Original subtitles

Don't worry, it is nothing serious,

don't worry.

Hey, Paisa

Finally...

What hunger...

Paisa... Paisa...

I have walked for three days...

and he fora week...

They bombed a bridge just after we had crossed it...

It's a miracle that we're still alive...

We have lost everything... everything...

our houses are bombed, our family and our relatives are all scattered...

If the Allies don't defeat the Germans

soon the whole of Italy will be in ruin...

Run for cover...

run for cover...

Down... down...

Luigino!

Luigino!

Make room, let us pass!

Mum!

Mum!

Oh, God...

My God...

Oh, God...

- Good afternoon... - Good afternoon...

Did you get anything for me?

Nothing, I don't know what to do anymore...

Everybody comes and buys without coupons...

Are there that many illegals in Rome?

Well, I'd say one out of two...

I don't know what to do anymore...

If they catch me with all those missing rations

I will end up in jail for cheating the people...

Why, you mean to tell me that you aren't doing any black market?

Just a little

to help out my family...

don't think that l have everything in order.

Anyway, I've always helped you as much as I could, haven't I?

Yes, but...

Look, here is something new.

If you dissolve it in vinegar

you get oil...

I can sell this without coupons...

What is it?

I don't know, I've tried it at home...

Chicory tastes like vinegar...

And that honey?

lam still waiting for the man who used to bring it.

Did you read the newspaper this morning?

It says that the Anglo-American airbombing of the roads

prevents the provisioning of Rome...

Apparently

they don't even spare the vehicles of the Vatican any more... so

the little one is able to get becomes more and more expensive...

see. I'll take two packets..

10 Lire.

- Thank you. - You're welcome...

Ah, come in, come in...

You are punctual, good.

always worry

with all those round- ups raids lately.

Did you hear that powerful explosion?

Yes...

It must have been another action of our activists.

Today is the 23rd of March,

the anniversary of the foundation of fascism.

Any news?

Tomorrow Bonomi will hand over

the letter of his resignation

as President of the Committee for the National Liberation to the parties.

Here is my opinion on the situation.

Bonomi's action is very serious.

This is a perfect example of an uncompromising parliamentarian,

expert in the subtle games of the political parties

by which we became the victims of fascism.

No,

I wouldn't say that Bonomi is playing subtle games.

The point is that tolerance

and understanding cannot come from one side only...

The responsibility to avoid ruptures is everybody's,

including you activists.

No one should forget that

all the decisions of the Committee for the National Liberation

must be taken unanimously.

And without tolerance,

rupture and even immobility

is inevitable.

It seems to me that we communists

have always tried to act as mediators between everyone.

We caused the breaking- up of the accord,

still they cannot accuse us of sticking

to the historical responsibility of our party at all costs...

We have to face the historical responsibilities realistically...

Beyond the words the positions are clear.

After twenty years of underground activity the anti-fascist parties

formed the Committee for the National Liberation

to fight the Germans and the Fascists

and to give Italy the democratic liberties violated by fascism.

We made a pact with each other for united action

and we incorporated the armed groups of patriots

from the different parties into the 'volunteers of freedom corps'.

But for the sake of this indispensable unity

is right that everybody should pay a price...

l'm suffocating...

Why?

I'll tell you...

A terrible thing has happened...

The grocer didn't have anything at all.

Then I went towards Via del Tritone to take the bus

to go to that money-lender whose address they gave us,

because without money you don't eat.

Suddenly there was a terrible explosion.

It was just after that German patrol passed by,

the one which goes through Rome every day, singing,

to change the guards in the offices and in via Tasso...

It must have been a bomb...

Today is March 23rd,

the anniversary of the foundation of Fascism.

Then they must have thrown a bomb

at the head-quarters of the Fascist Party at the corner of via Veneto.

Yes, most likely. The explosion was near Piazza Barberini.

That is near here.

Very near by.

What if they search the houses?

I can't stay here.

My presence is a danger to all of you.

I am a deserter, wounded.

Stay where you are...

I must go. I can't stand this any longer.

feel like a dead weight and a danger to all of you.

Carlo, my love, I beg you...

Calm yourself,

you can always hide upstairs, in the garret...

besides, no one can possibly suspect us...

My husband is North,

in the service of the Social Republic...

I am the wife of a republican...

That's why I asked you

to hide him here...

The crisis of the Committee for the National Liberation,

our breaking-up is a real fact

and no one should blame Bonomi because he tries to clarify it...

The old parliamentarianism is dead,

Mussolini killed it

when he took advantage

of the defects of the liberal democracy of the Old ltaly...

It has been a lesson for everybody.

We are the survivors

of an experience which we want never repeat

again.

If the fascists had not murdered your father, Amendola,

he'd be with us today...

After the liberation of Italy new elections will be held

and twenty-five million ltalians will vote,

not seven million as in 1924.

The women will vote,

and people who have seen,

who have suffered...

We must believe in the future.

All right, De Gasperi, Bonomi has his reasons.

You have your reasons.

Let's try to find a solution together.

We know that it's difficult, but we are willing to co-operate.

We must divide the work.

I will try to speak with Bonomi,

but someone has to speak with La Malfa

and with Nenni.

Divided we are only factions.

Everybody must realise

the limitations of the situation:

Italy is destroyed.

The people are disorientated,

they are frightened

by the recent past

and when they remember

the time after World War they become even more frightened.

Certainly. We must keep in mind

that saying and repeating always

"all the power to the Committee for the National Liberation"

against the Badoglio government and against the King,

might remind the middle- class of another slogan:

"All the power to the Soviets",

which

scares them.

It would be disastrous to present ourselves divided to the Allies

after the liberation of Rome.

You have to continuously put fresh bandages on the wound.

It's still full of pus.

They say that the Americans

have discovered a mould which kills all germs.

But who is going to give it to us?

It takes them so long to get here...

In January they seemed so close...

Someone I know saw

their vehicles at the gates of Rome,

but then the Germans stopped them in Anzio.

They say that the Germans sent

all their sentries, cooks

and orderlies who were stationed in Rome down there

and they stopped them.

They fight in a different way,

they try to save the lives of their soldiers as much as possible...

So they bombed us for nothing,

all those hundreds of airplanes and flying fortresses...

you know they even bombed the abbey of Montecassino,

and they haven't advanced a bit...

The other day in via Rasella with that bomb

of the volunteers of freedom

a lot of Germans were killed...

It's time for the radio news.

You're right.

Special announcement:

"The afternoon of March 23rd

criminal elements have exploded a bomb

against a column of German police.

32 men lost their lives.

It was a vile attack by Badog/ian communists.

The German command is determined to put an end

to the activities of these criminals

and has given the order

ten Badog/ian communist criminals

for each assassinated German.

This order

has already been executed".

Two pair of socks,

a piece of soap, not as bad as the last one,

jam

and the shirts.

How is everybody at home?

Fine, fine.

Mother?

Fine, fine.

see.

Take the jam back home,

I will feel much better

if I know that you eat it.

Here's an article for Gonella,

for 'll Popolo'.

This is for Peppino Spataro.

He is to sent it to Bonomi in San Giovanni in Lateran today.

Peppino sent this to me today.

When I was in prison he used to send me a chicken from time to time,

now he sends me the newspapers...

This

is very important,

swallow it

if they arrest you.

I'm hungry enough...

But don't rely on me. If you hear that they have arrested me,

leave this place immediately.

Go away now.

Kiss everybody at home

for me,

Mother,

Lia, Lucia

and Paola.

- Goodbye, miss Romana. - Goodbye, Monsignor.

Bye.

Come in, come in.

Campilli's janitor has just brought

these papers for you...

Don't worry, your Honour,

someone is watching at the front door:

Maria Romana is absolutely safe.

I came to Rome for the first time

for an audience with Pope Leo Xlll,

l was from the mountains.

At that time l was still an Austrian citizen.

n1915

l was the delegate of Trentino

in Vienna,

and I came to visit Sonnino before the Great War broke out...

