Il fare politica

Fabiana, Carlo, Claudio and Vincenzo met in 1982 in Mercatale, their Tuscan village near Florence. They ranged in age from 25 to 45 and were buoyant militants in the Italian Communist Party, that paradoxical force which has left its mark on history and functioned as both school and family to them. I filmed in Mercatale every two to three years for more than two decades (1982–2004). The documentary adopts a long view of their political and personal development set against village life. It weaves stories of human and political resonance spanning a quarter of a century, with relevance to present-day questions about what happened to the plans to change the world in Berlusconi era Italy. From a broader perspective, what more can politics achieve? When the time comes to assess, the trajectories of their rich and varied lives intersect again, bearing doubts and loyalties.