The Great Ambition | Berlinguer. La Grande Ambizione
Director | Andrea Segre
Presented by CAMPARI
Elio Germano delivers a standout performance as Enrico Berlinguer in this meticulous, intelligent biopic of a man for whom life and politics, private and collective, were inextricably linked.
Historical Drama, Biopic | Italy | 2024 | 123 mins | Italian with English subtitles
CAST | Elio Germano, Stefano Abbati, Francesco Acquaroli, Paolo Calabresi, Fabrizia Sacchi
Italy, 1970s. Enrico Berlinguer is the Secretary of the most important Communist Party in the western world, with over one million seven hundred thousand card-holding members and more than twelve million voters, united by the great ambition of achieving socialism within a democracy.
Challenging the dogmas of the Cold War and a world divided in two, Berlinguer and the Italian Communist Party (PCI) sought for five years to come to power, opening a season of dialogue with the Christian Democracy and almost changing history. Covering the period from 1973 when Berlinguer escapes an assassination attempt by the Bulgarian secret services in Sofia, makes it through election campaigns and trips to Moscow, onto the front pages of newspapers worldwide and holds a risky relationship with power until 1978.
The Great Ambition is a compelling portrait of the popular leaders at his peak.
An impressive, graceful performance from Germano
Roger Ebert
WINNER
Best Actor, Best Editing - David di Donatello Awards 2025
WINNER
Best Actor - Rome Film Festival
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Goteborg Film Festival 2025 (Voyage)