Il caimano (film)
Encyclopedia
The Caiman is a 2006 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Nanni Moretti
and starring Silvio Orlando
and Margherita Buy
. Focusing on Silvio Berlusconi
's vicissitudes, it was released just before the beginning of the 2006 elections
, in which Berlusconi lost. It was one of the most successful films of 2006 in Italy. It was entered into the 2006 Cannes Film Festival
.
), a cockeyed film producer, who did some trash movies starring his wife Paola (Margherita Buy
) in the 1970s. He also has two young sons loved by him and his wife. During this hommage, a young woman presents him the script of a movie she wants to direct with his help.
Slated to start on a project celebrating the return voyage of Columbus just after his discovery of America, Bruno is stunned when his director, Franco Caspio, quits because of the low budget. Suddenly Bruno has no projects, no financing and no leverage.
Added to his many troubles, Bruno's wife asks for a separation even though they have two sons. She wants to pursue her artistic options.
Bruno reads the offered script and realizes that it's a thinly disguised account of Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian media magnate who promoted his political career through his TV stations. Knowing this could draw political and legal heat, not to mention difficulty for finding funding, the young woman convinces Bruno to start production on The Caiman. The film shows how secret money, slush funds and Swiss bank accounts start Il Caimano's career as a big building developer. She hopes that the film will influence voters in the elections slated for 2006.
Starting to fall in love with the writer, Bruno meets her lesbian partner and her son 'made' in a 'journey' to the Netherlands.
The production of the film is rife with problems, including the defection of the main actor Marco Pulici (Michele Placido
), but the plot of The Caiman also deals with the domestic issues between Bonomo and Paola until their final separation, with the compromises made for their two sons.
Despite growing evidence that his film will never be completed, Bonomo decides to shoot the last scene, which shows the political nucleus behind the film: in it, Silvio Berlusconi (played by Nanni Moretti
himself) enters the tribunal room to hear the ruling against him (see Legal investigations of Berlusconi), which sentences him to seven years of jail. Notwithstanding the sentence, Berlusconi/Moretti exits the tribunal while a crowd throws debris at the judges, including a Molotov cocktail
.
The whole, crude scene is not only an allusion to Berlusconi's judiciary controversies, but also to his powerful ability to communicate, which (in Moretti's view) led Italian people to support him anyway despite his controversial past.
Numerous Italian film makers play minor parts in the film. These include Paolo Sorrentino
, Giuliano Montaldo
, Carlo Mazzacurati
, Tatti Sanguinetti, Paolo Virzì
and Antonello Grimaldi
while actor and director Michele Placido
is one of the main characters.
Although the project script is meant to address Berlusconi, the first 17 minutes of this movie cover Bruno and his troubles.
The first important scene in the 'real Caimano history' is a suitcase full of money crashing through his office's ceiling. Caimano uses this wind fall to start his career building an entire community project costing 500 million lires per day. No clearer explanation has been offered in real life.
Other scenes are more explicit. When 'The Caiman' (no other name is given for this title character) find Italian government investigators in his offices, searching for sources of his money, he hires away the chief investigator, Cesari, and uses him as trusted consultant.
Scenes with the 'real' Berlusconi show him testifying in a trial talking about his lavish presents to supporters. Another clip exposes his heavyhanded oratory at the European Parliament when as the president in July 2003 he called a critical Martin Schultz "Kapò", a Nazi police agent. But Berlusconi made no secret that he thought the European Parliamentarians to be 'Tourists of democracy' (minutes 45-47).
Other explicit episodes about Berlusconi include discussions with Indro Montanelli, his start in politics in 1993, the building of Milano 2 and the Swiss black funds.
The Caiman's economic abundance contrasts sharply with the money scarcity in Italian cinematographic industry. To make the Columbus movie, given the budget offered by public TV, Bruno wanted to use a ship's model made by Caspio's grandson. That was all that could be afforded. In a later sequence, Bruno follows a transport truck loaded with Columbus' full sized sailing ship. Arriving at the night set of the Columbus movie, Bruno finds his ex-director Caspio as director and ex-leading man Pulici as Columbus. Although initially Bruno's concept, the project was switched to a wealthier producer Aurelio De Laurentiis
when Bruno failed to obtain financing. (see the Caravella initial discussion).