Then together with Don Sturzo I witnessed

the downfall of Italy,

from the Aventine

as they called it

because we had walked out of the Chamber of Deputees

as a sign of protest against Mussolini.

Later on they put me in prison, in Regina Coeli.

Then,

ten years of silence

and solitude.

But now l have become impatient.

Solitude sometimes

is a happy defence,

but then it turns into a sea of fear.

ln solitude one has the opportunity to communicate with one's soul,

reflect upon God

and on mankind.

However in the long run one realises that man wasn't born for monologue

but for dialogue.

Do you believe that the war will be over soon, your Honour?

The beast is hunted down,

but it is still strong

and the hunters are cautious,

too cautious.

The people have had it,

they have all become...

anti-fascist.

Maybe...

We will see when everybody will have the freedom to choose,

to vote.

Everybody has seen what happened

when the country instead of a democracy had

a 'Strong Government',

an authoritarian regime without parties,

without discussions,

without confrontations of ideas,

without a Parliament.

The consequence was the absolute power of dictatorship,

the War...

I hope that they will remember this.

Many friends in the Vatican consider you

as one of the men of the future,

you and Rodino among others.

I hope that everybody in the Vatican is aware

that I will never exchange isolation and misery

for the applause.

I'd get for renouncing my freedom

as a layman,

For too long the Catholic education

has taught the people to kneel down.

It's about time that people

remember that in the past the Catholic education

taught the people to stand up.

Come in.

Oh!

Good morning.

Good morning.

Spring is in the air, isn't it?

Yes.

Please sit down.

You realise that

in a situation like ours

every division of the political forces is an error...

The bomb-attack in via Rasella has fatally increased

the distances between the parties.

Some argue that these attacks

are counterproductive, they lead to retaliations

in which so many innocent people die.

Is it right to just look and to do nothing?

Nevertheless

the distance between the parties is bound to increase even more

if a man like you

declines to preside over the Committee for the Liberation.

Look.

Have you seen this?

They have printed one newspaper with three headings

as a sign of unity:

'ltalia libera', the 'Unita', and the 'Avanti'.

But what they say is anti- unitarian. Have you read it?

- Yes, l have. - One of them says:

"If the obtuse obstinacy of the King and his government

forces the people to resolve the conflict with violence,

it will be their own fault".

- And listen to this... - Yes, l have read it.

But you have to realise

- that... - l have become increasingly aware

that the leftist parties appeal to the people

to take over the town councils...

they have written so.

They behave as if they are the only political force

which has the moral right

to guide the liberation and the reconstruction of Italy.

They completely ignore

the agreements upon which we were able

to found the Committee for the National Liberation

and the agreements of Bari

between the anti-fascist parties of Liberated ltaly.

But we can't

possibly ignore the left.

Churchill has clearly said

that it is no use to speak about the political situation of Italy

until Rome has been liberated.

He was quite explicit.

Everybody listened,

but no one renounces his own maximalism.

We are men of different convictions, from different generations.

What we have in common is years of suffering under fascism.

And it is logical that each one of us

in his own way

must do his best to be tolerant.

De Gasperi,

you have a very healthy attitude,

but you don't seem aware

that there is a wall

between the leftist parties and you,

and us...

or should I say you deliberately seem to ignore it. Why?

Because that's the only way to tear down that wall.

Think about that.

You may be right.

Yet if conditions do not change

I can't help but draw the conclusion that there definitely is

a wall.

Here you are.

Thank you sor Giuseppe.

We have to print and to set up during the night, Sir, one must be careful.

The copies have to go to the North,

so that they can be reproduced

and distributed in Florence, Milan, Genoa, Turin and in Veneto.

You see...

"The liberation from Fascism still appeared a long time ahead,

and not one party

old or new

has formed itself yet, when the Central Antifascist Committee

decided to call itself 'United Democrats',

'Liberal Democrats',

'Democratic Socialists',

so what else could we be other than 'Christian Democrats'?".

It seems right to me, what do you think of it?

Thus the Italian Popular Party lives again

in the Christian Democratic Party

- and... - excellent. Like this.

We will continue to read the proofs.

Good.

Ehi!

And you?

What are you doing dressed up as a priest?

lt's safer. I am going to the North.

I am waiting for them to finish the printing.

I am taking copies of 'II Popolo' to Milan.

Great.

Give my regards to Malvestiti,

Malavasi, Migliori,

Clerici, Marazza,

to Mentasti...

and to my brother Augusto.

If the front advances we will see each other

SOOH.

God bless you.

l have to go, Sor Giuseppe:

- Good bye. - Thank you Sir.

- Congratulations. - Let's go, Spataro.

Dear Giorgio, l have good news for you.

Togliatti has arrived

in Naples from Russia. He came by boat from Algiers.

lncredible.

He wants you to realise a policy of national unity...

even with Badoglio

to efficiently fight the Germans.

I don't understand,

this is a complete reversal of policy.

And I don't understand why this message was transmitted

by your radio of the PSlUP and not by ours.

I don't understand it either.

Many of us will go along.

Let's keep in touch.

Men like Croce,

Sforza,

Togliatti,

Rodino, Mancini,

representatives of our parties of the south

are side by side in the government

with the King's men

and Badoglio is their president.

We are all compromised.

Because one man

respected by all of us,

has come from Moscow and brought as a plan for a hybrid alliance

between Marxism and capitalism.

No. This is exactly

what we activists

wanted to avoid at all costs!

No, no, no,

we socialists cannot agree

with the decisions of Salerno.

We do not understand

the motives of this complete change in the communist policy

and we want to recommend

an intensification of battle

and a mobilisation of the masses.

Badoglio as president combined

with the investiture of the monarchy,

revive

to an even worse degree

the drama of "Risorgimento"

when the monarchy absorbed all the revolutionary initiative

of the people.

We communists accept

the new party of Togliatti.

The Christian Democrats

as has been written and repeated even by Rodino and lervolino,

have maintained for some time the necessity of the participation

of all the antifascist parties in the government of Badoglio,

until the liberation of Rome.

Therefore we are

in favour

of Togliatti's decision

and support the formation of the new government of the south.

For us this is another contribution

to the internal front on the war for the liberation

and for the reconstruction of Italy.

I want to explain our position to everyone.

Togliatti has provided us with the elements of a new type of evaluation

taken from a wider horizon.

Of course this has confused some of us.

We all recognised though

that if this must be our policy

we have to put it into practice immediately.

Togliatti has written in the 'Unita' of April 2nd:

We must create an ltaly

free, new and democratic

in which

the ways to political and social progress are open to all the people.

And in order to reach this goal we want

all the true

national forces to unite.

We fight

for the unity of our nation redeemed from the disgrace of fascism.

Because we know that this unity

is the best guarantee

for a quick end

to the suffering of our people

and the reconstruction of our whole country.

Certainly, De Gasperi is happy.

And soon Bonomi will be with us again.

However we of the Activist Party

call things by their proper name.

Togliatti's decision is reformism.

The nazi menace,

also directed

against the big imperialist countries,

is causing forces,

which by their nature

as a class

have always chosen reactionary positions,

distinctly anti-popular,

imperialist,

so anti-national,

to join with the popular forces.

However

this we must try

to reconcile.

At last

we can discuss reasonably

how we are to unite our forces.

The liberal party is content.

Now that the positions are more clear,

I want to ask the socialists

and the activists

if they would agree not to

make public their disagreement on the formation of the future government.

No,

impossible.

We can't go beyond saying

that the Committee is in agreement,

that it has regained its unity

in the struggle against fascism.

We are ready.

We must issue a common statement.

We are not afraid

to state our positions clearly

and this will be

even more evident when we will

finally be free to act openly.

Our position is quite clear too.

We want to enable the people to choose a Constituent Assembly,

and to give Italy a new constitution.

Our political program is extremely clear,

that of reconstruction

and democratic co-operation with all the anti-fascist parties.

Where is Ponte Milvio?

Which way to the via Cassia?

They told us to cross Ponte Milvio.

