Original subtitles

[camera shutter clicks]

[host] Good evening, Muccioli. What are the effects of this verdict

for those who trust you and are now in San Patrignano?

For some, bitterness,

for others, rebellion.

But for all, it will always be chaos and disarray.

[tense music plays]

THE LAW IS EQUAL FOR ALL

"In the name of the Italian people, this court,

under articles 483 and 488 of the Penal Code,

sentences Muccioli Vincenzo to one year and eight months in jail,

Canini Giulio to one year and four months in jail…

-[woman] You're disgusting! -[crowd chanting] Shame on you!

Shame on you!

…to pay for the legal expenses of all those tried…

[crowd chanting] Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you!

Shame on you! Shame on you!

At least our children are still alive! Shame on you!

Murderers!

[crowd clamoring]

[Vincenzo Muccioli] Listen.

Film those faces over there.

Those are the guys from San Patrignano.

I cry for them.

Vincenzo!

[sobbing] I only have faith in you, Vincenzo! No one else!

Wait a minute. There's space for all.

I still have faith in justice.

Justice isn't done yet. Let's keep going.

We still have the second and third trials.

[Nigro] The Italian justice system involves three phases and trials,

and until the last verdict, the defendant is not deemed guilty.

So, the light verdict, and the fact that it was the first trial,

prevented Muccioli from going to prison.

The truth is that Muccioli has already won the trial,

because the commune had become huge.

Italy's support

for his methods had grown.

People on the streets said, "See, that's how you deal with addicts."

The percentage of Italians who think that Muccioli is innocent is…

92%! Ladies and gentlemen, it's a landslide!

I thought 89% would be an exaggeration.

We have recognized Mr. Muccioli.

The presiding judge of Rimini's Court

has sentenced tonight's guest,

Muccioli, to one year and eight months in prison.

LIVE FROM SAN PATRIGNANO

Here's my lawyer…

There's the lawyer who's lost his cause. He's with us too.

There still is the appeals trial ahead.

The justice system in Italy, as we know, is very slow.

We can say that Muccioli is always here, as you can see, as solid as a rock,

also thanks to his height.

I think you're 1.90, aren't you?

-That's right. -And his weight, I think, it's 130.

-No comment. -Very good.

[laughter]

[Andrea Muccioli] After the Chains Trial, my father realized he'd become a symbol.

He received the attention of a movie star.

[camera shutters clicking]

MUCCIOLI HIS TRUTH

[theme music playing]

[applause]

[Vincenzo Muccioli] This was the only possible outcome.

Guys, justice has not been done yet.

We will go on.

We're all united, but not at all, uh…

shaken.

A little disappointed maybe, but this is something…

to be taken…

lightly.

It can't part us from our certainties.

Not at all. Otherwise we'd be blabbermouths!

[man laughs]

All right?

Enjoy your meal!

[applause]

Both the guys in court

and the guys here who were waiting for a positive verdict

were left baffled, demoralized.

I promptly reassured them,

and we're all calm now, united,

and ready to carry on with our mission.

At the entrance of San Patrignano, there was a security gate

and a first access house.

[dog barking]

People who wanted to get into the commune of San Patrignano

stayed there, sleeping in the car

or even camping on the sides of the road.

Muccioli wanted to be sure

they were ready,

so they camped for one day, two days or even a week outside,

in all weather conditions,

even in snow.

[man] We wait here.

We've slept here once already,

twice, ten days.

We don't care how long.

Let them see you and know you've been here a month. Get out.

Vincenzo is a guru, a man of honor.

[Red Ronnie] How long have you been waiting?

I've been coming here for a year.

-[Red Ronnie] Do you want to get in? -Yes.

[Red Ronnie] What if Vincenzo says, "Okay, you're in,

but you will be chained for ten days." Do you accept?

Well, chained?

Only until the end of withdrawal symptoms, as long as I can eat regularly,

and it's not like…

in the old-fashioned jails.

Chained, but just to stop me from running away.

-[Red Ronnie] Yes, sure. -That's fine with me.

I'm…

I'm fed up. Photographers, journalists.

I feel ambushed here too.

What are you doing with this?

What will you find here?

Practically,

you'll always have someone next to you,

everywhere you go and everything you do during the day,

and while sleeping at night.

There will always be someone glued to you.

First of all, as soon as you entered, you were assigned a guardian angel,

someone who would be with you 24 hours a day.

You slept together, ate together, and did everything together.