Another pointed comment at minute 22, 'Tell me, how frequently do Italian movies use an helicopter?', refers to Caimano's personal frequent use.
'Modern relations style' threads throughout Moretti's film. Cell phone calls play a critical role no less than 18 times in the film and in the story. Cell phones seem to offer a way to participate in another location at the same time, although as noted the use detracts from full attention needed or deserved in both places.
Lego bricks play an aggregation element for all the family. Both parents and sons hunt together to find missing pieces to finish the 'astroship'. When they separate, due to the choice made by Bruno's wife, the astroship is broken by their son.
Nanni Moretti
Giovanni "Nanni" Moretti is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter and actor.-Life and work:Moretti was born in Bruneck, South Tyrol , in 1953 to parents who were teachers...
and starring Silvio Orlando
Silvio Orlando
Silvio Orlando is an Italian actor.Orlando was born in Naples. He worked with numerous Italian directors such as Nanni Moretti, Daniele Luchetti, Carlo Mazzacurati, Gabriele Salvatores and others...
and Margherita Buy
Margherita Buy
Margherita Buy is an Italian actress born in Rome on 15 January 1962.-Overview:After a long period of studying at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, she made her breakthrough role in Duccio Tessari's Una grande storia d'amore , which was followed by roles in Daniele Luchetti's two projects Domani...
. Focusing on Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
's vicissitudes, it was released just before the beginning of the 2006 elections
Italian general election, 2006
In the Italian general election, 2006 for the renewal of the two Chambers of the Parliament of Italy held on April 9 and April 10, 2006 the incumbent prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the center-right House of Freedoms, was narrowly defeated by Romano Prodi, leader of the center-left The...
, in which Berlusconi lost. It was one of the most successful films of 2006 in Italy. It was entered into the 2006 Cannes Film Festival
2006 Cannes Film Festival
The 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from May 17, 2006 to May 28, 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury....
.
Plot
Opening with a wedding between two young Communists, officiated by a CP functionary, under the poster of Mao-Tse Tung, the bride suddenly spears the man and escapes, chased by the police. This is the end of 'Cataratte', a 10-years old action B-movie projected in an open air cinema in honor of Bruno Bonomo (Silvio OrlandoSilvio Orlando
Silvio Orlando is an Italian actor.Orlando was born in Naples. He worked with numerous Italian directors such as Nanni Moretti, Daniele Luchetti, Carlo Mazzacurati, Gabriele Salvatores and others...
), a cockeyed film producer, who did some trash movies starring his wife Paola (Margherita Buy
Margherita Buy
Margherita Buy is an Italian actress born in Rome on 15 January 1962.-Overview:After a long period of studying at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, she made her breakthrough role in Duccio Tessari's Una grande storia d'amore , which was followed by roles in Daniele Luchetti's two projects Domani...
) in the 1970s. He also has two young sons loved by him and his wife. During this hommage, a young woman presents him the script of a movie she wants to direct with his help.
Slated to start on a project celebrating the return voyage of Columbus just after his discovery of America, Bruno is stunned when his director, Franco Caspio, quits because of the low budget. Suddenly Bruno has no projects, no financing and no leverage.
Added to his many troubles, Bruno's wife asks for a separation even though they have two sons. She wants to pursue her artistic options.
Bruno reads the offered script and realizes that it's a thinly disguised account of Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian media magnate who promoted his political career through his TV stations. Knowing this could draw political and legal heat, not to mention difficulty for finding funding, the young woman convinces Bruno to start production on The Caiman. The film shows how secret money, slush funds and Swiss bank accounts start Il Caimano's career as a big building developer. She hopes that the film will influence voters in the elections slated for 2006.
Starting to fall in love with the writer, Bruno meets her lesbian partner and her son 'made' in a 'journey' to the Netherlands.
The production of the film is rife with problems, including the defection of the main actor Marco Pulici (Michele Placido
Michele Placido
Michele Placido is an internationally known Italian actor and director. He is best known for the role of Corrado Cattani in the TV series La Piovra.-Life and career:...
