This movie is an absolute must-see.

Set during the final days in 2001 of the G8 summit in Genoa, Italy, Diaz concerns itself with how a thrown bottle set off a chain of events that ended in forced deportations, falsified evidence and left three people comatose. 125 police officers were tried. None were punished. Amnesty International described this event as:

“The most serious suspension of democratic rights in a Western country since the Second World War.”

Directed by Daniele Vicari, Diaz: Don’t clean up this blood is a dark, violent, compelling movie that illustrates Europe’s continued love of fascism and conservatism, (long before the global recession led to the rise of groups like Golden Dawn). Using the thrown bottle as the link, we see different characters and how they experience different events spinning out of the bottle throwing, from the French anarchist to the good cop stuck in a bad situation. The fragmented nature of the movie unfortunately can work against it at times, and the movie only really finds its feet when it starts dealing directly with the attack on protesters and the fallout from the attack, leaving behind the uneven first act.

The actors acquit themselves well, performing acts equal parts disturbing and terrifying. We see kids forced to strip, bark like dogs, and run brutal gauntlets, while others get to be the ones in charge, with the occasional look of genuine disgust at what they’re asked to do for this movie. Perhaps more could have been seen from other perspectives, but as it stands this is a stark reminder of why something like this must not happen again.

A feature film of the ICFF 2013 Toronto

Donal O’connor