If you went to the bathroom, he would wait outside.

Are you new here?

I've been here three days.

-Four. -Four, including today.

Do you have to be with her all the time?

Yes, but it's not forever.

Just for the first few months,

it's better if someone can be next to her

to guide her.

There were many rules at San Patrignano,

but they were not written.

They were all, um…

passed on by the person in charge to the newly arrived.

You couldn't take medicine.

You couldn't drink coffee.

You couldn't smoke more than ten cigarettes a day,

which were handed out at breakfast.

For the first year, you couldn't phone or have people visit you.

I don't ask you for money.

Even if you offered it, I'd say no.

I don't need it.

But what I do need…

is respect.

You couldn't disrespect anyone under any circumstances.

It was not permitted to dispute

that reality, which was just perfect.

If you defied the rules, there would be a punishment

implemented straight away.

There were different punishments, like removal of cigarette allowance.

And if you aimed your dispute at someone, especially if at him,

then there would be a "smash," the so-called "Sole Piatti."

♪ Sole Piatti ♪

Vincenzo waited until everyone was at the table,

then he looked at each one of us

till he came to the one

that needed punishment at that moment.

He would stand behind him and go ahead with a "Sole Piatti,"

which meant two big slaps on the cheeks or ears.

You had to stand up and he berated you in front of everyone.

He'd say, "You've done this and that."

Psychologically, it tore you down.

If need be, I'll slap you. I won't just threaten you to.

If you keep on disputing the rules, maybe in the background,

looking for available partners in your dispute,

then, guys,

I will isolate you.

If you escaped or were planning to,

then you got a bigger punishment,

which was isolation.

If I need to lock you up, I will.

It isn't our method. It isn't the method with everyone.

But if necessary, I will do it.

Because life is more important than anything else.

There were many places

where you could be locked up.

There was an enormous wine vat,

and usually, the girls would go in there.

They would be lowered inside the wine vat, and that would be shut.

You could breathe, but you were in a big wine vat.

Then there was the dovecote, about two meters by two meters.

And you were caged in there.

Then there was the furriery, where there was a huge safe

which served as a cell where you'd be locked up.

[door closes]

[De Stefani] There were no chains, but it was still coercive.

You were locked up and you had to think about your mistakes.

I think people could go mad after a short period of time

in a situation like that.

[applause]

This life is a crime.

Meaning? I didn't get that.

I had to confine him for a few days, talk to him, lock myself up with him,

otherwise he wouldn't be here now. Say something, Claudio.

The coercive methods, the infamous Muccioli's methods.

After how long did you want to leave?

After two days, I think.

[laughter]

Can you remember anything that he said, even unpleasant,

after the first or second time, meaning, "Maybe it's better if you stay"?

After the second confinement, he said,

"Get showered and shaved." Because I was a little…

-[laughter] -[host] How long did the confinement last?

-Uh, is it important? -[host] If you had to shave a long beard…

[laughter]

-A few days. -[host] Okay, a few days.

-[laughter] -Why are you laughing?

[laughter]

Because you know about the kind of confinement?

[laughter]

Vincenzo would say, "Do you really want to live?

Then come in

and accept the rules."

If you don't accept…

There are also some people who ran away.

But Vincenzo always got them back.

I filmed something really incredible.

My cameraman said, "There's this girl, Monica,

who was in San Patrignano and escaped. I know where she is."

I knew Vincenzo cared about her. She was also a troublemaker.

He said to me, "Keep her where she is. I'll come and get her."

You don't look very well. I mean…

I have a withdrawal fever and I don't feel very well.

But…

[Red Ronnie] I think you also took some drugs in the last two days.

I might have.

-[Red Ronnie] How long were you there? -Four and a half years.

[Red Ronnie] After four and a half years, you still haven't sorted out your issues?

No, I haven't, because my family is virtually nonexistent,

and the ones there are deranged.

My mother is completely out of her mind.

She's on psychotic drugs and drinks.

[inhales deeply]

[indistinct chattering]

[engine turns over]

I haven't spoken with her yet, but I can tell you what she did.

Surely, she shot up right away.

[Monica sobs]

Her problem

is that at critical times,

she's attracted to heroin.

But I will pull her away from heroin,

day after day, even if that means spending my life

running after Monica to pull her away from heroin.

Isn't this agony, Monica? An agony that leads you to death.

Come on, stand up.

-[Monica] Where are we going? -Where do you think you're going?

-[Monica sobs] -[laughs] Look.