), but the plot of The Caiman also deals with the domestic issues between Bonomo and Paola until their final separation, with the compromises made for their two sons.
Despite growing evidence that his film will never be completed, Bonomo decides to shoot the last scene, which shows the political nucleus behind the film: in it, Silvio Berlusconi (played by Nanni Moretti
Nanni Moretti
Giovanni "Nanni" Moretti is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter and actor.-Life and work:Moretti was born in Bruneck, South Tyrol , in 1953 to parents who were teachers...
himself) enters the tribunal room to hear the ruling against him (see Legal investigations of Berlusconi), which sentences him to seven years of jail. Notwithstanding the sentence, Berlusconi/Moretti exits the tribunal while a crowd throws debris at the judges, including a Molotov cocktail
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
.
The whole, crude scene is not only an allusion to Berlusconi's judiciary controversies, but also to his powerful ability to communicate, which (in Moretti's view) led Italian people to support him anyway despite his controversial past.
Cast
- Silvio OrlandoSilvio OrlandoSilvio Orlando is an Italian actor.Orlando was born in Naples. He worked with numerous Italian directors such as Nanni Moretti, Daniele Luchetti, Carlo Mazzacurati, Gabriele Salvatores and others...
as Bruno Bonomo - Margherita BuyMargherita BuyMargherita Buy is an Italian actress born in Rome on 15 January 1962.-Overview:After a long period of studying at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, she made her breakthrough role in Duccio Tessari's Una grande storia d'amore , which was followed by roles in Daniele Luchetti's two projects Domani...
as Paola Bonomo / Aidra - Jasmine TrincaJasmine TrincaJasmine Trinca is an Italian actress.She began her career in 2001, chosen by Nanni Moretti for his award-winning The Son's Room, receiving the Guglielmo Biraghi prize as best new talent of the year...
as Teresa - Michele PlacidoMichele PlacidoMichele Placido is an internationally known Italian actor and director. He is best known for the role of Corrado Cattani in the TV series La Piovra.-Life and career:...
as Marco Pulici / Silvio Berlusconi - Giuliano MontaldoGiuliano MontaldoGiuliano Montaldo is an Italian film director.While he was still a young student, Montaldo was recruited by the director Carlo Lizzani for the role of leading actor in the film Achtung! Banditi!...
as Franco Caspio - Antonello GrimaldiAntonello GrimaldiAntonio Luigi Grimaldi, known as Antonello Grimaldi is an Italian actor, film and television director, and screenwriter.-Biography:Grimaldi was born on 14 August 1955 in Sassari,...
as Direttore di Produzione - Paolo SorrentinoPaolo SorrentinoPaolo Sorrentino is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He was born in Naples.Sorrentino's first film as screenwriter, Polvere di Napoli, was released in 1998. He began directing several short movies, like L'amore non ha confini, in 1998, and La notte lunga, in 2001...
as Marito di Aidra - Elio De Capitani as Silvio Berlusconi
- Tatti Sanguineti as Beppe Savonese
- Jerzy StuhrJerzy StuhrJerzy Stuhr is one of the most popular, influential and versatile Polish actors. He also works as a screenwriter, film director and drama professor...
as Jerzy Sturovsky - Toni Bertorelli as Indro Montanelli
- Matteo GarroneMatteo GarroneMatteo Garrone is an Italian film maker.Born in Rome, the son of a theatre critic, Nico Garrone and a photographer, in 1996 Garrone won the Sacher d'Oro, an award sponsored by Nanni Moretti, with the short film Silhouette, that became one of the three episodes that are on his first long film ...
as Direttore della fotografia - Lorenzo Alessandri as Aiuto regista
- Giancarlo Basili as Fritz Simmons, lo scenografo
- Anna BonaiutoAnna BonaiutoAnna Bonaiuto is an Italian actress. She has appeared in 48 films and television shows since 1973. She starred in L'amore molesto, which was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.-Selected filmography:...
as Pubblico Ministero
Numerous Italian film makers play minor parts in the film. These include Paolo Sorrentino
Paolo Sorrentino
Paolo Sorrentino is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He was born in Naples.Sorrentino's first film as screenwriter, Polvere di Napoli, was released in 1998. He began directing several short movies, like L'amore non ha confini, in 1998, and La notte lunga, in 2001...
