12 dicembre explained

Director:Giovanni Bonfanti
Pier Paolo Pasolini (uncredited)
Producer:Alberto Grimaldi (uncredited)
Giovanni Bonfanti
Cinematography:Sebastiano Celeste
Dimitri Nicolau
Giuseppe Pinori
Enzo Tosi
Roberto Lombardi
Editing:Giovanni Bonfanti
Lamberto Mancini
Maurizio Ponzi
Pier Paolo Pasolini (uncredited)
Music:Pino Masi
Studio:Lotta Continua
European Associated Productions
Distributor:Circolo Ottobre (Italy)
Runtime:43 min (shortened version)
104 min (full version)
Country:Italy
Language:Italian

12 dicembre, also known as Dodici dicembre (eng: December 12th), is a 1972 documentary film directed by Giovanni Bonfanti and Pier Paolo Pasolini (uncredited).[1] [2]

It is an independent documentary about the Piazza Fontana massacre and the death of anarchist Giuseppe Pinelli.

Content

The documentary investigates the Piazza Fontana bombing and the death of anarchist Giuseppe Pinelli, who was taken in by the Italian police for questioning and whose death is believed by some to have been deliberately caused by members of the police force.[3] Through various interviews conducted throughout Italy, it analyses the political climate of the country. Among those interviewed are workers and militants from the Lotta Continua movement, which Pinelli was a member of, as well as deputy Achille Stuani, member of the Italian Communist Party; Licia Pinelli, Giuseppe's widow, and several lawyers including those who defended Pietro Valpreda, who was arrested for the bombing.[4]

Production

Development

The film was made by Pier Paolo Pasolini on the proposal and with the collaboration of some militants of Lotta Continua, a formation of the communist-oriented far-left.[5] During the making of the film, there were creative differences between Pasolini and the group's management. Pasolini wanted to make a denunciation film which would focus on the anthropological and social aspect of the country during that period.[6] The disagreements continued throughout the editing phase.In an interview with Panorama on 31 December 1970, Pasolini mentioned Attacco al Power (Attack on Power) and 1969 among the film's provisional titles.

Filming

Filming began on December 12, 1970 and concluded in June of the following year. It took place in the quarries of Carrara, in Milan, Viareggio, Naples and at the Musocco cemetery, Pinelli's burial place. The film was financed by Alberto Grimaldi.[6]

Editing

During filming, 80,000m of film was used,[7] but only 4000m was edited; the remainder is considered lost. The montage was carried out entirely by Pasolini.

Soundtrack

The music in the film was composed by Pino Masi, then a member of Lotta Continua.[8]

Credits

In order to avoid any potential problems with the law, Pasolini and Grimaldi decided to leave their names out of the film's credits.

Distribution

In Italy the film was first distributed by Circolo Ottobre on 20 May 1972. The documentary was also presented in the same year at the Berlin Film Festival and on October 31, 2014 at the Vienna International Film Festival[9]

The shortened version of the film is available on YouTube.

Home video edition

The shortened version was released in 1995 on VHS and in 2011 on DVD.

Full version

In 2013, the full version of the film, considered lost, was found in a film archive in Hamburg.[10] This version, after being restored by the German publishing house Laika Verlag and the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna, was screened in Bologna in 2015 during the Cinema Ritrovato event.[11]

Reception

Il Morandini gives the film 3 stars out of 5. The documentary was reviewed by Alberto Moravia on 30 April 1972 in L'Espresso.

References

  1. Web site: 12 Dicembre . Cinematografo.
  2. Web site: 12 dicembre . Aamod.
  3. Web site: Italy from the 1960s . 17 July 2011 . Encyclopædia Britannica.
  4. Web site: 12 DICEMBRE: PASOLINI RITROVATO . FilmIdee.
  5. Web site: MYmovies.it . 12 Dicembre . 2023-11-08 . MYmovies.it . it.
  6. Web site: Pasolini in lotta: . 2023-11-08 . Cinefilia Ritrovata . it-IT.
  7. Web site: 12 dicembre, il film ritrovato - di Pier Paolo Pasolini e Lotta Continua . LaSchighera.
  8. Web site: Pasolini Documentari 12 dicembre Lotta continua Città Pasolini Archivi . 2023-11-08 . Pier Paolo Pasolini . it.
  9. Web site: 12 DICEMBRE .
  10. Web site: "12 Dicembre" di Pasolini all’Arsenale il 29 Febbraio .
  11. Web site: 2015-06-30 . 12 DICEMBRE (1972), di Pier Paolo Pasolini e Giovanni Bonfanti . 2023-11-08 . CineLapsus.com . it-IT.