I won't hug you unless you hug me first, because otherwise…

No, I won't hug you unless you do, otherwise they say,

what is it I do, false imprisonment?

So, I won't hug you, in order to avoid another charge of false imprisonment.

Not that I care, because if that meant saving your life, I would do it anyway.

Demagogy and bureaucracy mean nothing to me.

Unreasonable people also mean nothing to me and are not worth any attention.

You hugged me, so I can hug you now too!

[laughs]

Let's go, little one!

You're not too well. I know that.

Now we need… If you shot up with someone else

and used their syringe, we'll need some blood tests done.

Gullible!

A kiss?

Do I get a kiss or not?

-[Monica breathes shakily, sniffles] -Come on. Let's go.

[sniffles] I don't want to go back.

Where do you want to go?

You could have picked up a random guy,

got a room, and gotten paid for the night.

And you'd be so high, you wouldn't care.

-But you didn't do it now, did you? -No.

Why? You were doing it a lot in the past.

-[sniffles] -Come on, let's go.

[both sniffle]

[Vincenzo sighs]

[Monica sniffles]

[Red Ronnie] Bye, sweetheart. Bye.

Bye.

These kids! I've got 600 of them.

-I've been too prolific! -[laughter]

See you! [laughs]

-[laughter] -Bye.

[Red Ronnie] Bye, dear.

[gentle music playing]

[Vincenzo Muccioli] I'll call a spade a spade.

I really admire judges,

but only those who are able to interpret the law.

Because when the law is well interpreted,

it becomes justice.

It defends life and human dignity.

Therefore, the judges

who are against my mission

are not real judges to me,

and they're not even men.

So, threats and condemnations don't bother me in the least.

I'm willing to go to jail,

but I'm not willing to compromise with my conscience.

[newsman] One year, four months for Muccioli.

This is the prosecution's request

for the accusations of false imprisonment.

The defense claims the law is defending the freedom to die,

whereas at San Patrignano, they tried to pursue freedom from drugs.

At the time of the Chains Trial, I was a young law student.

Therefore, I had a genuine interest in understanding the legal proceedings.

I finished my studies and earned my degree with a thesis

on the issues of compatibility

between the status of necessity and false imprisonment.

Gian Marco Moratti helped Vincenzo a lot, especially during the trial.

He found the best lawyers.

It feels strange having to go back to trial

and be judged by people who go,

"But here it reads like this, but it happened differently,

it was recorded…"

How can this be possible?

[Moratti] As our defense lawyers have said too,

there are many judges who send the youth to San Patrignano,

even though they know the methods used,

which are not only those of confinement.

And they send them to San Patrignano precisely because they know

that San Patrignano works for those difficult cases

that have always failed in other open, free rehab centers.

[newsman] Strict application of law on one side,

and exceptional circumstances on the other.

Tomorrow morning, the defense is up again, and then, the much-anticipated verdict.

[Andreucci] The first of the Chains Trials sees Muccioli sentenced

for false imprisonment and abuse.

The Appeals Court changes this verdict.

"In the name of the Italian people, the court…

acquits the defendants on the accusation of abuse

due to a lack of evidence.

Secondly, the court acquits the defendants on the accusation of false imprisonment."

[cheering and applause]

[cheering and applause stops]

Sorry.

[Andrea Muccioli] The second trial says that the therapist can intervene

against the will of the drug addict

because it can't be considered as a real will.

They have a sound mind

but are unable to act for their own good.

[inhales deeply] Therefore, you, as a therapist

and bound by a deal to treat this patient,

have to intervene.

The court establishes this important

and innovative principle.

This testifies that we need to have faith in the justice system

and should never give up trusting the institutions.

[Cantelli] During the appeals trial,

I was a university student in Bologna.

I was studying philosophy with a group of students from the commune,

and I was happy that he had been acquitted,

even though I was still pondering the experience

of my confinement.

The judge's decision confirmed the idea

that I had on Vincenzo's alleged guilt.

There are some areas…

of life

where…

life and death are

so intertwined

that concepts…

like freedom,

willpower,

bad, good,

should be revisited.

I mean, you need to have the courage not to see them as absolute truth.

[reflective music playing]

In the following years, the commune expands

and new problems arise.

[Boschini] I'm not a fanatic.

I'm not a spiritual guy,

but I can tell you that Vincenzo,

in the first years, told me about his vision

for the future of San Patrignano

and said, "Look, Antonio, there will be

a hospital here,

and you'll be the doctor,

because there will be a disease

that will hit the drug addicts."

