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01 April1945
Last Easter of War
Author
Giuseppe Bacigalupo
Format
9,5mm
Credits
Music by William Succi. Mix audio Théophile Gagnard & Pierpaolo Ovarini

'Not everyone likes the climb'. With this intertitle, the film of the apparently peaceful and carefree Easter outing on 1 April 1945 opens. We are in Liguria, on the outskirts of Rapallo, Giuseppe Bacigalupo and his wife Frida, both doctors, and friends are celebrating: the lamb spit is turning, the flasks of wine are not lacking, the guitar cheers up the atmosphere. The lamb is the only one sacrificed and the climb up the hill seems to be the only difficulty, yet there will still be blood flowing before the Liberation, there will be fighting and killings in the vicinity, even in Rapallo where the Bacigalupo family live, but now is not the time to think about it, now is the time to live in suspense - at least for a little while longer - and it is better to spend the remaining time 'with one's mouth full'. Bacigalupo - who works in a military hospital - will edit a 9.5 mm film, titling it 'The War Years', but this war in the film images, as if by magic, seems not to be there, it only remains in the title. However, we will soon see footage, again by Giuseppe, of the Americans entering to liberate the city. The amateur camera is thus reserved for moments of peace, to construct happy narratives, to save the memories of an everyday life stolen from History.

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