WHO MADE IT? | Director: Nanni Moretti Cast: Silvio Orlando, Margherita Buy, Jasmine Trinca, Michele Placido, Giuliano Montaldo, Antonio Luigi Grimaldi, Paolo Sorrentino, Elio De Capitani, Tatti Sanguinetti, Jerzy Stuhr, Toni Bertorelli, Matteo Garrone, Lorenzo Alessandri, Giancarlo Basili, Nanni Moretti, Silvio Berlusconi, Anna Bonaiuto, Rocco Buttiglione | WHAT'S IT ABOUT? | Bruno (Orlando) is a washed up film producer, still living off the one hit he had, several decades ago. He’s desperately looking for a script to reignite his career, so when – at a screening of his one success – a young writer thrusts a screenplay into his hands, he jumps at the chance to produce it. He even lets her direct. But in all his excitement about finally getting a new project off the ground, Bruno’s fails to pay any attention to the subtext of the script – despite his own right-wing political leanings, he finds himself steaming ahead with a film which is highly critical of the unpopular right-wing prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. | WHAT'S IT LIKE? | This is a big and bold attempt to undermine Berlusconi’s credibility, during the tail end of his premiership. In fact, with its release in Italy, just weeks before the media mogul was toppled from power, some see it as a factor in Berlusconi’s downfall. But as a film, it loses a lot in the translation – unless you’re intricately familiar with the ins and outs of Italian politics over the past few decades, it won’t mean much to you, and if you have any sympathy for right-wing politics, it’ll lose you there too. And coming out here several months after Italy’s general election, it has lost much of its topical punch. As a slick comedic satire on the film business and politics, it has a lot going for it, with a strong performance from the desperate but hapless lead, but with a handful of people all playing Berlusconi (including Moretti himself), with a complex plot and as a shameless attack on the former premier of another country, it’s not a film for everyone. | opens nationwide 6th April 2007
