Enrico Berlinguer was a giant of the Italian left in the 1970s and 1980s, when he came close to bringing the Communist Party to government through a “historic compromise” with the Christian Democrats and the defense of “Eurocommunism”, a liberal and anti-European version. Stalinist Marxism that briefly swept the continent. His death 40 years ago and the collapse of European communist parties in the late 1980s have, however, eclipsed his legacy. Since then, Italy has crossed the political spectrum and in 2022 elected far-right Giorgia Meloni as prime minister.
Now, Berlinguer has regained popularity, including among right-wing figures, as a film about his life opens the Rome film festival, ahead of its international release. Berlinguer – La Grande Ambizione will take viewers through the historic events that marked his career, from defying Cold War dogma and narrowly escaping an attempt on his life in Bulgaria, to bringing the Italian Communist Party to the brink of power in the decade 1970 and stand firm against the political terrorism that raged in the country during that period.