[TV journalist] You can't see AIDS, but it is spreading,

because it can be transmitted not just through infected blood,

but AIDS can also be transmitted

through sexual intercourse with infected people.

[Andrea Muccioli] AIDS explodes in Italy in the mid-'80s.

So, trying to alleviate the mind

and overcome the fears

was another issue that the commune had to face.

[Boschini] After my degree, I specialized in infectious diseases,

because you could foresee what was coming ahead.

[Andrea Muccioli] I remember the first boy who died of AIDS

in the summer of '85.

The first official death was Renzo Pesco,

who was Vincenzo's driver.

They were very close, Lorenzo and Vincenzo.

They had a strong friendship, and Vincenzo was totally…

shaken by his death.

[Boschini] Renzo was one of those people

that Vincenzo considered very fragile, and therefore, kept very close.

Renzo is no longer with us.

Our friend.

I kept him going for five years.

I was always next to him.

[Boschini] At San Patrignano, it was a disaster.

Basically, every week you would see someone die.

The drug addicts were getting sick with AIDS.

Hospitals didn't want them.

They were the dregs of the junkies.

They were the desperate ones.

They knew that they were welcome there.

Guys, I think you realize

that to accept all of you, I'd need another commune.

[Andrea Muccioli] The pressure from the outside was terrible.

You have no idea

about the thousands upon thousands

and thousands of requests that the commune received

every week, every month.

Guys, going to rehab means coming here

and accepting the help

to change the way of living that lead you to drugs.

Otherwise, rehab doesn't work. Don't come here.

Now, I don't know.

I can find 40 or 50 places, but no more than that.

[man] I arrived at the gates on December 26th.

I had an interview with Vincenzo right away.

I saw this man and loved him immediately, as if I already knew him.

[gentle piano music playing]

[dog barking]

I came from Palermo,

a rough town, a town with organized crime.

I came from the street. I had been an addict for ten years,

and I had been through hard times.

[Vincenzo Muccioli] Can you let them in so I can count how many there are?

Then all the others, depending on how many places we have…

The driving force behind my father's decisions was,

"Let's accept as many as we can."

[newsman] Muccioli's commune is expanding and developing.

Within our facilities, we try to give these guys the chance

to fulfill themselves through a real profession.

I have had to create revenue-generating facilities,

so that this commune could be self-sufficient.

We produce textiles.

We produce furs.

[applause]

We have a carpentry workshop with 20 woodworking machines.

We have 100 dairy cows, a cheese factory, livestock farming,

and we have 70 racehorses and broodmares.

The photolithography has been improved.

Letizia and Gian Marco Moratti,

who are fully committed to San Patrignano, spend their time and energy on it.

In our small way, we try to help San Patrignano.

From the beginning of the '80s, until I left, in 2011,

Gian Marco Moratti donated to the commune.

In those 30 years, 286 million euros,

give or take.

[Nigro] The number of guests was a strong point for Muccioli.

Hundreds of young people went there.

But not just that, Muccioli became a reference point for the State.

All those hundreds of guys were meant to be in prison,

but in prison, they cost money.

At San Patrignano, they didn't cost a thing.

But many of these guests arrived

with an advanced stage of AIDS,

and Vincenzo realized

that they needed special care,

specialized care, a hospital.

[newsman] The new hospital for AIDS patients is being built here

by Vincenzo Muccioli in a short time frame.

There will be highly qualified medical specialists,

especially in the field of HIV.

[Boschini] In those days, there was no cure,

only many alternative remedies.

And I remember discovering an aspect of Vincenzo I didn't know,

a nearly naive one.

Anyone could come here

and say that they had found a cure,

and he would believe them.

[De Stefani] There was a researcher from the States

that had suggested trialing a protein-based remedy,

which could have saved,

or helped, HIV patients.

Every morning, they gave this big glass of smoothie to drink.

We'd call it "the superfood smoothie."

It was really disgusting, like drinking concrete.

And it was hard to swallow.

I was one of those who'd easily take an hour to drink it.

But it didn't last very long,

because people started to get sick.

San Patrignano was the perfect lab for any kind of experiment.

Imagine 1,500 people, all eating the same thing,

not having sexual intercourse or whatever,

because the community openly divided

men and women…

Is there total sexual freedom at San Patrignano?

No, there isn't total sexual freedom.

