by greenery, where, to avoid the forest of antennas on the roofs, he planned, for the first time in Italy, to wire the entire town with coaxial cable. And so, in 1974, a television was born under the stairs at the service of residents who could follow mass, condominium meetings, their children’s sporting activities and the advertising of the shopkeeper next door. No one would have imagined that shortly thereafter the condominium television of TeleMilanoCavo would be transformed into one of the largest private European television groups. The situation of private broadcasters in the mid-70s is comparable to a ‘wild heap’ and Berlusconi senses the deal: private television is the business of the future. It wants lively, colourful, but at the same time reassuring programmes, and advertising must be its soul. Rai’s monopoly is circumvented by Berlusconi’s so-called ‘pizzone’, a recorded tape with programs and advertisements which is delivered to all the broadcasters, scattered throughout the national territory, affiliated with Canale5, which has now replaced TeleMilano. With this rudimentary yet ingenious trick, a small local television station in Milan manages to make its voice heard throughout Italy and sell lots and lots of advertising.

And so, during the bloody tail end of the Years of Lead, Berlusconi makes viewers dream, describing an Italy that does not yet exist, but which will reveal itself shortly thereafter. Entire generations grow up in front of the Fininvest group’s television screens, which broadcast quiz shows, soap operas, American TV series, Japanese cartoons, football and comedy programmes. Berlusconi speaks to the consumer and advertisers, while state TV addresses the citizen: from this moment the boundaries between the two worlds will become more blurred, Berlusconi’s communication shapes a new audience, which will soon become the electorate. And it doesn’t stop: throughout the 80s Berlusconi’s empire grows dramatically, incorporating, in addition to television and advertising, also publishing, newspapers, magazines, insurance companies, banks, chain stores and a football team. , AC Milan, making his image of a successful entrepreneur even more popular.