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05 July1982
Italy 3 Brazil 2
Author
Ermanno Acanfora
Format
Super8
Credits
Original sound

'This is not a moment of triumphalism, but of heartfelt and choral participation of the people in an agonistic event of world importance'. The sound commentary is stentorian, like a newsreel, in this Super8 made by Ermanno Acanfora. The filmmaker rattles off dates, numbers, statistics of an extraordinary victory against all odds: the national football team on 5 July 1982 has just beaten the strongest Brazilian national team ever. The Brazilians are out of the World Cup in Spain. However, Acanfora and his camera were not in Barcelona, they were in Sorrento, and from a window he filmed the participation of the people, the celebrations and a carousel of cars, mopeds and means of locomotion never seen before and destined to enter the collective memory. A true liberation. The slogan that came out of the 1982 World Cup, changing that of a few years earlier and ending a dramatic season of violent clashes and terrorism, could then be: 'A victory will bury you'. The 1980s have begun, there will not exactly be a solution to all ills, but they will be particularly colourful years of announced triumphalism. For now, everything is tinged with blue and the colours of the Italian flag, even the most beloved president will raise his fists in victory and the rock star par excellence will wear the national football team jersey at concerts. Acanfora's style is quite different, yet these emotional images are a portrait of the country at that moment. And it is as if they all sing together: 'Let's Spend The Night Together'.

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