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DE RUEHMIL #0209/01 2930834
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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

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 
"