Ponte Milvio, well,

turn to the left, take the Corso Vittorio, Lungotevere

and then straight on.

What's going on?

The Germans have put sentries

at the abutments of the bridges over the Tiber.

What does that mean? Are they going to blow them up?

Do you think they're leaving?

The end is near.

Let's hope that the Anglo-American offensive will be successful.

What will you do?

Everybody wonders whether the people will revolt.

Rome has resisted

and has paid a high enough price already.

The real revolution in Italy will be

when everybody can vote

and men of different ideologies begin

to work together

for reconstruction.

Come.

I think those are those reconnaissance planes called 'swans'.

Yes, they always accompany the Anglo-American

troop-manoeuvres.

Cassino has been completely destroyed;

Gaeta and Terracina are liberated.

ln Valmontone the Fifth Army has joined up

with those who made the bridge-head in Anzio.

The Volunteers for Freedom

have attacked German depots in Liri, Acuto, Fiuggi

and Palestrina.

And in Alatri, in Paliano, in lsola Liri, lrpino and Veroli

they have attacked

German columns.

If the activists attack,

the armed groups of the other parties

will follow us in order not to be left out.

It will be easy to control Rome.

The Directorate of the Communist Party does not agree,

the Allied Command

and the Vatican

are against any armed action

inside Rome.

It's hard to believe that a revolutionary party

can decide not to fight the revolution.

Comrades, it's the Directorate's bulletin.

They tell to stay on the alert.

What is it?

The Directorate tells the activists to stay on the alert

because if the situation requires it

the signal for intervention will be given.

- Who is it? - It's me, Laura.

We were worried about you.

lt's past seven o' clock and the curfew is at seven.

I had to queue for water at the fountain of Piazza di Spagna.

The whole quarter has no water.

I got into a fight over those two bottles.

They only wanted to give me one.

I got what I wanted though.

Good.

- Have you seen anything? - Nothing.

Nothing?

Only people standing in line for water.

Close the shutters.

Didn't you see any Germans, any soldiers?

Nothing at all...

Radio London

has announced the offensive for the liberation of Rome.

But nobody has noticed anything.

Arturo, coming from Santo Spirito,

has seen two Germans with machine-guns

on both sides of the bridge.

Yes, they've been watching the bridges since yesterday.

With all these telephones out of order

we can't find out what is going on in the various quarters of the city.

Giovanni Mormino

told me this morning that his telephone worked.

So he called all the numbers he knows

and only one friend answered,

the one who lives on Medaglie d'Oro.

Well?

Nothing, I already said so,

Giovanni asked him: How are you?

What's happening?

The friend answered: what is supposed to happen?

Giovanni didn't want to say

that he wanted to know whether he had seen anything,

retreating Germans,

but the other didn't understand or pretended not to understand,

he didn't say anything that referred

to what is on everybody's mind these last three days:

are the Germans leaving?

If they go, they go.

Have you read the newspaper this morning?

- Yes. - Well,

there is a long article about the manoeuvre of General Kesserling.

He has attacked the Anglo- American army in Anzio,

in Valmontone.

Let them talk,

we know that they are always lying.

But there is a special mood in the city,

very different.

Something is going on.

You hardly see any Germans.

This is the voice of Free Italy speaking,

this is Radio Bari.

Attention.

We are transmitting two special messages:

"My beard is blond",

I repeat:

"My beard is blond".

"The cat calls us".

I repeat,

"The cat calls us".

The Anglo-American offensive

continues non stop.

Heavy fighting rages in the region north of Valmontone

between the Albani Hills and the Apennines.

Allied pressure,

backed up by armoured divisions,

now seems to be turning towards Rome to speed up its liberation.

The nazi-command

has intensified the raids of men and materials

and has further diminished their already reduced food rations.

March 27th

Eugenio Colorni,

chief editor of the 'Avanti' of Rome,

has been murdered by the assassins of Koch.

The patriots Bruno Buozzi, Alfio Brandimarte,

Luigi Caste/lani are still kept prisoner

in the notorious prison of via Tasso...

The telephone is out of order, it's dead.

Carlo, go back in there,

don't leave our guests by themselves.

Laura, calm down,

don't cry.

Whatever may happen, we will help you.

We will never forget what you have done for us.

Maybe I should have gone North,

to join my husband.

Maybe, but you didn't want to.

No, I didn't.

I suffered so much

because of that girlfriend of his with the black coat...

Shh, don't think about it.

Yes, maybe you're right.

Antonio has brought some salami,

but I think it's spoiled.

Lucia has brought honey,

and Beppe bread,

better than that bread of the coupons,

and salt...

we haven't eaten any salt for a month.

Nearly everybody has brought chicory.

We can make a dressing with those packets.

We have no choice,

we can't cook, no gas...

What are you doing?

We're trying to decide what to prepare for our guests.

Hmm, nice bread...

can I have a piece?

Keep your hands off!

It's the only decent thing we can offer our guests.

- Let's wash the chicory. - All right.

Knight.

Knight.

Four ...and three sevens.

Damn it.

- King. - Five.

Here you go. All ours.

Wait, let's count.

You can take these articles as starting points.

The diamonds are ours.

- Yes, all yours. - Beppe, turn off the light.

No, nothing.

Leave it open, I'm dying from the heat.

Ah, come on, let's play another game.

All right... turn on the light.

Who deals?

I do.

Did you shuffle?

Here you are. Cut.

Where did we leave off?

- How are your cards? - Excellent.

Good cards, huh?

This nightmare never ends.

I never saved any money.

l was rejected from military service,

right nowl can manage

with Papal Welfare,

but I don't know

howl will make a living.

I don't know what to do either.

Can I go back to the university,

after four years in the army?

After all I've been through?

I will start working at the newspaper.

Everything is ready,

it will come out after the liberation.

Which newspaper, what is it called?

It's the Activist Newspaper,

- it's called 'Free ltaly'. - Beppe, the lights.

What are those?

Soldiers!

Which soldiers?

The American star!

Let's go! Come on, let's go!

- Let's go out to meet them! - Hurry up!

But that's Badoglio!

Yes, he is.

For all that you represent

l have come here as soon

as Rome was liberated.

The Government of free ltaly thanks

the Central Committee for the National Liberation

and asks for its collaboration.

The situation that existed before

the liberation of Rome

need not exist any longer.

Only the Committees

for the Liberation,

that is the National Committee,

Sir,

has the constitutional right to direct

ltaly's liberation from fascism

and to rebuild the state of Italy

on a new basis.

Therefore

on behalf of all the anti-fascist parties

I declare

that the Committee for the National Liberation

is willing

to participate in a government

presided over by a man

of a solid democratic tradition.

And

from all the parties

the man chosen for this

is lvanoe Bonomi.

Therefore Sir, we invite you

to accept

all the consequences

of our statement

and to inform Lieutenant

Umberto di Savoia

of our decision.

The situation is clear.

Gentlemen,

must do what in all conscience

he believes is for the good of Italy.

I will go and inform the Quirinale.

You will be the first president of a democratic government

after Fascism.

After twenty years.

Everything's ok.

Eisenhower took two days to land in France.

Pierced the German lines, and here we are finally in Rome.

For me it's the first time.

It's a marvellous city.

Bonomi's government

has an immense task to do.

Don't forget that Rome

is like an island.

In the rest of the country vast areas are completely destroyed,

we have to rebuild

and to revive the faith of a disheartened people...

A million ltalians

are prisoners of war,

we need them,

we need everybody for our rebirth.

And above all

we need

to be united.

Therefore the parties

must wait with the problems that divide them now.

For this we agree

to consult the people,

that is a Constituent Assembly,

about the problem which regard the future constitution of the State.

As head of the party

I confirm

without any difficulty

what has been said by Togliatti, "to respect tomorrow what will

be the will of the people of Italy".

These days people easily proclaim:

"Long live the Republic",

because this essentially means "Long live the freedom".

But what do they want, a social republic,

a socialist republic,

a communist republic

or a democratic republic?

