Videocracy has Berlusconi blushing

Videocracy by Italian-Swedish director Erik Gandini, which will be showing in Swedish cinemas on Friday, has already sparked controversy in Italy (where it is to be released on 4 September) for its commentary on the business interests of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The documentary, which will feature in the out-of-competition line up of the next Venice Film Festival (2-12 September), examines how privately owned television — an area in which the Italian head of government maintains a virtual monopoly — has changed Italy over the last 30 years. La Repubblica reports that the Italian state-owned network RAI, and Mediaset, which manages Berlusconi's channels, have refused to broadcast the trailer for the documentary, on the basis that it is "clearly a political criticism of the government." In the columns of Dagens Nyheter, Gandini puts forward the view that "Berlusconi has succeeded in destroying Italian democracy with a television offering of scantily clad dancing girls. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with this type of entertainment, but you have to understand that it is quite as innocent as it seems." However, he also adds that "the decadence of those in power, who increasingly resemble characters in Salò, or the 120 days of Sodom" by Pier Paolo Pasolini "may be some cause for hope." Given the recent sexual and romantic excesses of the Cavaliere, "The revolution may come from Berlusconi's greatest joy and weakness: the ladies."