Roberto Manca

A good portrait of some sections of Italian society and its discrepancies along political lines viewed through the experiences of a family in 1960's-70's central Italy. It shows both extremes of the political spectrum in a negative light: the fascists are just a bunch of thugs, while the far-left communists are prepared to carry out terroristic acts in the name of ideals that have no chance to prevail. In the end what mattered was the ability and willingness to act for the people's real needs, like Accio, the younger brother who initially sympathized with the fascists until he realized their cowardice when they ganged up on him for calling them out. Accio acted single-handedly when he broke into the town hall at night and called everyone to come and get the keys of the council houses (social housing) because the burocracy had been stagnant for years on that front, even though the people's names and house addresses in the new apartment buildings had already been allocated on a list.