This is Domenico Spinella,
There's been a shoot-out in Via Fani! Four dead, one wounded,
Send an ambulance!
It's President Moro's escort! He's not here,
There's been a massacre! Send an ambulance now!
Block it off, Don't let anyone approach!
- When did it happen? - Five minutes ago!
- We'll be right there, - I repeat, Via Fani!
EXTERIOR NIGHT
Them, Masons every one, members of the P2 lodge,
ex-fascists or still fascists, old fogies,
They're supposed to save Aldo? They hate him,
Yet they're all I have,
The Red Brigades called ANSA endorsing Moro's kidnapping
and, I quote, "the elimination of Cossiga's leatherheads",
but they haven't claimed responsibility,
A woman reported she heard at 8,15 a,m, on a free radio,,,
Radio Città Futura,
That Moro, or another political big shot, would be kidnapped,
45 minutes before the ambush,
We've questioned the lady and the station manager,
We have to be practical, decide on a strategy right now,
ignoring theories about international conflict,
who'll benefit and who won't,
So,,,
what do you suggest?
Strict isolation of all terrorists currently in jail,
Let's step up sea patrols from Livorno to Salerno,
We've alerted the smugglers,
How do they come into it?
To prevent Moro being sent abroad, to Lebanon or Palestine,
Let's do the same for all ports on the Adriatic,
Yes, Trieste, Venice, Ancona,
Open diplomatic channels with all Mediterranean countries,
and warn them against collaborating with these terrorists,
Yes, I absolutely agree with you,
Spinella, what do we have so far that's solid? Even just a bit,
We have some information, A pilot's cap was found in Via Fani,
We can assume the terrorists disguised themselves as pilots,
I suggest showing witnesses
photos of the Red Brigades that we have on file
to see if they recognise anyone,
We need to agree on certain details regarding these photos,
Should we publish pictures of known or wanted terrorists?
Arrest all people deemed to be in touch with the Red Brigades?
- Maybe, - Avoid "maybe",
It would be preferable to tail them,
They're our contacts,
Only they can lead us to their hideouts, their houses,
Mass surveillance rather than mass arrests,
We must send a strong signal,
The state is strong, present and won't give in,
Obviously,
I propose declaring a state of war and reinstating the death penalty,
measures suggested in political circles that we approve of,
General, the state of war is declared when there is armed insurrection,
And what's this?
Re the death penalty, we must catch them then alter the constitution,
- That's no small feat, - A reward, then?
I'd rule that out, Admiral, We're not in the Wild West,
We must save Aldo Moro's life,
We must!
It's our top priority, in strict adherence with the constitution,
We'll adjourn till 7 p,m,
These are,,,
three resignation letters, depending on the different scenarios,
Moro free and safe, Moro wounded and Moro dead,
Only you know,
- Why resign? - Later,
I'll resign later, Now we have to save him,
But my political career ends here, I'm politically dead,
Can you see them too?
The stains, See them?
No, I can't, They're invisible,
They're there,
We have nothing concrete,
It's only been a few hours, Francesco,
Luigi, with kidnappings, the more time passes, the more hope fades,
Sardinia taught us that,
A mouse is gone as soon as you look at it, a lizard is impossible to follow,
Immediate action!
He was a father to me,
He is a father,
I owe him everything,
Everything I am, I owe to Aldo Moro,
And I wasn't able to protect him,
Afterwards it's a waste of time,
Afterwards?
To think about it afterwards is useless,
Aldo didn't want an armoured car,
So he wouldn't feel privileged,
No one will believe me,
545 votes in favour, 30 against, three abstentions,
The speed of the confidence vote in the lower house,
the Senate vote will take place tonight,
is the political parties' reaction to the kidnapping
of the President of Christian Democracy Aido Moro,
Today's tragic events, that you've heard many accounts of,
have also impacted the work of parliament,,,
- Everything's fine, Excellency, - Thanks,
Good night,
Good evening, Excellency, Shall I heat it up for you?
No, thanks, I'm not hungry,
Clear the table and go to bed,
Good night,
Aldo's been kidnapped,
I imagine you already know,
Can I sleep with you?
Listen, I wanted to ask you,,,
Did you know, in two months we're coming to Rome?
What should we see first?