Vincenzo absolutely did not want boys and girls to get together.

It was forbidden.

Romance? Zero.

Just rely on your little hands. You're experts, I'm sure.

But no romance, because I don't want any here.

And a woman is not a sink,

just like a man isn't an amusement park.

Vincenzo wasn't a moralist at all.

During the first years I was there, boys and girls weren't separated.

But Vincenzo and his team

found out that passion and sex

could trigger in the commune

some of what we call "street dynamics."

[reporter] How did you find money for drugs?

I started to steal,

and I became a prostitute too.

San Patrignano taught the value of things

to people who had abused sex as if it was nothing.

Sex was a means to get drugs or to get something else.

Suddenly, if they fell in love,

they could not have sex.

Vincenzo told them when they were ready.

-[applause] -[church bells ringing]

[Mini] Some people got together and they got married.

With all these rules, at some point,

you stop caring about them.

Well, my story with Tiziana is a little complicated.

We started seeing each other,

and it felt great. [laughs]

Vincenzo didn't approve of it.

He was completely against it,

but I did everything I could to, um…

succeed in having a family.

I wanted to become a father.

I explained to him

that I was fully committed to him. Uh…

He had my life, my work, uh…

but he couldn't interfere with my family.

I knew I was important to him.

If he wanted me to stay, he had to allow me my love story.

[dog barks]

When Tiziana got pregnant,

we moved into a little house inside the commune.

Becoming a father in a commune was wonderful for me,

because I had my little world there.

I never thought I'd have a son or a daughter.

I thought I'd be dead by 21.

I was like a zombie endlessly waiting for his death.

[gentle acoustic guitar music plays]

As a little girl,

I was extraordinarily happy.

I grew up in a place where everything was mine but also everyone else's.

I could go around and play as late as I wanted

because it was very safe.

San Patrignano grew up with me,

and I wasn't fully aware that it was a rehab commune.

I was free in a closed community.

They were locked up in a free world.

Muccioli was never like a father for me.

He had his little Jeep and drove around San Patrignano.

I wasn't afraid of him.

He was simply God passing by and saying hi to us.

[horn toots]

[De Stefani] It was very difficult to talk to Muccioli.

He used to drive around the commune in a Jeep.

You had to chase him.

He was also surrounded by his "inner circle,"

people who were very close to him.

They were also his filter.

They knew everything that happened in the commune.

Mostly men.

He was a real misogynist.

I can't remember a single woman being in his inner circle.

I am lucky, among other things, to be next to someone like Vincenzo.

This is a lovely office.

[man] Yes, this is Vincenzo's office.

We're a group of people who are closer to him than others,

and for practical reasons, let's say, are directly next to him.

[De Stefani] They were all in his office, the lawyer,

and above all, there was Walter, who had a special relationship with him.

[Delogu] Vincenzo definitely had favorites.

And one day, he told me,

"I want you to be my driver and bodyguard."

-He tossed me the Volvo keys. -[keys jangle]

And from then on, my life clearly changed, completely.

["Ti sento" by Matia Bazar plays]

[gunshots]

I had a valid and licit gun license.

I used to keep it by my ankle, because I didn't want to show it off.

Only we knew it.

[gunshots]

There was a famous tailor who made custom-made suits for Vincenzo,

and he made them for me too.

[laughing] And they also suited me well, so…

We used to go to the Lions Club and attend classy dinners.

I loved that these people talked to me.

Then at the end, the big revelation. He'd go, "He used to be a junkie."

[laughs] It was crazy, because people used to say, "No!

A junkie like this, dressed like this!"

It was good publicity…

-♪ I feel you, the music barely moves ♪ -[gunshots]

-…because we represented the commune. -[gunshot]

[newsman] Vincenzo Muccioli is forced to have a bodyguard now…

We were almost always on TV.

[applause]

[TV presenter] Walter Delogu, not a kid anymore, but a gentleman.

[Delogu] He allowed me to be close to him.

"God, he's chosen me, is that for real?" I couldn't believe it.

From being a junkie… From zero, you get to a thousand.

♪ I know there is a place for us to be ♪

A symbiotic relationship, even physically.

We got on well together.

♪ A place that makes us happy ♪

I was always with him,

day and night.

♪ I'll be waiting ♪

At times, we'd go away for 20 days,

a month, all around Europe, to check out a dog.

[dog barks]

-Or a horse. -[horse neighs]

He'd go crazy when he had the opportunity to see some beautiful animals.