The communist system

has been and economically speaking continues to be

in a process of continuous transformation,

and therefore cannot be indicated as a final form,

it entails errors,

adaptation,

destruction and reconstruction.

The constant factor

in all these transformations though

is the excessive coercion,

the excessive intervention of the State and the police:

whenever dictatorship

finds resistance

it becomes violent and bloody.

The communist ideal

requires either a great sense of morality

or strict coercion.

A totalitarian state

is the enemy of freedom...

for the rights of the state

are always considered supreme rights, about all the other rights.

While the truth is that

man comes before the State.

I say this to colleague Togliatti:

we have appreciated your statements,

respecting the Catholicism of the majority of the Italians.

We accept with pleasure

the mutual tolerance,

the civil living-together you propose.

Confronted with the past this marks

remarkable progress,

which will enable us to meet more often along the difficult path

to salvation for the people of Italy.

There is

another proletarian,

an lsraelite

like Marx,

who founded the Internationale

based on equality and universal fraternity 2000 years ago,

who inspired nameless heroism

and sacrifices.

He finally sacrificed himself.

Hasn't

each one of you met this proletarian,

Christ,

during these horrible days

we have lived through,

so full of pain

and tragedy,

in hiding-places,

in trenches, in prison, in the darkness of the catacombs?

He is

the Redeemer.

Special edition!

The North has been liberated!

The Germans are defeated!

Italy is free!

Special edition!

The North is liberated!

The Germans are defeated!

Italy is free!

Special edition!

Special edition!

The Germans are defeated!

Special edition!

The Allied troops enter Milan!

Germany has been defeated!

Germany has been defeated!

Look...

The corpses of Mussolini and his mistress on display in Piazzale Loreto.

Together with the corpses of other fascist leaders.

My God, it's horrible...

Let me read:

Photographs taken on the arrival of the Allies

in the extermination camps

of Dachau, Buchenwald

and Auschwitz.

Please sit down gentlemen.

Let's begin.

We thank you

for coming to Milan.

Only by coming here, can you understand what is needed

to rebuild ltaly.

Morandini, Pertini, Valiani, Sereni, Marazza,

Arpesani

clashed with Bonomi

and with each one of you in Rome

because they have lived

through things you cannot imagine.

You must realise that there has been violent fighting in the North.

The cities rebelled,

there has been violent fighting everywhere,

there are many casualties.

The Committee for the National Liberation

unanimously agreed in Rome that the liberation of the North

creates the necessity of a new government

and that the new president must be chosen from among the men

of the popular forces

which have participated in the partisan fighting

in our regions.

And we are happy about this.

But the consultations over the choice of this new president

are lasting too long.

Carrandini's name has been mentioned among others.

All very competent people.

But we need a candidate who satisfies everybody,

the candidate must be one of the undisputed leaders

of the anti-fascist movement.

Therefore we socialists

propose Pietro Nenni as our candidate.

We communists are also

for comrade Nenni.

And as minister of the Interior?

Who's for minister of the Interior?

With Nenni as president

we liberals want very precise guarantees.

We shouldn't discuss hypothetical ministers

until we have reached agreement

on the nomination of Nenni.

That is right.

But our side does not approve

of Nenni.

Not?

Why?

Have you doubt about comrade Nenni?

Not about him personally.

But the choice of Nenni

would alarm London and Washington.

And inside the country it would cause

suspicion and fear.

Don't forget that two days ago in Milan

the communist and socialist directorates

made a pact of united action

which has shocked all of Italy.

And many people were upset

when the communist party appealed to the workers of Trieste

to welcome

Tito's troupes as liberators...

The candidature of Nenni will be enthusiastically received

both by the Sicilian workers as by the labourers of the North.

You socialists should remember

that in the North just as in the South

the popular classes are not only communist or socialist

but also catholic.

That the popular forces of the Christian Democrats

also helped to liberate the North.

And that they are the only popular force which can guarantee

democracy,

national reconciliation

and the confidence of the Allies.

Therefore the Christian Democrats propose Alcide De Gasperi

as candidate.

Even this proposal runs the risk

of breaking-up anti-fascist unity.

Unity is sought for every day, with patience,

this way it becomes real

and concrete.

The Christian Democrats block the situation.

Every peremptory nomination

blocks the situation.

It is evident

that we must reach an accord.

Lucky Strike!

Miss!

Lucky Strike!

Miss!

Chesterfield!

Listen...

Singles and packets!

I've got 400 thousand units of penicillin.

Are you interested?

No, thank you, thank God I don't need it any more.

I keep a supply of it,

you never know...

it's getting harder to find all the time...

- How much? - Well...

Prices are becoming incredibly high!

You don't know the difficulty of finding stuff,

as I told you it's getting more difficult all the time.

Well, from the Americans you can get some things,

it seems that in the Naples port it's easy to deal.

Of course there are possibilities,

but you know miss,

one wants some reward

for the risk.

Look, this interest you?

Pure wool military blankets...

No, thanks.

Some people make excellent coats out of them.

No, maybe next time... but give me two phials of penicillin.

With all those massacres and deportations

the Nazis have depopulated our whole country...

- So many missing people... - And Europe.

But now the Germans have paid for it.

Hitler is finally dead,

he committed suicide in his bunker in Berlin

like a scorpion caught in a circle of fire.

He got the end he deserved.

Killed 6 million Jews before that though...

my God.

A gin and tonic

with a slice of lemon please...

The atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima

got Japan on its knees,

who knows how long the war in the land of the kamikaze

would have lasted

if they hadn't dropped that bomb?

Finally we have peace.

Hitler with his big mouth threatening

to use his secret weapons

ended up surrounded by the Russians

in the Chancellory of Berlin, with no way to escape,

and poisoned himself.

The others had

the secret weapons.

Peace at last...

Yes,

the peace of a cemetery.

In Europe alone

more than 50 million dead.

Now life will begin again.

A cappuccino please,

with some cold milk on the side.

You remember how it went?

Blitzkrieg, and the invasion of Poland,

France,

Norway, etc. etc. ,

V one and V two. And then:

the Russian Campaign,

the defeat in Africa,

Stalingrad,

the Americans land in Sicily and Normandy,

Mussolini flees and is killed in Dongo,

and Piazzale Loreto.

Then the end;

Hitler dead,

Berlin and Germany destroyed.

Six million Jews burned in the ovens of the concentration camps.

But now with the atomic bomb

things like this will not be repeated.

Your optimism drives me crazy. You don't know how to think,

you only use your head for your hat.

What do you use your brain for anyway?

Shut up. How about you?

When the Germans invaded Poland

you were destroyed,

desperate,

you had lost all hope.

But I didn't.

always believed that the Nazis would be defeated.

always knew that if God doesn't settle things on Saturday,

he will settle them on Sunday.

So what...

Mine were crisis of melancholy,

not discouragement.

I know how to think.

The atomic bomb

will keep everything under control from now on.

What does common sense tell you?

Don't you know that supreme power of one

leaves no room for the arguments of others?

Don't you know that "reason is of no avail against brutal force"?

Or, as La Fontaine says:

"The strongest is always right".

"Violentia praecedit jus".

A new era in history has begun,

what must we go through now?

The English are different from us.

They are democrats.

English democracy has brought civilisation into the world

and now

they are going to give independence to their colonies.

One can tell that you're an Anglophile

by the way you carry your umbrella.

When I was in Mauthausen...

Ooh, you and your Mauthausen.

Sure, sure. But now you've got fat,

you don't need to worry anymore.

What I want to say is that in Mauthausen

l have understood that we will always be victims,

we talk and talk

but why?

To hide our incompetence,

and what can we incompetents do against political ways,

against politicians, against the professional leaders?

Well, we can do something.

Hi.

Hello.

Say, Pivallini, any news?

- Hello. - The government of Parri is falling.

The socialists and the communists wanted Nenni for premier,

and the Christian Democrats wanted De Gasperi.

So between these litigating parties...

But Parri was the commander in chief of the partisans in Northern Italy...

He doesn't command government.

Nenni, Togliatti and De Gasperi

are the real bosses.

