In the late ’60s, Italy faced much political upheaval; fascists and anarchists battled for power, and terrorism was rampant. In Roan Johnson’s film, this situation serves as the backdrop for a comic story that skewers politics of all stripes. Renzo, an aspiring musician, auditions for a band with his pal Fabio and they both become caught up with a paranoid revolutionary named Pino who is convinced that there’s about to be a military coup in Rome. As the trio makes a run for the border, fear and haplessness reach a crescendo of panic and the boys inadvertently create an international incident. Based on a true story told to the director by one of the event’s real-life protagonists, The First on the List combines screwball comic flair underscored by sly political satire.


Written by Roan Johnson, Davide Lantieri. Photographed by Tommaso Borgstrom. With Claudio Santamaria, Francesco Turbanti, Paolo Cioni. 85 min. In Italian with subtitles.