["Waiting for U" by Tomas Skyldeberg plays]

It's an amazing horse.

Some fresh water in its shanks now.

[Delogu] For his safety, I was always armed.

Because, of course, there was money in the commune.

If he needed to buy something for the commune or the stable,

I would take money out of the safe and we'd go.

We went everywhere by car.

He would relax in the car,

because in Italy, he couldn't go around

because he'd be recognized every two seconds.

When we went to conferences, there were people who adored us.

Sometimes they asked me if they could touch his hand.

-Goodbye, Vincenzo! -Thank you.

Who's the most capable,

Giorgio Armani, Valentino,

Vincenzo Muccioli, Gianni Versace?

One, two, three, vote now.

-Vincenzo Muccioli is first. -[applause]

[Nigro] If he is loved by the public,

what do politicians do? They try to get him on their side.

[Pierini] There was this constant flow of cars

with police escorts and helicopters

bypassing the village of Coriano.

[newswoman] Today, Congressman Craxi

has visited the rehab center of San Patrignano…

The heads of State were always visiting San Patrignano.

They had a favored relationship with him. They had pictures taken, held conferences.

Just like it's illegal to sell drugs, it's illegal to buy them.

Politicians tried to manipulate Muccioli and San Patrignano

to gain public approval.

But Muccioli has always manipulated politicians.

"I'll receive everyone who comes to support San Patrignano.

I don't care which party they are."

-[camera shutters clicking] -[applause]

[Pannella] This is exactly

one and a half grams of good hashish.

[Delogu] Marco Pannella was a political leader.

He advocated free marijuana and hashish.

And his ideas clashed with Vincenzo's.

Pannella had a very strong personality,

and nobody could slay this lion.

But when Vincenzo came along, he challenged him.

And those two lions fought,

one for and the other against drug legalization, generally.

They liked having them arguing on TV, because this pushed up the ratings.

Marco Pannella, leader of the Radical Party,

and Vincenzo Muccioli, who is in Bologna.

-Good evening. -[bell dings]

It's time to have a serious discussion. You…

I spend my life saving people,

and I have saved, to date, more than 3,000.

How many have you saved?

[Pannella] Since you won't let me speak, I'll say something quickly.

You're the same person that deceived people

with stigmata on his hands.

To cheat people. Shut up!

I'm fighting a war,

and you're looking after its wounded.

[Vincenzo] I save them. And you want to send me more of them!

I don't want to give them heroin provided by the State

like you want to do.

-[bell dings] -[applause]

The more Vincenzo went on TV, the more the commune became known

and the more money arrived.

[man speaking indistinctly]

San Patrignano had become so big that it needed constant help from outside.

[phone ringing]

[Licata] I worked with Walter Delogu

on the main switchboard of San Patrignano where all the desperate mothers called,

and we didn't tell Vincenzo.

But if you were the child of a famous person,

surely, you wouldn't queue like the others.

You would simply get in.

[crowd chanting indistinctly]

So, the more that children, family, and friends of powerful people came in,

the more people he had to ask for favors.

[newsman] Inter Milan played a friendly game

against San Patrignano

-that raised 35 million for the commune. -[crowd cheers]

[De Stefani] All of his decisions were guided by his project.

[tools whirring]

His idea was to build a citadel,

self-sufficient,

an enclosed town, a little state, the State of San Patrignano.

[growling]

There was even a zoo in San Patrignano.

The guys and the animals were part of this "zoo."

Eventually, it became enormous.

This commune got bigger and bigger.

[frantic music playing]

[reporter] Vincenzo, things have changed from when you used to cook for 100 people.

It's a bit different now.

[Vincenzo Muccioli] We've grown. That's better, isn't it?

It means that it's worked fine. Not the food, but this entire facility.

If it's worked, it means that many people are well now.

Vincenzo must have been under a lot of stress.

He ate continuously.

To reduce his tension, he ate a lot. He was always like that.

He became enormous.

One morning, I was shocked

to see him having two big steaks for breakfast,

which he ate by shoving them in…

just like that, one after the other.

So, at some point, he weighed 167 kilos.

Everything was growing,

expanding, enlarging.

Both at a level of architectural structure and ideologically.

I think there was a jump there from him

towards a state of power, a sort of omnipotence.

[Cantelli] Vincenzo became intoxicated with his own fame and popularity

and by the politicians coming to celebrate him.

And in some ways, it became a…

real power trip.

