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### Viewing cable 09MILAN209, LEGA'S BIG NIGHT OUT: FILM PREMIERE OF ""BARBAROSSA""

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
09MILAN209 | 2009-10-20 08:34 | 2011-03-06 11:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Consulate Milan

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    VZCZCXRO4391
    RR RUEHFL RUEHNP
    DE RUEHMIL #0209/01 2930834
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    R 200834Z OCT 09
    FM AMCONSUL MILAN
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1857
    INFO RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 8935
    RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE 0227
    RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES 0222
    RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

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    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MILAN 000209

    SIPDIS

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2019
    TAGS: PREL PGOV IT

    SUBJECT: LEGA'S BIG NIGHT OUT: FILM PREMIERE OF ""BARBAROSSA""

    Classified By: Consul General Carol Z. Perez for Reasons 1.4(b) and (d)

     ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Hundreds of local and national politicians,
    including PM Berlusconi, attended the Milan premiere of the
    colossal Braveheart-like epic film ""Barbarossa.""  The movie
    tells the story of the birth of northern Italy,s Lombard
    League and its defeat of the Holy Roman army at the 12th
    century Battle of Legnano.  Throughout its production,
    Northern League (LN) leader Umberto Bossi and fellow LN
    colleagues have supported and eagerly anticipated the film,
    which describes in loving, big-blockbuster detail the
    quasi-historical origins of their modern political movement.
    Regardless of the quality of the film, ""Barbarossa"" brings to
    life the populist and traditional imagery that underscores
    much of the LN,s increasing popular appeal among northern
    Italian voters. END SUMMARY.

    MEDIEVAL NIGHT AT THE MOVIES
    ¶2. (U) On October 2, thousands of eager spectators were
    treated to a screening of the  medieval war epic
    ""Barbarossa."" The premiere was held in the picturesque
    courtyard of Milan,s Castello Sforzesco, illuminated by
    candles and torches and populated by dozens of actors dressed
    as medieval knights and swordsmen.  Unlike a regular movie
    premiere, however, the red carpet featured virtually no
    actors nor actresses; the guest list was instead a veritable
    who,s who of center-right politicians.  A beaming Northern
    League (LN) leader Umberto Bossi sat in the front row next to
    Prime Minister Berlusconi and numerous Cabinet ministers
    (Minister of Economy Giulio Tremonti, Minister of Legislative
    Simplification Roberto Calderoli, Minister of Agriculture
    Luca Zaia, Minister of Defense La Russa, among others) along
    with Mayor of Milan Letizia Moratti, Lombardy Regional
    President Roberto Formigoni, and hundreds of LN politicians
    and supporters, bedecked in the party,s traditional bright
    green scarves and ties.

    ""BARBAROSSA"":  PLOT AND CONTEXT
    ¶3. (U) ""Barbarossa"" recounts the destruction of Milan in 1162
    by the army of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I in his quest to
    dominate northern Italy, and the subsequent birth of the
    Lombard League, an alliance of northern Italian cities united
    by Milanese blacksmith Alberto da Giussano that successfully
    repulsed the much larger imperial army at the Battle of
    Legnano.  The battle itself serves as the mythical birthplace
    of the modern LN party, which (accurately or not) traces its
    roots back to the Lombard League and claims as its mandate
    those of the original League:  northern Italian autonomy and
    defense from external threats (though Roman bureaucrats have
    replaced the soldiers of the Holy Roman Empire).  The movie,
    which even features Bossi as an extra, is rich with symbolism
    beloved by modern LN supporters; it features a lengthy
    montage in which hero da Guissano forges hundreds of steel
    rings emblazoned with the shield that serves as the modern
    LN,s emblem, and distributes them to eager Lombard League
    recruits.

    ¶4. (U) The movie, directed by Bossi,s friend and LN
    supporter Renzo Martinelli, has had the firm backing of the
    LN throughout its production.  The official LN website
    featured links to ""Barbarossa"" and other information about
    the movie prior to its release, and LN newspaper ""La Padania""
    even devoted five pages to coverage of the movie on the day
    of its Milan premiere, under the lead title, ""The story of
    our people who recaptured their liberty.""  Speaking to
    journalists at the premiere, Bossi showered praise on the
    ""modern Alberto da Giussanos"" whose continued fight for
    freedom is a ""sign that the desire for liberty will never
    die.""

    ¶5. (C) COMMENT: ""Barbarossa"", much like the political party
    that supported the film,s creation, is short on subtlety and
    heavily reliant on mythology and folklorist symbolism.  This
    flair for dramatic imagery has helped the Northern League
    stand out among the ever-evolving, and rhetorically boring,
    array of political parties in Italy.  Furthermore, as
    evidenced by the crush of political VIPs at the opening of an
    otherwise forgettable war movie, the LN leadership has
    managed to create a relevant and important party, at the
    national as well as regional level, because beneath its crude
    rhetoric and silly rituals, it understands and taps into the
    deep-seated and very real concerns of voters in northern
    Italy.  Many in the affluent north, the traditional economic
    and industrial backbone of the country, feel that the central
    government in Rome takes their money and uses it to feed its
    enormous, inefficient bureaucracy and to subsidize the
    chronically underperforming South.  Furthermore, the influx
    of immigrants to the region makes many northern Italians feel
    that their geographical and cultural spaces are under attack
    from outsiders.  Therefore, for LN supporters ""Barbarossa's""
    box office success is beside the point.  Its existence alone,
    with its big-screen glorification of the Lombard League and

    MILAN 00000209  002 OF 002

    its noble fight for liberty from outside rule, underscores
    the party,s most populist and viscerally resonant themes.
     PEREZ
    "

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