Videocracy

It feels as if it was put together in five minutes. Pity because the idea is great if not particularly new. Depressing as hell to think that, somehow, this reality represent us and I'm afraid it does. It is a decease of our own making. It's in our DNA, if you don't believe me listen to Mario Monicelli in his interview at Otto e Mezzo. "We're a country of "miserabili" (miserables). As long as someone has the guts to say it, there is hope. Here, the statement comes from Sweden of all places and seems amazed at things that us in Italy know perfectly well and complain about, perhaps, but in private. I think that Berlusconi truly represents the majority of Italians even those who don't want to admit it. Lele Mora gave me the chills and Fabrizio Corona who comes from a very intelligent, prominent journalistic family comes across as an ignorant product of his day. He indulges in a long naked scene, soaping his privates under the shower. What the hell was that!? We're suppose to be the Country of culture par excellence, how funny. We're the Country of the façade instead. We love cinema but we dub it, robbing the souls of the original actors, not just their voices. We divide the projections of films, arbitrarily, in Primo Tempo e Secondo Tempo (First Part and Second Part). We really don't give a damn and some of the consequences are painfully clear in "Videocracy" I only wish this documentary could be taken a bit more seriously.

A brilliant snapshot of how political and media monopolies in the ever-smiling face of Silvio Berlusconi have shaped public opinion and the dreams of Italian youth today. My only complaint is that the documentary focused too much on surface self-evident issues like the power of television instead of deeper-rooted issues in Italy like sexism and fascism. The documentary never questioned why young women restrict their potential and dreams to becoming the next Italian WAG, Silvio's mistress or a veline or why Lele Mora unabashedly has Mussolini-era anthems as his cellphone ringtone. Institutionalized sexism, poverty and lack of education are only hinted at as the doc centers around the more digestible issues of narcissism and Italian mama - son drama. A must see film nonetheless

Well, I must say I expected more from this movie after having seen the trailer. The documentary is quite slow for all the 85 minutes, and lacks explanations: why most Italians base their information access on television? how did the private TV channels owned by Berlusconi became so big? We just see the beginning 30 years ago, and the situation now... how was the evolution in between? Basically the movie gives just 2 examples to explain the result of the cultural change gained in the last years by Italian television: first the simple guy working in a factory who drams of getting on television; second is Fabrizio Corona, who is basically an asshole paparazzi gangster, exploiting famous people to own money and become famous himself. In my opinion this movie puts some light on the situation Italy is in, avoiding going deeper to the roots. It would have been easy to tell, show, explain and discuss much more... that's why it's just 5/10.

This was absolutely eye-opening of what's important in Italy. I don't know much about Berlusconi (The Italian Prime Minister) but for him also to run 90% of the state run television doesn't seem like it should exist. What's worse than that is he is completely above the law as he has given himself immunity from any sort of criminal prosecution...ever! What's dumbfounding to me more than anything is that the way the TV shows & things are run is nothing more than a somewhat cleaned up version of the way the mafia is run. I thought Americans were obsessed w/celebrity, but my god the Italians have us completely beat by a mile. Anyway it's interesting and sad to see the way women are completely objectified & how such a huge percentage are trying to make it by their looks alone. I have never seen a western country that treats women & they allow themselves to be treated so poorly. It reminded me of The Ms. America Pageant times 1000. It was quite disgusting as far as the culture & what's important in life w/what's going on there. I've never been a fan of Women's Lib, but that country needs it so bad.

This documentary sets a lot of demand on the audience. The number one complaint I hear is that the documentary lacks in information about the different subjects encountered throughout the film. This complaint, however, might just be a bit of an empty can rattle since the idea of the film obviously isn't, as opposed to a say Michael Moore-style documentary, to give a clear black/white picture of a scenario. Instead, Gandini tends to leave his videocratic exclamations hanging freely letting a steady stream of question marks trickle by.

Instead of underrating me as the kind of viewer who demands simple answers to everything right there on the screen (e.g. short cartoon style animated clip, complete with sarcastic touches, of Berlusconi gaining power) Gandini sees his opportunity to leave me and the audience hungry for elaborating facts. In my case, and I feel I might not be alone here, I found myself grabbing for my smart phone just minutes into the movie googling up all the people and places and checking facts mentioned in the film. I was so mind boggled I couldn't get of my computer until about 4 am.

Perhaps Gandini has overrated his audience's capability of coming to their own conclusions, but I for one feel a sense of gratitude towards the film maker. I feel grateful for being a free man and not getting controlled by government television.

However, I do have one complaint. Horror-music really doesn't help a serious documentary to get the message through as being objective. The actual events themselves are scary enough on there own without discrediting music, which only makes for a cheaper feel. Shame on you sound producers!