Indro Montanelli TV

An exciting journey into Italian TV of the 1950s and today to revisit stories, events, and key figures of the twentieth century through the interviews and testimonies of Italy's most famous journalist. A treasure trove of images and words still little known, collected by that small screen which Montanelli frequented for years as a commentator and polemicist, as interviewer and interviewee. His very long career leads to the revocation in this first DVD of his experiences as a war correspondent, his conception of journalism, the relationship with readers and colleagues. An unusual Montanelli on TV who even in front of the cameras confirms his strong vocation as a reporter at the service of the public.

How important are mentors? Who was Leo Longanesi, and what was the relationship between Montanelli and the other two most famous journalists of his generation? In an important interview, at times ironic and irreverent, Montanelli recalls his beginnings in the world of print and the teachings of a giant of journalism. And then Enzo Biagi and Giorgio Bocca: different from each other, different from Montanelli, but in constant dialogue with him and with his way of understanding the profession of a reporter. Television programs, starting from the 1960s, give us back those comparisons between worlds and antithetical styles, never stingy, however, with food for thought and significant testimonies on the facts of Italy and the world.

Italians and their flaws, contradictions, bursts of generosity, the remarkable ability to adapt in any situation, the inclination towards compromise: vices and virtues of a people stigmatized by a Montanelli as incisive and insightful as ever, an "anti-Italian" who criticizes and lashes out at his country precisely because he loves it. These exceptional documents show him in the unusual role of "commentator reporter" in the early sixties, when a cast of great stars - including Paolo Ferrari, Nino Manfredi, Raffaele Pisu, Franca Rame - animated an interesting satire show on customs, Italians Are Made Like This. A smart television, open to intellectuals, that still appears to us today in all its disruptive modernity.