But the President of the Council is always the head of the Government,

of the executive.

You are too young to understand.

Everyone and no one commands.

They scheme.

Just like twenty years ago.

It's true.

Strikes, consultations,

countless discussions,

and misery.

ltaly hasn't changed

and it will never change.

I believe something has changed,

the consciousness of the people.

Many of them fought the war and many suffered for freedom,

they have never pursued this kind of abstract politics only consisting of words.

Calm down, kid.

Who will live, will know.

- The passion of youth... - That's right...

It's a dirty trick to make him resign after six months.

Right, this crisis is serious

and it is obvious that

the government is incapable of controlling the country.

The politically appointed prefects

are incapable of establishing order in the provinces.

Without the Allies there would be chaos in Italy.

The government has no way to exercise any real power.

We have come from Milan to see for ourselves what is going on.

No one will ever tolerate

a swing to the right.

Not after we fought against fascism,

the Allies have to leave,

we don't need them to watch over us.

But unfortunately the situation is as it is:

we are a country that has been defeated.

After the resignation of the Government of the Liberal Party

this is my position:

As you know,

the main points of criticism against the liberal Party

concern the freedom of the press,

the freedom of work,

administration of justice,

the purge,

the government policy regarding Venezia Giulia,

the government policy regarding

the Committee for the National Liberation.

The Liberal Party however blames the crisis on me.

They are convinced that l,

as President of the Council,

won't guarantee

or safeguard

the impartiality of the mediating and arbitrating function

of the President.

I leave personal compliments out of consideration and state:

we are open to everything

except the path of fascism.

However at this moment

the prospects which can be seen in this crisis

are the same as in 1921 and 1922.

We can call

this present situation pre-fascism,

as preparation for a new fascism.

It seems incredible,

yet this is the way it is.

Liberal friends

and you gentlemen who support the right...

I speak these words

not as blackmail

but as a warning.

And I am not the one who has to justify himself

as a part,

a large part of the public

insists and demands to retain

for the sake of the public good the government

at any rate.

I don't want coups d'Etats,

maybe the liberal Party intends a take-over;

it disrupts a fragile

balance

in such a difficult moment.

Maybe the Christian Democrats intend a take-over:

they pretend that

if one of the parties withdraws

the others should not be allowed

to save the continuity of the government.

At this moment

we are not confronted with a small administrative crisis,

but with a very serious political crisis

and we need

positions clear and responsible

for ltaly's sake. Thank you.

- Mister President... - As representative

of a party with a large basis in the Italian population

and as Minister of Foreign Affairs

I am worried.

The President

has given a reply to the criticisms directed against him,

as he is entitled to,

however I am worried

that the representatives of the foreign press

might attach a significance to his statements

which goes beyond

their purpose.

The Christian Democrats are not overthrowing the government,

neither do they intend to.

Nobody in Italy is preparing a coup d'Etat.

The words of the President

are only polemic rhetoric.

Polemic indeed. Goodbye gentlemen.

How are you going to resolve the crisis?

Right now

we are in a period of transition,

difficult for foreign countries to understand.

We are bound by a pact

which imposes an absolute balance between the parties.

We must accept the consequences

of the Liberal Party's resignation and find a new formula.

We cannot exclude them,

this would betray the pact between the anti-fascist parties

which remains valid until the new elections we have prepared.

By those

we will introduce a new system, fully democratic

with a majority and a minority.

This is how ltaly can defend

the fundamental principle of political freedom.

They feel like shouting...

12 million votes for the republic and 10 million for the Monarchy.

I never imagined a 2 million vote difference.

Do you hear that?

The monarchists claim

that the majority was gained by fraud...

We can't tolerate this situation of waiting any longer.

The public order of the country is in danger.

We are prepared for everything.

There are dangerous rumours,

without cause they speak of fraud.

Many haven't understood that the King

waits only as a formality

and that nothing

can change the result of the vote.

The statements of general lnfante was awkward,

to say the least.

His proposal for a new referendum

has stirred everybody,

especially the republican voters,

and with such ease that they begin

to speak of a monarchist take-over.

This absurd situation must end.

The people are beginning to believe the ridiculous suspicion

that the election results were manipulated.

Benedetti, the President of the Monarchist Union,

has asked Admiral Stone if the Allies authorities

would immediately investigate

the complaints made by the voters,

thus suggesting fraud.

Fortunately Commander Stone has declared

that it's not the role of the Allies

to interfere in the Italian electoral process

as it is established by law.

The only thing to do is

for the President oft he Council 'ope legis'

to assume the powers of the Head of State

as provided by the Constitution.

If the King hesitates we must refuse his delegation.

What sense would it make

accepting a few appointments

of a monarch who is no longer king?

I am with Togliatti,

even though I greatly appreciate

the tact and the wisdom of President De Gasperi,

who has directed things so far

and who has tried to avoid the tensions that are increasing.

Nenni,

the results of the Referendum can't be changed.

In the Constituent Assembly the republican parties have obtained

an overwhelming amount of votes

compared to the Monarchist party.

Before the referendum

the Christian Democrats consulted

the registered members of the party

and more than 70% of the over a million members

declared themselves for the republic. We don't want

this situation

to cause

a dramatic

break-up.

can easily

make another attempt

with the King

if you give me your confidence.

One more night

and one more day... if it serves the unity of the country

I believe

we should wait.

Agreed, agreed.

Are we all agreed?

Minister Lucifero,

tell the king that he can no longer

postpone his decision...

Today the King seemed convinced.

It is now 11 pm.

and by my request

you tell me that it's impossible to reach an agreement.

I deeply regret this course of action

which causes me great embarrassment before the Council of Ministers,

summoned three times waiting for an answer

and three times disappointed.

Listen, Lucifero, don't avoid me,

tell me clearly

whether the king will delegate his powers or not.

All right,

if that's how it is, the Council of Ministers will take the decision.

Sir,

by your words see

vague allusions to the use of violence.

Well, in that case either I will come and see you in Regina Coeli,

or you will have to come and see me.

Listen,

l have to confess something.

I voted for the monarchy.

You were the only one in the family.

They are doing everything to make him leave in a bad way...

Yet he appeared such a sensible man...

He is the heir of a dynasty allied with dictatorship.

He has tried to go against the tide, being patient,

but in the end the defeat of the referendum

has defeated him.

When will he leave ltaly?

As soon as possible, I hope.

We need some calm.

The transition from monarchy to the republic

has proceeded quite smoothly.

These past six months

should have been easier,

instead everything has become more difficult.

We have had difficult tests

with our liberators

who are now our allies:

we went to the peace- conference in Paris

and in a tough and hostile climate

we made our requests,

we obtained the sympathy of the United States

and the respect of all...

you have completed a great task

and many are grateful to you.

We have reached an honourable agreement

over Alto Adige with the Austrian government,

we are negotiating with dignity

with Yugoslavia on the situation of Trieste.

We have obtained from the Americans

grain to feed our people

and aid for our industries.

Now we need calm in the interior

for the reconstruction of our economy,

to obtain the confidence and loans from foreign countries.

And instead division and violence

are on the rise.

ln Emilia alone

there have been 44 murders.

The people are in a bad way.

The farm workers

are starving.

I know,

I know.

We work to give bread to those who have nothing to eat,

to create a future,

but now the political climate is becoming absurd.

- Yes, the situation is serious. - Everyone

must assume his own part of the responsibility.

I don't want to be a Facta, or a Kerenski,

and not a Dolfuss either, I hope.

Now you are exaggerating.

Absolutely not.

see a situation arising which can destroy us all.

You know that some parties

still maintain their organisation

and communication system from the time of the resistance

in the state of efficiency.

Why don't they demobilize,

why?

Nenni and Togliatti have clearly spoken of the legal aspects.

And l as Minister of the Interior

have given explicit instructions to the police.

What is said does not count

as much as what is done.

Why don't they find the hidden weapons?

The tension rises everywhere.

One tries to do everything

to diffuse the notion within the country

that this government is unable to handle the situation.

