Silvio, One of Us

How can it be that after nearly two decades and countless scandals, blunders, accusations of corruption, and abuses of power, Silvio Berlusconi is still in control of Italian politics and as popular as ever with the Italian people? It is a question that is not only being asked outside of Italy. This Italian documentary assesses the mood of the country in the months leading up to the regional elections in March 2010. We hear from supporters of Berlusconi and his coalition partner Lega Nord, as well as from members and sympathizers of Il Popolo Viola - purple being the color the demonstrators adorn themselves with. This movement, which rose out of Internet activism, distances itself from existing political parties and is struggling for the restoration of democracy, which is a sad state of affairs in Italy. We see how local politics is riddled with nepotism, how a newspaper allied to Berlusconi deploys dubious journalistic tactics, and how the electorate has collapsed into a state of political nihilism. And the old days of fascism are never far away: we hear it in the language politicians use, and we see it in the adoration Berlusconi's followers feel for their leader, and the cowardly indifference of the subdued opposition. A Roman taxi driver and his passengers provide the occasional vox populi. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)