Rome's a labyrinth,
When you've lived here so long you hardly notice its infinite beauty,
The first time I came was on a school trip,
They took us to see the catacombs,
They're cemeteries,
Cemeteries are also labyrinths,
I pretended to get lost,
Francesco, it's Mr Spinella,
Send him in,
This way,
- Good morning, Excellency, - Take a seat,
At last, some good news,
We've located the store that sold them the pilots' uniforms,
This woman bought them,
She ordered them and bought them,
Her name's Adriana Faranda,
She was in Workers' Power, We think she's in the Red Brigades,
We've been to her apartment,
We found only her young daughter who lives with her grandmother,
She can't be reached,
The store clerk is certain, She's a physiognomist,
We think the Red Brigades cell was made up of
Alessio Casimirri, Valerio Morucci, Mario Moretti, Bruno Seghetti and Prospero Gallinari,
They're in the paper, Faranda's isn't,
I came because you told me to brief you personally,
You did the right thing,
I've circulated Faranda's picture to all police cars,
Right,
Let's carry on,,, You carry on,
Do you have kids?
Yes, Two girls, five and eleven years old,
You can still enjoy them,
- Does your wife work? - She's a teacher,
Make sure she keeps her job,
Work occupies the mind, It's a salvation,
Francesco, a communiqué from the Red Brigades, There's a photo,
Moro's alive,
If you'll excuse me, I'll find out more,
He's looking at me,
No, he's looking into the lens,
He's looking at me,
So, he's alive,
Yes, the president's alive and in Rome,
To communicate with each other, the terrorists have to meet in person,
I propose a thorough search, street by street, house to house,
Agreed on the search, but there's also another way,
There are places, like universities,
where the terrorists enjoy freedom and protection,
given by professors and assistants,
That's where I'd focus the activities of our infiltrators,
At La Sapienza, for example,
Many suspects who are now on the run come from there,
I'd contact the Communist Party's security service,
They have many undercover agents in university circles,
We need to share information,
- If we stray from our purview, it'll be chaos, - No, no Communists,
- No collaboration with the Communists, - Commies mean Moscow and the KGB,
This "People's Court" that will try him, as they wrote in their communiqué,
what does it mean?
Will they interrogate him?
They already are, With no regard for the Geneva Conventions,
He might talk,
We have to free him, whatever the cost,
Agreed on the search,
A huge net around Rome,
that we'll lower, then pull in, the mesh ever tightening,
like in hunting,
Starting with the broadest weave,
down to the very finest of all,
Nets that aren't stretched too tight,
they must create a sack,
they have to be caught inside it,
How many phones are being tapped?
The family and his closest collaborators,
the main newspapers, state TV, the Vatican,
- Even the Pope? - I have a precise list,
We'll extend it progressively,
As per your request, we're setting up a listening centre here in the ministry,
Come and take a look, it's reassuring,
Professor Ferracuti, wait in my office, I'll be right with you,
Goodbye,
There, to the right,
Good morning, minister,
- When will you start? - Today,
- We'll work day and night, - Good,
- We're working and Italians need to know it, - Until President Moro is freed,
Very good, Carry on,
What do you think?
Is he sorely tried, desperate?
Is he a man ready to talk?
- Why haven't they killed him? - They don't want to kill him,
- I don't know where I should sit, - Go to your usual place,
They're torturing him,
Let's not get ahead of ourselves,
Where are they hiding Aldo?
No, no, the revelatory dream,,,
What do your patients say?
How are they taking this tragedy?
The younger ones identify with the Red Brigades,
They admire them,
The neurotics are amazed and in awe,
For the psychotics it's more complex, Same with the paranoiacs,
But the awe, the admiration of the neurotics,
is because someone had the courage to do what they had long fantasised about,
The leap, They took the leap,
Admire them,,,
That takes the cake,
"Describing Aldo Moro doesn't take long," their communiqué says,
"It doesn't take long," How can they talk like that?
Such crudeness, such superficiality!
Moretti, their leader, is a factory technician,
Yet I'm supposed to stay quiet,
I graduated summa cum laude at 19! I speak five languages!
A tenured professor at 23,
honorary degrees from the University of Toronto,
Melbourne, Aix-en-Provence, New York, Oxford, Yale!
