L’UOMO CHE VERRA’ directed by Giorgio Diritti (Italy, 2009)
It would have been easy to dramatise the tragic real life events at Marzobotta near Bologna in a sensationalist and exploitative manner, transforming human tragedy into crass entertainment. Instead, the story of the victims is handled with great sensitivity and humanity without glossing over the full-scale of the atrocity.
In 1944, Nazi soldiers massacred 770 people in this small farming community, an act of barbarism that beggars belief. It illustrates that Hitler’s executioners did not confine themselves to the slaughter of Jews but were prepared to slaughter any who dared stand in opposition to Fascism.
Diritti doesn’t claim that his cinematic rendering is historically accurate and it even includes the usual disclaimer at the end that any similarity with  persons living or dead is entirely coincidental. Continue reading