I experienced it myself,

because the way I was told I was HIV positive

was astounding. [laughs]

The first time we all had a full blood test in the commune

was in the summer of 1985.

It was decided we all had to be tested,

but we were told it was a simple routine check-up.

But the truth was, they were checking if we were HIV positive.

Vincenzo decided that the results

had to be kept secret for the time being.

Meaning that he would give each person the terrible news

when this person was deemed to be able to…

come to terms with a "death sentence,"

because back then, there was no cure for AIDS.

[Boschini] In 1985, we tested everyone,

and we found out that

two-thirds of the people were HIV positive.

Two-thirds, 66%.

In those days, we didn't know that those who tested positive

would have developed AIDS.

Life went on, and in the following years,

between '86 and '89,

I asked Vincenzo if I could apply to university,

and he said, "Yes, you deserve it."

And I was among a group of ten students

for whom he had rented a place in Bologna so that we could attend university.

And I was also doing shifts at the hospital,

caring for AIDS patients of the commune.

In 1988, I started dating this…

friend who had become my lover.

Vincenzo was the first one to know I was dating her.

Then one day, I went back to San Patrignano.

I was walking around the commune, and I heard this thunderous voice

calling my name, "Little Fabio!"

I turned around, and it was Vincenzo in his Land Rover,

and he says, "How is Bologna?"

I say, "All good, Vincenzo.

We're studying a lot, but one thing is worrying us."

Two guys, who were in the commune's hospital,

had maybe about a month left to live.

He looked at me and said,

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Those who are HIV positive can no longer help in the hospital.

So from tomorrow on,

you can just concentrate on your philosophy studies."

He hugged me, kissed me, and drove away.

That was a devastating moment for me. [chuckles]

I wasn't thinking about myself.

I was thinking about my girlfriend,

because we had unprotected sex many times since I didn't know I was HIV positive.

Nobody ever told me, even though I was tested in 1985, four years earlier.

I could've been dead in a few months.

It was a difficult moment.

Luckily, she called me

and said, "Look, it's all fine.

The test is negative."

What happened was inconceivable.

So what I had left to live, I didn't want to spend it there.

That was the first time I left San Patrignano.

Vincenzo could no longer look after each one of us.

He used to do it in the beginning years.

He followed us one by one when we were 300, 400 people.

But dealing with 300 people is one thing. Having to deal with 1,000 is another.

Because when you have to look after 1,000 people,

you can't do it one by one.

You have to keep them under control.

So, you have to build a network

which allows you, indirectly, to control them.

It became all about control.

[Delogu] There was a total control of everyone and everything.

He wasn't personally controlling the guys, but they were assigned to a group.

Then he would consult the leaders.

He was informed about what was happening,

or if there was something to sort out or someone to reprimand.

When you arrived, and if you also were a difficult case,

he would put you next to someone quite strong.

[birds chirping]

[man] I arrived at San Patrignano in February, 1989,

after committing a few, small crimes.

I came from 10-11 years of heroin addiction.

San Patrignano looked very crowded to me the day I arrived.

It looked like a very big town full of people.

I realized immediately that I was absorbed

by a highly organized system with a strong sense of discipline.

But when I came across the photos of the early San Patrignano,

all these guys in the mud with shovels and spades,

and Muccioli too, in work clothes,

it all looked very fascinating,

but totally different from what I had found.

[birds chirping]

When I arrived, I was placed in a work group.

You lived, moved, ate, and slept together, always.

Even though there is this idea of unity,

people walk strictly in groups.

I was with the chemists.

I became familiar with life at San Patrignano through the group,

whose leader was nicked-named Mandingo.

He was huge.

You would be scared just by hearing his voice.

A few months after I got there,

I was beaten up by Mandingo.

What happened was that I was with my guardian

and we had finished our night shift and arrived late to breakfast.

Mandingo was furious and said, "Why are you late?"

I answered him back in front of everyone.

I said, "Gosh, we finished our night shift.

We had to disinfect the room, there's scabies."

Breakfast went on in total silence.

Afterwards, we go back to the lab.

Mandingo tells everybody to sit in a circle

and tells me to stand up.

He walks towards me like a boxer.

As soon as he was about to speak, I made the mistake, again,

of answering him back, and he started to punch me left and right.

[banging]

-[man screams] -[items clattering]

I then ended up banging my head against a fire extinguisher

and cutting my forehead,

which scared me a bit, as you lose a lot of blood from this area.

It was all red with blood.

