Hammamet

Hammamet is an Italian drama centred on Bettino Craxi, the former prime minister who left Italy after a definitive corruption conviction and settled in Tunisia at the end of the 1990s. Living with his wife and daughter in a house in Hammamet, he spends his final period in poor health, isolated and resentful, while his younger son stays behind in Italy to defend his reputation and manage his political legacy. Only a few visitors reach him, among them the son of an old party colleague and a guest described as an adversary rather than an enemy. The film, based on real events, follows the last stretch of a political and personal decline.

Gianni Amelio directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Alberto Taraglio. It is his fifth feature in the chronological list of his films, arriving after Happy to Be Different and before Lord of the Ants. Pierfrancesco Favino plays Craxi, with Livia Rossi as the daughter, Silvia Cohen as the wife, Luca Filippi as Fausto and Alberto Paradossi as the son. The production involved RAI Cinema, Minerva Pictures Group and Pepito Produzioni, and the film took about 6 million dollars worldwide.

Audience response was modest: on IMDb it holds 5.8 from roughly 1,900 votes, and on TMDB 5.9 from over 400 votes. The two sets of viewers land in much the same place, suggesting a divided rather than hostile reception for a film built around a figure Italians still argue about.