AllMovie

Bella Ciao is the name of a song popular among the Italian anti-fascist resistance movement during World War II. It is an appropriate name for a documentary detailing the continuing history of Italian anti-fascism. The resurgence of neo-fascist groups in Italy and Europe, and opposition to these, is also given attention. The context for the documentary is a 1995 concert commemorating Liberation Day. Among the bands appearing (and interviewed) are Yo Yo Mundi and Mau Mau. World War II partisans are among the others interviewed. During the interviews, a wide gap in view and action between the generations is revealed, which is partly bridged by the concertgoers' warm reception of a speech by an elderly partisan who was only recently freed from imprisonment for his anti-fascist activities during the war. Rare footage of fascist Italy further enlivens this film.