Mandingo even stepped on me while I was on the floor.

I was unable to speak

because of this trauma, for days.

[De Stefani] You had to be very careful who you talked to, what you said.

I mean, you were there deprived of your rights,

without any ID,

abandoned by the state institutions.

[Vincenzo Muccioli] When I hear people saying,

"This meat is overcooked. This fish isn't good.

I want this, and I want that too."

And then demanding things and asking for rights, which ones?

Which rights?

But which rights?

Unfortunately, I witnessed too many episodes

of beatings, of violence in front of everyone.

I remember, it was just the first night.

[people chattering]

We were all sitting at the table, and he said,

"Where's Francesco? I can smell him, but I can't see him."

And this guy stood up and went next to Vincenzo.

Vincenzo took the microphone

and he hit him in the face

and broke his nose.

And that's because, I was told, he went out and had a coffee,

because there was no coffee in San Patrignano.

That was a shock.

It was insane for me.

Is that violence justified?

He would say, "Ah, but…"

And like the judges said too,

"We do it for your own good, because you're not able to understand.

I'm like a father who hits his own child."

At San Patrignano, in my opinion, the rule was,

if you're a boy, try to be a good soldier,

and if you're a girl, we'll shape you into a good housewife.

And if sometimes beatings are needed for discipline, so be it.

It's all about that, discipline.

"Work sets you free."

That was the motto upon entering San Patrignano.

-All these jobs were unpaid. -[dogs barking]

There was no psychological support.

"Work and you'll feel better."

If you don't like your field of work, that's even better!

Because the more you learn to do the things you don't like,

the more you learn to do your duties.

There was a sort of subservient mentality.

Many had this image on their bedroom wall of "Saint" Muccioli.

He was considered as Jesus Christ, the Savior.

I remember once, in the dining hall, Vincenzo was lying on a couch.

Below him there was a girl and he was punching her.

We didn't see it as something wrong,

because I had become like one of them,

who agreed with these fascist methods.

[clapping loudly]

[Negri] Not long after I arrived at San Patrignano,

I went to the library to take a look at some books.

I realized that, although the library was well-stocked,

there was little that interested me.

[indistinct chattering]

There was this girl who told me

that you couldn't find everything there.

You could read romantic stories or even classic books, but…

[inhales deeply]

I started talking to this girl

and soon realized that we were from the same town,

she was from Milan too, and we were roughly the same age.

She was someone who… shared my same interests.

This girl was Natalia Berla.

[man] The relationship with my twin sister was…

good, very close.

We were twins, you know.

The year Natalia entered San Patrignano,

we had no information.

We knew she was there, but we couldn't communicate.

After a year, she started writing, and she was enthusiastic

about the way she was and about how she was feeling better.

Natalia used to write to me, even about Muccioli.

If someone runs away…

She wrote good things, that he was an exceptional man,

understanding, caring.

[Natalia Berla] My dearest Sebastiano, I have some fantastic news.

I have my own competition horse.

I am joining the equestrian team, and I am the first girl to do so.

[horse grunting]

Letters.

You can write whenever you want and as much as you want.

That's not a problem.

But remember that I open and read all the letters.

I was in charge of reading the letters

that came and were sent by the guys.

They were carefully opened

so that the envelopes didn't tear.

If there wasn't anything suspicious,

they were sealed again and sent.

But the ones that could compromise the guys' path to recovery were binned.

[Sebastiano Berla] San Patrignano was very controlled.

So if you wrote,

"I don't want to be here anymore. Come and get me,"

this letter would never be delivered.

[dog barking]

After the first year, my mom and I went to see her.

The visit didn't last very long.

It was maybe an hour or two at most,

and she was always accompanied by her…

"guardian," like they were called there.

She was never alone.

One morning, in March, 1989, Muccioli calls me

and tells me, "Look, I have some bad news.

Your sister tried to kill herself, but she's okay.

She was taken to Rimini's hospital.

-It's only a collapsed lung." -[siren wailing]

[ominous music playing]

So, I got in the car and went straight there,

to the hospital in Rimini.

I asked the reception where I could find Natalia Berla.

They say, "Sorry, there is no Natalia Berla."

And I say, "Could you double check?

I received a call from San Patrignano this morning

that she was brought here by ambulance,

my twin sister, so she must be here. "

And the lady said, "Well, they brought in a girl,

but she's in the morgue."

[slams door]

[reflective instrumental music plays]

Subtitle translation by Angelica Lacetera