, Giuliano Montaldo
Giuliano Montaldo
Giuliano Montaldo is an Italian film director.While he was still a young student, Montaldo was recruited by the director Carlo Lizzani for the role of leading actor in the film Achtung! Banditi!...
, Carlo Mazzacurati
Carlo Mazzacurati
Carlo Mazzacurati is an Italian film director and screenwriter born in Padua. He started his cinema career in 1980.His better known film include Il Toro and La lingua del santo...
, Tatti Sanguinetti, Paolo Virzì
Paolo Virzì
Paolo Virzì is a film director, writer and producer. He is one of the most acclaimed storytellers for the screen and is considered to be one of the major heirs of the Italian-style comedy film tradition.-Biography:...
and Antonello Grimaldi
Antonello Grimaldi
Antonio Luigi Grimaldi, known as Antonello Grimaldi is an Italian actor, film and television director, and screenwriter.-Biography:Grimaldi was born on 14 August 1955 in Sassari,...
while actor and director Michele Placido
Michele Placido
Michele Placido is an internationally known Italian actor and director. He is best known for the role of Corrado Cattani in the TV series La Piovra.-Life and career:...
is one of the main characters.
Comments
In Moretti's words, The Caiman is not only a political film. He stated that the film deals mainly with the cultural vices of Italian people, and also the story about the dissolution of a common family. Basically, this is a movie that talks about the making of a movie, between personal and economical troubles, territory opened by Nanni Moretti in his previous production Aprile.Although the project script is meant to address Berlusconi, the first 17 minutes of this movie cover Bruno and his troubles.
The first important scene in the 'real Caimano history' is a suitcase full of money crashing through his office's ceiling. Caimano uses this wind fall to start his career building an entire community project costing 500 million lires per day. No clearer explanation has been offered in real life.
Other scenes are more explicit. When 'The Caiman' (no other name is given for this title character) find Italian government investigators in his offices, searching for sources of his money, he hires away the chief investigator, Cesari, and uses him as trusted consultant.
Scenes with the 'real' Berlusconi show him testifying in a trial talking about his lavish presents to supporters. Another clip exposes his heavyhanded oratory at the European Parliament when as the president in July 2003 he called a critical Martin Schultz "Kapò", a Nazi police agent. But Berlusconi made no secret that he thought the European Parliamentarians to be 'Tourists of democracy' (minutes 45-47).
Other explicit episodes about Berlusconi include discussions with Indro Montanelli, his start in politics in 1993, the building of Milano 2 and the Swiss black funds.
The Caiman's economic abundance contrasts sharply with the money scarcity in Italian cinematographic industry. To make the Columbus movie, given the budget offered by public TV, Bruno wanted to use a ship's model made by Caspio's grandson. That was all that could be afforded. In a later sequence, Bruno follows a transport truck loaded with Columbus' full sized sailing ship. Arriving at the night set of the Columbus movie, Bruno finds his ex-director Caspio as director and ex-leading man Pulici as Columbus. Although initially Bruno's concept, the project was switched to a wealthier producer Aurelio De Laurentiis
Aurelio De Laurentiis
Aurelio De Laurentiis is a prominent Italian film producer, through his company, Filmauro. He is also the current chairman of his native Italian football club Napoli....
when Bruno failed to obtain financing. (see the Caravella initial discussion).
Another pointed comment at minute 22, 'Tell me, how frequently do Italian movies use an helicopter?', refers to Caimano's personal frequent use.
'Modern relations style' threads throughout Moretti's film. Cell phone calls play a critical role no less than 18 times in the film and in the story. Cell phones seem to offer a way to participate in another location at the same time, although as noted the use detracts from full attention needed or deserved in both places.
Lego bricks play an aggregation element for all the family. Both parents and sons hunt together to find missing pieces to finish the 'astroship'. When they separate, due to the choice made by Bruno's wife, the astroship is broken by their son.