Why?

It's impossible to believe

that all of this is accidental.

We cannot think about a crisis right now,

that would be ridiculous.

Now...

But when will be the right moment?

lt's evident that Nenni and Togliatti collaborate inside the Government,

but outside they act differently.

Party politics makes specific demands.

However the respect for democracy will never diminish.

You'll see,

time will prove me right.

Of course...

time.

And what if time proves me wrong?

I remember too well

the time after World War 1st...

At that time

the parties didn't have the masses behind them,

like they do now.

I don't like it when people use the word "masses"

instead of "conscious people"...

At that time too the critical phase began

when the police became frightened.

At that time you had those squads

of those "fascist's people", who arrested people

and replaced public institutions.

Maybe that will happen again.

So

what do you propose to do?

I will never abandon

the line of democratic collaboration

between the anti- fascist parties...

unless I and the party

are forced by others

to do so.

Actually the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

said that Nenni doesn't agree

with the foreign policy of the President of the Council...

It's a warning.

lf De Gasperi gets the message and steps back, well then, all right...

Or else it will be break-up. A struggle.

That would be very serious.

Nenni and the leftist parties do not want a break-up,

they want De Gasperi to step back.

That's absurd. They are dealing with the problem of economic survival,

the industrial development of the country.

Italy has to make a choice.

The country has already made its choice.

De Gasperi's trip to the United States is a choice in itself.

And if Nenni thinks that he can stop him, he is wrong.

Nenni and Togliatti have the masses on their side.

The masses?

The people in the street.

The socialists and the communists

will try to prevent at all costs the choice of the Atlantic.

They are running a great risk.

At one side Stalin,

on the other side prosperous America,

the myths of our emigrants.

On this point De Gasperi can't possibly contradict the Left.

You know that Pier Capponi answered:

if you will blow your horns we will sound our bells...

and De Gasperi has a lot of bells.

Nobody has said in today's meeting

that the communists have to leave the government.

We have to make a decision, we can't go on like this.

Yes, but...

Togliatti made the Constituent vote on article 7

as a tactical move,

and the Concordat between the Vatican and Italy

remains in force.

Lelio Basso

has put his cards on the table.

He has taken control of the socialist party

and now

seeks unification with the communists.

lvan Matteo Lombardo, Romita, Matteotti...

won't all follow the same line.

Yes, but Basso is the strongest,

besides, Basso's line is practically the same as Nenni's in 1945,

in his speech

about one party for all the workers.

You can never tell.

Saragat too had declared his faith to the pact

for united action with the communists

before the workers of the FIAT

and then, he understood and changed.

Nenni and his followers

haven't learned a thing

from the split at Palazzo Barberini.

The reality is that Togliatti and the others

came to liberate ltaly

without an economical doctrine which was a realistic alternative

to the capitalistic

industrial organisation,

their only alternative was

the Soviet labour-planning.

In other words, capitalism in reverse.

Yes, but we can't apply theories.

Facts, facts.

And the facts are unfortunately that there is hunger,

unemployment,

complete lack of prime materials,

the resurgence of industry is very slow

and the Workers' Confederation is involved with political action

instead of trade-union activities.

Gentlemen, the session is resuming.

Would you like to reenter, please?

It's time to make decisions.

Mister President, we too must refuse maximalism.

We have to leave some opening for collaboration with the left.

I agree...

we have to decide though:

either we are the ones who govern

or we call the Workers' Confederation to govern.

We have to make a choice.

Unfortunately not all the ministers of the present government

are willing to obey the logic

of the democratic legitimacy of the state.

Their expulsion

will have very serious historical consequences.

You are right.

But we must make history

without worrying about what it will say about us.

The most correct way

to make history

is to faithfully act according to our conscience.

It's not that we refuse

to collaborate with the left, no,

they don't want to understand that without the Christian civilisation

the problems of the Italian civilisation can't be solved.

We blame the Marxists,

because the maximum effort of tolerance

from their side

consists

of the acceptance of our presence besides them

while they refuse however to acknowledge our opinions

as if these opinions were not the necessary premises

for the salvation of the country.

I am quite aware of what they say about me:

that l initiated the reconstruction

of capitalism

under the pretext of national reconstruction.

But they leave me no choice.

These are very difficult

months.

The Government is torn,

man and parties

haven't understood what is reality,

this is tragic.

In the beginning of the year

there was the division in the socialist Party.

It was a righteous deed of Giuseppe Saragat.

While they called us to sign the painful

and heavy peace treaty in Paris,

the resignation of the socialists caused a crisis

and February a new Government was formed, without them.

It lasted only a hundred days.

The country groans,

the controlled

unions

are hardly realistic.

The morning of June 13th,

while I was about to inform the Constituent Assembly

about the strictly necessary economical

emergency measures

to be taken,

the 'Unita' published an editorial

which specified

that my statements were only my personal opinions.

At that moment I understood that the time had come for a radical change.

ln Parliament read the letter

of the resignation of the Government,

instead of the financial measures

my fellow ministers had already rejected

from the start.

Now Nitti is trying

to find a new solution,

but nothing can be done without this radical change

and this change depends on us.

We will not avoid

the responsibility we owe the country

to guarantee democracy for all,

the moral and material reconstruction of Italy,

the completion of the work of the Constituent Assembly

and new elections

as called for by the new Constitution.

Let's go back in.

The Italian Socialist Party

and the Communist Party

- the parties of the workers -

have united in the Popular Front

to save Italy from capitalism.

Vote for the Popular Front.

Vote for Garibaldi.

The Italian Socialist Party...

...the Popular Front in Czechoslovakia

brought to power the dictatorship of the Communist Party.

And the same has happened in Bulgaria,

the Popular Front

is the disguise with which the Communist Party

prepares coup d'Etat...

...vote for Garibaldi.

The Italian Socialist Party

and the Communist Party

- the parties of the workers -

have united in the Popular Front

to save Italy from capitalism.

Clever those Christian Democrats.

Why?

Look, if you turn around the head of Garibaldi

on that pamphlet for the Popular Front,

it becomes the head of Stalin.

You're right, funny, isn't it...

...vote for Garibaldi.

The Italian Socialist Party

and the Communist Party

- the parties of the workers -

have united in the Popular Front

to save Italy from capitalism.

Vote for the Popular Front.

Ok, stop here.

Let's glue.

Put another one here.

Senate 409 - has voted.

Chamber 408 - has voted.

Here is your identification card.

Next three please.

Next three.

Documents.

Verducchi Mariano.

Verducchi.

Senate and Chamber.

Cabin l.

This way

please.

Mister De Gasperi, you have won a great victory,

55% of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies,

and 54% of the seats in the Senate.

Will you govern by yourselves from now on?

This great victory

is not mine.

The people have chosen,

the people have won.

The Christian Democrats have offered the Italian

guarantees of freedom for everybody,

also for the opposition,

and will continue to offer these guarantees.

We will not govern by ourselves,

we will maintain the coalition

which presented itself to the voters April 18th,

without substantial modifications:

the Social Democratic Party,

the Liberal Party and the Republican Party

will participate in the Government.

Mister President,

what will be the position of the new Government

towards the Communist Party

now that you can count on the support of a majority of 65% of the votes

in a country which has given proof of a solid catholic discipline?

The defeat of the Popular Front

doesn't imply the defeat of the workers.

They can find a total guarantee of their interests

in the unions and the parties.

Our victory is not

a victory of reaction,

but a victory of the democratic method.

We will never betray

our democratic principles.

Perhaps some Catholics in Italy

still remain fenced in

as they have been for the past fifty years,

but not us.

And this

catholic group

which has raised its voice,

even these past days,

is the result

separation of Catholicism and the State,

which I hope, will disappear.

The leftist parties have announced

strong opposition to your foreign policy within the next few days,

mister De Gasperi.

They accuse you of driving ltaly into the arms of the United States,

the Atlantic block

against the popular democracies

and the Soviet Union.

We will not change our policy.

