BELLUSCONE-A SICILIAN STORY

A few years ago, 80s TV cult author Franco Maresco began shooting a film about the Sicilian base of the Berlusconi empire and its roots in local organized crime: how the Cavaliere worked his way up in the building trade; then became a national phenomenon as a private television producer; and finally embarked on a decade-long triumphal march as a populist politician who kept the people happy with game shows and lousy jokes. But what do you see of the mafia on the streets of Palermo? Visages, such as Ciccio Mira, an impresario for “neo-melodic” music, who looks like a Muppet and mumbles strangely mysterious things. His top protégés, Erik and Vittorio Ricciardi, whose coarsely dressed-up female fans shout blissfully when they perform “Vorrei conoscere Berlusconi”, come across as similarly peculiar. No wonder Maresco went down in despair ...

Belluscone - A Sicilian Story (Belluscone - Una storia siciliana) (2014) is: a top mixture of Buñuel and Pasolini; a grotesque comedy; an absurd nightmare; an over-the-top farce, a panicked joke. In a word: a documentary.