"It doesn't take long," the people's court,,,
And I have to control myself! But what people!
Does the Valium help you sleep?
Not much,
A few hours,
My wife doesn't want to sleep with me,
She never has,
Ours was an arranged marriage,
She was very beautiful, I was already an MP at 25,
I thought I'd win her over in the end, but no,
She hasn't even phoned me,
For her,,, I don't exist,
Our kids have grown up and moved out,
All these years, never a photo together,
She's set a record,
Never a picture at my side, not a single one,
You're a psychiatrist,
You understand how I could be comforted
by a photo of us in a silver frame on my desk,
The mind opens if you're in a good mood,
They're two separate things,
My life isn't a novel, It's not a novel,
The investigation continues into the murder of five bodyguards
and the abduction of Aldo Moro,
Since yesterday, the army has flanked the police in the massive manhunt,
The decision was made by Minister of the Interior Cossiga
in agreement with the Minister of Defence, after consulting with the Chief Prosecutor,
This initiative permitted
the allocation of more police officers
and financial police, who alternate shifts,
The soldiers are deployed at roadblocks
set up on all access roads to Rome,
They are flanked by the carabinieri,
The investigations are also focused
on the interpretation of the three messages left by the Red Brigades
and on the method used to place them,,,
Via Taranto,
Via Gallia,
Via Casilina,
Piazza Re di Roma,,,
Out of the car, Get out,
Get out and show me your ID,
Show me your ID,
I killed him,
- Where is Moro's body? - I smashed his head in,
My hands are still stained with my father's blood, I killed my father,
Get in your car,
- You have to arrest me, - Go!
- Arrest me, - Get in your car!
- I killed my father, - I'll have you arrested for real!
This morning the press received
two identikits portraying, based on eyewitness accounts,
three of the terrorists who perpetrated the attack in Via Fani,
Good morning, madam, We need to take a look inside,
- Who lives opposite? - A young couple, very reserved,
They go out early in the morning and,,,
- So they might not be home, - Maybe not,
The apartment next door is rented to Mr Borghi, an engineer,
- Thank you, - You're welcome,
What do we do? Break the door in?
- Good morning, Mr Spinella, - Good morning, No one's answering,
- Don't break it in, Keep going, - All right,
Come in,
- Good morning, Excellency, - Good morning,
- Shall I close it? - No, leave it open a crack,
Well?
Not much,
Not much,,, or nothing?
Nothing that directly concerns Aldo Moro,
We've found drug dealers, petty criminals, cheating couples, lunatics,
Lunatics are more disoriented waking up,
I know, I know,
No trace of Red Brigades members,
All right,
Actually, no,,,
It's not all right at all,
- The American consultant has arrived, - Thank you,
Stay close to your family,
- Who's the guy on the horse? - A former King of Italy,
Rome is very beautiful, but,,,
I don't really feel that safe,
- Am I safe here? - Of course you are, 100%,
The kidnapping is a failure which you must overcome,
After Pearl Harbour, America got stronger and won the War,
Since you are the specialist in hostage-takings, what do you think?
Who's behind it?
It's the Red Brigades, no one else,
In this country, you guys love digging around for a second motive behind the first motive,
Then there's a third, fourth, fifth, sixth et cetera,
You're the masters of this,
In the end, everything just ends up like a big mess,
We Americans, we're more rational,
We're linear,
Even if they're in this on their own,,,
we still need to catch them because that is what the public opinion is demanding,
So, what now?
They'll be getting in contact,
That's a given,
So,,,
we wait,
Minister,
Carry on with your work,
Minister, good evening, Thank you for coming,
Do you want to listen?
Please,,,
Take a seat,
Care for a slice of colomba?
No, thank you,
- Still nothing? - No, nothing,
All we're hearing is chatter,
Apart from those being tapped, many are calling of their own initiative,
For company,
Many talk to us about their problems,
Problems at work, loneliness,
One lady, for example,
she told us her husband greets her less affectionately,
hurriedly,
that she doesn't know if he's at home or not,
I'm sorry, I'm wasting your time,
No, no,
I'm interested in how Italians live, the details,
Then there are others who say
President Moro is in that crawl space,
in that attic,,,
But, which?
