Review by Doug Cooper
Featuring Silvio Berlusconi, Flavio Briatore, Rick Canelli,
Fabrizio Corona, Samantha Crippa, Marella Giovanelli,
Lele Mora, Lorenzo Paolini
Written by Erik Gandini
Certification UK 15
Runtime 85 minutes
Directed by Erik Gandini
Erik Gandini's documentary is ostensibly about Italian culture and how bereft it is of high minded intelligence since Silvio Berlusconi's influence pervaded the media over 30 years ago. It begins with footage of a somewhat excruciating 1970s game show in which an Italian lady sheds items of her clothing every time a question is answered correctly and then moves onto the present day where some sleazy characters are interviewed.
One is a wannabe movie star who tries out for talent shows doing Ricky Martin impersonations. He's 26 and lives with his mama who turns up on his dates with girls. Another person who gives an insight into the country's entertainment culture is fat celebrity agent Lele Mora, who is responsible for star spotting and is highly influential in launching the next big celebrity. He lives in a palatial home and has footage of Mussolini on his mobile phone. Most interesting or depressing depending on your point of view is rabid gossip hound Fabrizio Corona. He headed up a team of paparazzi photographers but was imprisoned for extortion. Upon release he became a celebrity himself and there's sad footage of him at live events answering inane questions from an adoring audience.
In fact, this whole documentary is a depressing experience. These people are so vapid one regrets spending time in their company and the larger theme about the Italian PM's power is never realised. We see photographs of Berlusconi at parties but it's never explained how exactly he changed Italian culture and made it go downhill.
So all in all it's nothing but a showcase for a parade of desperate nobodies and never sheds light on the real point it's trying to raise.
But you do get to see lithe young Italian women dancing seductively in the forlorn hope of being seen and snapped up for adulation, so this doc does have something going for it. Shallow? Moi?