Twice

the United States has come with their armies,

called by the Europeans

to defend the freedom and the democracy

of Europe.

The time has come to be realistic about this,

that if the United States and an united Europe

establish an efficient collaboration in time of peace,

the threat of a new war in the future will be averted.

Then you will see

that within twenty years the blocks will meet.

Through Europe the United States and the Soviet Union

will find

a stable balance.

What will you do, mister De Gasperi,

if the Left will mobilise the people?

We won't be frightened,

the confrontation between our way of thinking and that of the opposition

will make us stronger.

Mister De Gasperi, Europe is not only Schuman and Adenauer -

will a politically unified Europe

destroy the individuality of the nations

and their historical role?

World politics

is determined by situations which are greater and stronger than we are.

We must know how to choose.

If we can give strength to the reality of Europe,

we will be working for a world of peace.

The cycle of the fratricidal wars, which to Europe has always been

civil war,

has come to an end.

Now it is time for collaboration,

for the realisation of an unified Europe, not by means of violence

but by the free will of the people.

This is what Schuman has said to the French,

and Adenauer to the Germans.

We will work for this,

what our minister of Foreign Affairs Sforza

has been striving for with such dedication.

The only way to freedom

is the development of our future.

Special edition!

Assassination attempt of Togliatti!

Special edition!

Assassination attempt of Palmiro Togliatti!

Special edition!

Attempt of Palmiro Togliatti!

Special edition!

Assassination attempt of Togliatti!

Special edition!

Mister President...

I am deeply grieved.

How is he?

It's very serious.

Florence.

The attempt to kill Togliatti has made the workers agitate...

...dockyards and factories occupied...

...after the attempt to kill Togliatti the workers...

...violence against the police...

The party is prepared for everything.

For the elections of April 18th

we were prepared to resist a possible coup d'Etat

and the banning of the party.

The emotions of the working- class are running high.

We must control the base

and keep the party within legal limits.

Yes, except if he dies...

No,

even if he dies, I believe an uprising

would be wrong, whatever the result of the surgery.

Much will depend on the positions of the unions.

Let's hope for the bests,

let's hope most of all

that Togliatti will live.

Now don't tell me that

this uprising wasn't all planned in advance:

Turin paralysed,

the shops all closed,

most of the factories like those occupied

in Milan,

in Genoa squads of workers

have taken prisoner policemen...

the Catholic Unions

have been forced to leave the Workers' Confederation,

- in Bari... - What plan for an uprising?

Di Vittorio, the founder of the unions, was explicit:

No illegal actions allowed.

Only decisive action from the government

can save the country from chaos,

we need harmony

and co-operation

for the reconstruction.

"Dulcia non novit, qui non gustavit amara".

Not just you,

we too suffered,

we know

how to value the sweetness of reconstruction.

Excellency, welcome among us.

- Welcome to Matera, your Excellency. - Please follow me.

I'm sorry, it isn't easy, it's a bit of a climb.

You know you Excellency, everything here is rough.

Look how we live. We have nothing at all.

We've no sewage,

no running water,

we have unemployment,

all the essential services lack,

we've got nothing,

look, do you see that?

You will see over there...

From Palaeolithical times, since Prehistorical times

human life has flown here in a continuous stream...

This land is very ancient.

Fertile soil is far away,

at least four hours by donkey.

Each Monday the farmers

load their families and their chickens

and their provisions on their little cart and leave for the fields.

They live there in shacks

and come back here on Saturday,

because these holes here are still home for them.

Your Excellency, welcome.

Welcome.

Welcome, your Excellency.

You see how we live.

Tell them about us back there in Rome.

You know, they call you the President of the South

for all that you have done for us.

In these caves, that we call 'sassi',

the holy monks found shelter from the barbarians,

they decorated the rocks with beautiful frescoes.

Now entire families are still living there.

Misery.

Misery, mister President.

Be careful.

Eureka, eureka,

the President of the Council has come to Matera.

To this land so full of glory and riches, so powerful,

so wonderful in the time of the Magna Grecia...

Citizens,

he has come to us

and in our hearts

arises the hope to see again our land

great and glorious.

Alcide,

Pythagoras dwell here from Metaponto,

Zeusi of Heraclea.

Friends,

dear friends. l have come here

to meet you

and to understand your needs.

Statistics give figures

but these dry

figures

apply to living people.

That's why I have come to meet you people.

You see, with the Agrarian Reform

we try to accomplish an act of

- immediate distributive justice. - To win votes!

an act

of justice necessary for humanist and Christian reasons,

maybe is also useful in a political sense,

though in politics

one should

never overrate the gratitude of the people.

The Agrarian Reform,

the Cassa del Mezzogiorno,

the reform of the schools

and Regional Planning

will not resolve the economical problem of the South.

This has to be accomplished within a vast economical structure

while keeping the future in mind.

Right now we do as much as we can,

but we have to be careful

not to interchange economy with demagogy.

We must never forget that there is much to be done

and very

little time.

Mister President, do you think that it would be moral

- if politics... - Morality

that is valid for private relations

should be valid also for the relations with the public.

Yes, but one needs to have

confidence in politicians

who can achieve social justice

by strictly following

certain ideologies.

Social justice can not be achieved

unless everyone personally becomes

just.

You are fighting the leftist parties to...

Let's be clear about this:

if 'the Left' stands for broadmindedness towards social progress,

for justice for the workers,

in that case we basically are leftist.

It's just that we don't want to deceive ourselves

by adopting a materialistic totalitarism

which works for social justice only

with legislative measures

concerning more equal distribution of wealth.

lt's moral consciousness

which in the end decides even social relations.

Zanardelli, Nitti, they all came.

They were all moved.

They all promised, and nothing's ever happened.

This one also speaks well, but then?

They've no courage.

And now they've lost their sense of decency.

They went to the parishes in Rome to explain

because it's weak against the communists.

Where are the newspapers?

They're there, look, over there.

Ah, yes.

They don't understand that only by governing every day

with stability and strength

without ever taking anything from the citizens freedom,

putting together different inclinations and interests;

only in this way can you reconstruct, restore

and pacify a nation which has suffered like ours.

They invent...

they invent imaginary dangers

to give substance to a political scheme which would bring about

a new regime in Italy.

But fascism will always be fascism.

What will the party do?

In the Party some listen and some fan the flame.

Do they realise the consequences

of this action with the 'missini' for the government and for the country?

Certainly the majority does not support them.

If they want to force me to follow their line, it will break my heart,

but I will not bow my head.

Can't you stop them?

The Committees of Citizens

have asked the CD. to appeal to all the parties from the right

to form a block against the socialist-communists.

And to be protected from all sides

they have asked the party to use Don Sturzo as a mediator.

His signature is a guarantee of anti-fascism.

Don Sturzo has accepted,

but he demands that the Monarchist Party and the Missini's party

put down their intentions in writing.

In this way he has gained time.

The Civil Committees are complaining and fear

the temporary solutions of Don Sturzo.

Today

they have declared that

they will withdraw their 15 candidates from the Christian Democrat ticket

and will present their own list

if the operation doesn't work out.

This is blackmail.

Today in Parliament there was the feeling of crisis.

Many have asked me what you are going to do.

This affair is an intrusion we didn't need at all,

it's without historical and political sense.

The function of politics is expressed by the parliamentary mandate

and is applied in the Chamber

and in other constitutional institutions.

I can't see the relation between this mandate

and the Civic Committees.

What time is it?

Almost two o' clock.

Scelba is with Don Sturzo.

Even Gonella has been.

Everything is under discussion again.

We have tried everything.

Now everyone is confronted with a historical responsibility.

That will scare them.

If the situation is not solved in a democratical way

by 4 pm,

the Government will be in crisis,

the republicans will resign.

- Mister President... - Yes.

lt's Minister Scelba.

Yes, it's me.

We must make it public,

we can't wait any longer.

It's clear, there is no time for further consultation.

Certainly,

Don Sturzo is right.

Thank you.

Turn on the radio.