Around this time, there's always this guy
who is convinced he can locate Moro's hiding place
through revelatory dreams,
Listen,
Last night's dream led me to the ghetto,
Trotsky with a bloody forehead pointing to the ghetto,
And in last night's dream,
but maybe I didn't speak to you,
there was Babel, the great writer of "Red Cavalry",
another illustrious victim of Stalinism,
- If tonight, he were to appear,,, - Are you recording?
Who's speaking?
After you,
Aldo Moro's private secretary has arrived with a letter for you from Moro,
Send him in,
- Your Excellency, - Have a seat,
Thank you,
I received a call from an anonymous Red Brigade member,
He said to go to the Church of Sant'Andrea della Valle,
Did you notify the police? Did you go with them?
I didn't want to risk it,
In the envelope I found a letter for you and one for me and I came here,
Here's the letter,
And what did you do before this?
Before?
You called Mrs Moro, then you went to see her,
Your phone is tapped and so is the one at Moro's house,
Why did you go to see Mrs Moro before coming to me?
The large envelope contained a letter for his wife,
I delivered it to her seeing the anguish she's suffering,
Before coming to me?
Give it to me,
It's with her,
Give me your letter, then,
You made a mistake,
You can go, We'll see to getting Mrs Moro's letter,
"I am considered a political prisoner, subject, as President of Christian Democracy,
"to a trial to ascertain my thirty-year-long responsibility,
"I am writing to you in strict confidentiality
"so that you and our friends, especially the Prime Minister,
"can reflect on the appropriate action to take,
"to avoid worse trouble,"
Giulio,,,
I think we ought to consider Aldo's request,
at least explore opening a secret channel for negotiation,
Look for a mediator, a neutral figure,
We owe it to Aldo and to our conscience,
He's taking the rap for our collective work,
There's a second letter Aldo wrote to his private secretary
in which the Red Brigades propose secret negotiations,
They don't say in exchange for what,
On certain conditions the Red Brigades are willing to negotiate,
How? And at what price?
A pre-emptive move from the Holy See could be useful,
Giulio, this just arrived,
What's going on?
The Red Brigades have published the letter Aldo sent you,
saying "So that nothing is hidden from the people,"
They want to negotiate in secret, but look good publicly,
There's no longer any margin for initiating secret negotiations,
In the condition he's in, our dear Aldo's words
are to be taken with a grain of salt,
He's clearly not himself, I don't recognise him,
He says so himself, he's under full and unchecked domination,
We must answer,
adopt an official, public stance,
The state must not lose face,
We need a word for tomorrow's headlines,
A simple word, firmness,
Not intransigence, firmness,
Minister, you must always, always discredit the hostage, Do you understand?
Can we be firm without having to humiliate him?
Stating that Mr Moro has lost his mind comes with a series of advantages,
It strengthens the defensive institutions
and on top of that
it discredits any confession that he might be coerced into making,
thus reducing the value of the prisoner himself,
We can see imperceptible shaky lines
and also exaggeratedly large letters,
These enlarged letters could reflect
the anguish of a castaway
who, seeing a ship in the distance, shouts for help,
Are there any indications he may have been tortured?
We can't say with any certainty,
but there are many methods the kidnappers could have used
to make President Moro write under duress,
Not classical torture,
Maybe psychotropic drugs, hypnosis, or even sensory deprivation,
It's enough to place two half ping-pong balls in the eye sockets
to induce actual hallucinations,
Good morning, Excellency,
Here's the evaluation,
Aldo is asking me to negotiate,,,
to save his life, not his homeland, Italy,
but his own hide,
He is a man afraid of dying,
In his situation I'd be afraid of dying too,
The government's firm line can be justified by our evaluation,
Aldo is out of his mind,
It's okay,
It's okay, Believe me,
It's better for everyone, even the president,
The state wants to save him, save his life, That's what Aldo Moro is requesting,
- And the Communists? - They want it too, But without losing face,
No one must lose face,
The Communists said that no matter the outcome,
after this letter, Moro is politically dead to them,
Politically,
He brought them into government and they're giving him a funeral,
And we follow them, with lit candles,
What?
Come here,
See the flag? It's all twisted,
It's beautiful to see a flag fluttering in the wind,
ALDO MORO IS CRAZY
Moro is crazy,,, Satisfied now?
