FRASSINELLE POLESINE (Rovigo) – May 2nd, for the hundredth anniversary of the death of Giacomo Matteotti, the municipal administration of Frassinelle Polesine, together with the Municipality of Fiesso Umbertiano, the Province of Rovigo and the Polesine Provincial Committee for the Matteotti 1921-2024 celebrations, on the occasion of the closing lesson of the local Polesine Popular University, at the Casa del Popolo Theater of Frassinelle Polesine, organized an open lesson entitled “Like inside a movie”. It was held by the director Ferdinando De Laurentis, who commented on images and words used in historical audiovisual reports regarding the Matteotti crime, one of the first Polesans, if not the first, to fill the pages of newspapers in the 1920s, killed before the advent of newsreels.
We started from the first film made by the Istituto Luce in 1952, the documentary “Benito Mussolini, anatomy of a dictator”, however released in 1961, and from the first newsreel of the Settimana Incom of 17 June 1954, “Commemorato Giacomo Matteotti”, with the words of Giuseppe Saragat. A lot of emotion in the room when watching Nelo Risi’s 1956 short film which shows the journey of the Polesine statesman’s coffin towards Fratta Polesine. We have arrived at an unpublished testimony by Giorgio Amendola released in 1972 of what happened in Parliament at Giacomo Matteotti’s last speech and the images of the film “The Professor” by Ferdinando De Laurentis which focuses on the human and political relationship between Matteotti and Emilio Zanella, his political “master” and Polesine.
“The lesson, focused on the cinematographic language and the meanings of those historical images and on the reduced “communication” of the Matteotti crime, – said the councilor Martina Merlini – it fascinated us all a bit, because we reflected on arguments that were different from the usual ones and I saw all the people in the room very attentive and satisfied. The emotion of those present at the end of the meeting was palpable.”
A reflection was also reserved for Giacomo Matteotti’s wife, taking inspiration from some of his writings which were well linked to the media story proposed by the lesson which was just like “living it” in a film, dedicated to the man who was the symbol of anti-fascism who left one of the highest ethical-political teachings: Giacomo Matteotti.
Next appointment in Fiesso Umbertiano, at the Falcone – Borsellino civic hall, Friday 17 May 2024, at 9pm, again with director Ferdinando De Laurentis for a second evening dedicated to Giacomo Matteotti.
