AllMovie

A massive natural disaster nearly destroys a city in Italy, while corruption and political double-dealing may well finish the job in this documentary from filmmaker Sabina Guzzanti. In April 2009, the city of L'Aquila in Central Italy was hit by an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the MMS scale; over three hundred people lost their lives, nearly 1,500 were injured and approximately 65,000 lost their homes, while many of the city's most historic buildings and artwork were turned to rubble in the disaster. Swift and decisive action was needed from the Italian government, and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, hoping to win back the good will of the people following a number of embarrassing scandals, used the L'Aquila earthquake as an opportunity to burnish his reputation. Berlusconi pledged to rebuild L'Aquila, and to bring global attention to the city's troubles he arranged for the G8 Summit to be moved from Sardinia to L'Aquila. However, Italy's Civil Protection Agency, an organization designed to deal with public crises, is run by one of Berlusconi's cronies, Guido Bertolaso, who was also plagued by scandal, and together they used their power to channel emergency monies to their colleagues without public oversight. Meanwhile, over two thirds of those displaced by the L'Aquila earthquake are still waiting for new housing, many haven't even been able to return to the city, and no one knows when or if the great city will ever return to its former glory. Draquila, L'Italia Che Trema (aka Draquila: Italy Trembles) received its world premiere at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.