Moro's condition is such
that the moral value of his letters has lost credibility,
Professional evaluations suggest he might have been drugged,
We're going in the right direction,
Saving Moro, and protecting the integrity of the country
are two things that cannot go together,
Luigi,
A present,
Thank you,
So it feels more safe,
Thank you,
They're not going to kill him,
They might sentence him but they won't kill him,
- How do you know? - It would be a huge mistake,
First they sentence, then they negotiate,
Even Moro has written that,
But we still have to take into consideration, psychologically,
the possibility that they will kill him,
Francesco!
France', don't you recognize me? Nisticò from the Catanzaro constituency,
23,214 preferences, don't you remember?
Sorry to disturb you, I'd like to introduce you to someone,
He's a friend, a fellow countryman, He's a clairvoyant,
- A clairvoyant? - Yes, but a real one!
A real one!
It's about Aldo,
Speak to my private secretary,
- Don't you want to know where he is?
The illustrious prisoner,
- Of course I want to know, - Then listen to him,
- I'm listening, - Your Excellency, you know truffle dogs?
Truffle dogs?
- You're a hunter, right? - No,
You're a CB radio enthusiast, There's a link,
A guy from my town was discharged from the Aurora Clinic
where I teach music to the residents,
He said that two days ago a man was admitted
and he's being given deep sleep therapy,
under the care of a psychiatrist who never leaves his bedside
and by an anaesthetist of longstanding Communist faith,
The clinic is in the hands of the Communists, hence the name Aurora,
Everything fits,
Members of the Italian Communist Party are still faithful to the Warsaw Pact!
- Listen,,, - Moro is there, asleep,
Sedated day and night,
I see him every night my dreams, He's alive,
- At the Aurora Clinic? - Definitely,
May I take you there?
No, I'll inform the authorities, I'll send someone to see,
- Thank you, - But you have to go!
Your Excellency!
I don't understand what you're doing here,
A suspicious patient has been brought to our attention,
This way,
Doctor, who invited the Black Brigades?
They'll arrest us all,
Doctor, I feel hot,
Is there a fire? Doctor, we need to get out of here,
Take it easy,
Come on, You're getting them all worked up,
This patient, what is he suspected of?
- Don't insist, I can't say any more, - This way,
Come, Your Excellency,
Doctor, what am I doing in here?
- Let me out, - Calm down, You'll be out soon,
Don't get worked up,
- Are we done? - Yes, you're right,
But since we're here now, can't we see them all?
Follow me, This way,
- Your Excellency, are you coming? - No, I'll wait here,
It'll pass,
Let him go,
They're dark thoughts, but they pass, I know,
The food's not bad and they even let you smoke,
On Sunday they give you a glass of wine,
and you don't have to go to Mass,
Then if you're calm they even let you out,,,
and outside there are heaps of women a pensioner can afford,
It's better in here than out there,
How many years until you retire?
You can even have a single room here with all the amenities,
Condemned to death,
Just as you predicted,
It's a calculated move,
Now, we must not show our fear,
We're not afraid of death,
We have to show them that we expected this to happen,
And now it's up to us to force them towards their next move,
- To kill him? - No, absolutely not,
We demand proof that he is still alive,
And we try to get a feeling
of how the country would react
should he be killed,
Against terrorism and violence,
now and always, the resistance!
Against terrorism and violence,
now and always, the resistance!
"Today, April 18 1978,
"marks the end of the dictatorial era of Christian Democracy,
"which for 30 years has dominated with the logic of abuse,
"In concomitance with this date,
"we announce that the President of Christian Democracy, Aldo Moro,
"has been executed by suicide,
"We consent to the retrieval of his body and name the exact place where he lies,
"Aldo Moro's body is submerged on the muddy bottom of Lake Duchessa,
"May they tremble over their misdeeds,
"Cossiga, Andreotti, Taviani and all supporters of the regime,"
It's not authentic, It's written differently from the previous ones,
- It's too brief, - Yes, even the Italian is disjointed,
They might have forced him to commit suicide,
- It's clearly a fake, - Yes,
But it needs to be verified,
ALDO MORO HAS BEEN ASSASSINATED
Sorry, Francesco,
The authors have taken dramatic licence with people and events,
Any connection with any person not explicitly identified, living or dead, is coincidental,