Cafe Rits continued its stimulating Philosophers on Screen series with a screening of A Revolt That Never Ends, a documentary by German filmmaker, Christian Beetz about the influential Italian philosopher and academic Antonio Negri.
The film profiles the controversial life and times of the university professor, philosopher, militant, prisoner, refugee, and 'enemy of the state.' It traces Negri's roots in the history of radical left-wing movements in Italy during the Sixties and Seventies, illustrated through archival footage of workers' strikes, factory occupations, terrorist actions, violent street confrontations, political repression, and government trials of dissidents.
The striking thing about this film, shot five years ago, is the parallel between today's economic crisis, and its fallout, with what happened in Italy (and Greece) more than three decades ago. It puts me in mind of Hegel's quote on history: "What experience and history teaches us is that people and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it” (Danke schön Alex!) and Marx's "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce."
I may not agree with some of Negri's ideology but where this film succeeds is in getting the viewer to think about the issues and put today's circumstances in a broader, historical context.
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