Senator Luigi Sturzo

has declared that it is impossible to reach agreement

over a common list

for the administrative elections in Rome

for the Christian Democrats,

the Liberal Party,

the Monarchist Party

and the Italian Social Movement...

- Good morning, your Excellency. - Good morning.

Please sit down, your Excellency.

Mother Lucia will be here in a moment.

How are you?

I am suffering,

continuously struggling

with reason and with doubt.

I need you to remind me

that Providence uses whom it wants

when it wants.

lsaiah has said: "Your light will rise from obscurity,

and your darkness will shine like the midday's sun".

"You will be

a spring of overflowing water", lsaiah also says,

"and the foundation of the future generations will be laid on you".

These words

don't apply to me though.

No one can say that.

l have already gone through so many stormy nights in my life.

Why has the Lord forced me

to continue?

And the Lord said to Abraham:

"Leave your people

and your kin,

your land and your home

and come to the land I will show you".

And Abraham went...

Moses became the leader of his people

who complained and protested.

A people who had been slaves

and who didn't show any gratitude

to him who had given them their freedom.

Slavery is easier than liberty,

which has to be won with so much hardship...

On my search for peace

l disturb your tranquillity.

Never forget, father,

that even though many fight against you,

many others are grateful to you.

And that it is good

to do the will of God,

not because it's painless

but because it comes from God.

- That law plays tricks... - The law of the majority, my dear,

the law of the majority.

The law of the majority was only 57.000 votes short,

in the last vote.

Now De Gasperi is defeated in the Chamber

- so... - It means

that democracy can't survive

without a stable government.

And the one who has illusions

about Communism ending,

makes a big mistake.

Just look at Berlin,

it's like a nightmare.

The world is rapidly changing,

the Egyptians want the English

to clear the Suez canal as quick as possible

and the French are about to capitulate in Vietnam.

Yes,

everything is going faster and faster

and those fools don't know that wisdom offers:

he who is in a hurry should postpone.

Boileau says:

"hurry slowly, without loosing heart".

Here's the mail from Piazza del Gesu.

They want to know if you will go to Rome today.

I don't know,

no, I won't go, work much better here.

All the problems come from Rome.

The controversies between men I respect frighten me.

They invent subtle reasonings to disguise their passions.

And the factions which result from this

devour the men who started them.

It's not the struggle between ideas that worries me...

on the contrary this fascinates me,

I am fearful

of the struggle between the selfishness and arrogance of men.

Listen to

what Dossetti has written me:

he is a perfect adversary.

"Dear De Gasperi,

I believe that l have learned to recognise

the honesty

of your efforts".

Young and old are waves of the same sea.

He and the young men of the 'Social Chronicles'

have helped the party to look towards the future.

lwish he would believe

that l have always tried to understand him,

and that l have always rejected each unfavourable interpretation

of his position.

For many people you remain the only reference-point in the party.

Now I must lead the party during the Convention.

Then...

Then?

I'm an old man, Mana.

They will have to let me go.

I gave the Presidency of the Council up

and soon

I will resign as the secretary of the Party.

We still haven't made clear to the people

that the law of the majority is not an act of suppression,

but a means, a method...

and perfectly democratic.

Anyone, with more than half of the vote,

would have the same advantage.

This is a difficult moment.

It's clear what needs to be done.

And we have to state this clearly

in Naples during the Convention.

Never before has there been such open discussion

within the Party

before a convention.

Magnificent work has been done...

opinions have been collected from all over the country for months.

De Gasperi knows exactly the mood of the country.

After the dust settles the conclusions will have to be clear.

The Agrarian Reform has taken place,

the Cassa del Mezzogiorno has been founded,

Vanoni's reform, it has been a good start, but

we have to continue.

And above all seriously occupy ourselves

with the poorer classes of the country.

And we must look at what's around us

because the world is not just ltaly.

De Gasperi has always done this.

True, but the others,

the Party?

We have to defeat hunger

and injustice,

we have to aim for a policy of peace in the world.

Basically this means

to modify our economical policy in the interior

and make it relate to an European perspective.

has the same hopes.

The old guard,

the notables

as well as the young.

It's difficult to realise these hopes,

for one needs faith...

I hope that the Convention in Naples will be a demonstration

of unity.

The trends, the tendencies and the different opinions

which will confront each other at the Convention

are indispensable for the progress of political action

and it's necessary

that no one is left out.

No one has ever been left out,

and no one will be, as long as l...

Come.

Come in.

l have read

your replies to the questions asked

in regard to the Convention in Naples

and I want to thank you for your sincerity.

These are the main points of my speech

as outgoing secretary.

If it's not a secret...

To those who insist

that Nenni and the socialists

immediately participate in the government,

I say

that this could only happen if he guarantees

that his socialism is democratic.

And to those who are worried because of suggestions made

by a certain sector of the Catholic world

and to those who want to accept them,

I reply

that we have a deep and sincere relationship

with the Church,

much like a child's worship

of his mother.

However the Catholic world

is a complex reality

and we must he careful not to confuse the Christian Democratic Party

with the Catholic Church.

For social and political action a party is needed one

that has a program,

a method and

an autonomous responsibility.

And I want to say to all

that only if we are united

will we be strong,

and if we are strong we can act

and develop our program of reconstruction.

Division leads to weakness, our disagreements could cause us

to become the slaves of our parliamentary system,

agreements would

be forced on us,

and we would be forced

into whatever coalition.

The Party

would risk losing the power of her ideals.

It would become a rusty political

machine.

Where shall I put today's newspapers?

In his brief-case,

he'll want to read them,

there are articles about the National Council of the CD.

after the Naples Convention.

As long as I've known your father

he has worked for the unity of the Party,

for the solidarity between the parties,

to bring agreement.

And in Naples the Party changed.

Put this in my suit-case.

'The life of Toniolo'.

But you know that by heart...

l'm re-reading it,

I wonder why in our country

his teaching

had such little effect;

maybe because he didn't overcome the historical

separation placed between laymen and Catholics.

We too at times

failed to avoid it, yet today

we can say that the Christian Democratic Party has become

a movement of the people,

an Italian party

above the historical conflicts.

Don't pack my boots,

I won't go walking in the woods anymore.

Maybe the Valsugana is too high for his heart?

Maybe,

but he'd never go anywhere else.

Anyway,

each time he has not felt well, going back to Sella

has cured him.

This is not a parliamentary game

where you can compromise.

You see, Scelba,

if I went to Bruxelles

I could confront the responsible people

with human conscience, rather than political conscience.

And I'm convinced

that they wouldn't leave without having signed.

I know,

I know...

the problem is that too many

do not believe in the European unity.

They have no faith,

one cannot solve such an immense problem

with only

diplomatic reasoning.

Keep in touch, Mario.

Yes,

I'm leaving now.

Thank you.

Bye.

The news from France

makes me pessimistic about an united Europe.

Have you answered Fanfani?

Yes,

I've written him a letter.

He is the new secretary of the Party and

I wrote him:

"You'd better

not fail".

The party now has

a well-defined majority and a minority:

and one can count on the old guard

as well as on the young.

And the rest?

Even though they have appointed me

President of the National Council,

I said, I cannot accept any reward.

Any reward from the Party

until I am able

to resume

work again.

It's right this way.

I admire you greatly,

- your Honour, - Thank you, thank you.

and I want to wish you the very, very best.

I'll send you the last reports, when the chamber closes.

Thank you.

This is the first time I leave

before Parliament closes.

We're waiting for you in September.

Work for Europe.

They say that you are in bad health,

is it true?

As a man of action who is no longer a member of government,

are you bitter?

Bitter?

No.

I did all that I could,

my conscience is clear.

You see...

The Lord makes you work,

He lets you make plans,

He gives you life and energy.

Then, when you believe to be indispensable to your work,

He suddenly takes everything away.

He makes you realise that you are only

'useful',

He tells you:

"Enough - you may go".

And you don't want to go,

you want to present yourself in the hereafter with your task all fulfilled.

Our little human mind desires to finish

and resents leaving

the object of its passion to others.

Thank you, mister President.