Aahana Swrup
Netflix’s Italian period drama film ‘The Big Fake’ (Originally titled ‘Il Falsario’) transports viewers to the streets of Rome, Italy, during the 1970s. The story revolves around painter Toni, who is talented but not enough to find a footing on his own. After he and his two friends, Vittorio, a priest, and Fabione, a worker, trade their small town for the Italian capital, they go down three distinct paths of their own. For Toni, this includes a chance meeting with Donata, an art dealer, who is interested in the artist’s skills but only insofar as his ability to forge expensive collectables from the great artists of the past. Soon enough, as he goes through the underground criminal circuit of the city, his paths cross with many shady characters. As a result, the chaos of the country’s unstable political climate catches up to the skilled painter as he finds himself involved in political forgeries, robberies, and worse. As a result, in charting a character-driven narrative, the film ends up delving deep into the historical socio-politics of Rome, presenting a near-realistic depiction of the era.
The Big Fake is Loosely Based on the Real Life of Antonio “Toni” Chichiarelli
‘The Big Fake’ is a dramatization of the life of Antonio Chichiarelli, also known as Toni, who is often considered to be one of Italy’s best forgers. The film itself takes many liberties in bringing Chichiarelli’s counterpart to the screen, maintaining a fair distance from being a direct biographical account of the real artist’s life. Even so, Toni’s on-screen character mines significant inspiration from Chichiarelli’s life, translating many real-life stories about the latter into a dramatized framework. The real-life Italian forger lived a chaotic life in Rome, specifically in the 1970s and 80s. He migrated to the city in the late 60s to early 70s, where he ran in criminal circles, particularly involved in low-level crime like theft and art fraud. In the latter part of the 70s, he became involved in the Banda della Magliana, a criminal organization that facilitated the underground operations of the city.
Chichiarelli’s ability to replicate art with masterful accuracy cemented him as an infamous forger in the Roman underworld circles. Furthermore, he developed a close relationship with Danilo Abbruciati, a prominent criminal in the Banda della Magliana gang. Around 1977, his paths also crossed with Chiara Zossolo, who went on to become the forger’s wife. Zossolo was an art gallery owner whose link to Chichiarelli fuelled his illegal business of selling forgeries of historical artists. ‘The Big Fake’ mines inspiration from these aspects of Chichiarelli’s life, creating on-screen counterparts to his misadventures and criminal connections. The film, penned by Lorenzo Bagnatori and Sandro Petraglia, notably diverges from the real-life forger’s history. It does so by swapping out real-life figures for fictionalized counterparts and switching around the timeline for the sake of storytelling. Even so, for the most part, the film’s connection to the historical forger from Rome remains undeniable.
The Big Fake Focuses on the Historical Political Kidnapping of Aldo Moro
One of the prominent storylines in ‘The Big Fake’ revolves around the kidnapping of Aldo Moro, which takes the city of Rome by storm. In the late 1970s, the Italian Prime Minister and a member of the Christian Democracy was kidnapped by the Red Brigades, aka BR, a militant far-left organization. This sparked significant political unrest throughout the country. A month into the kidnapping, a communication arrived from the BR, sharing news of Moro’s apparent death. In reality, this was a fake communication, forged to near-perfection by Antonio Chichiarelli. This note, Release number 7 by the Red Brigades, ended up leading to multiple complications. In turn, this act, considered to be a notable political misdirection in history, eventually contributed to the destabilization of the government. Chichiarelli’s involvement in the forgery of the note was only discovered after his mysterious, violent death at the age of 36.
In the aftermath of Chichiarelli’s death by gunshot, the authorities looked into his private life, and investigations revealed the depth of the forger’s criminal activities. During this investigation, his connections to the names prominent in neo-fascist extremism circles emerged, as did the extent of his forgery business. Additionally, his involvement in the heist at the Brink’s Company vault depot, which was orchestrated to look like the job of the Red Brigade, was also revealed. Reportedly, the robbery resulted in the procurement of 37 billion in liquid money, traveler’s cheques, gold, and precious ingots for the forger. In the end, the case of Chichiarelli’s death remains unsolved to this day. Although many speculate his criminal connections to the Banda della Magliana may have contributed to his demise, the former gang leader Maurizio Abbatino has claimed zero involvement from the organization in the murder.
‘The Big Fake’ encompasses all these larger-than-life criminal aspects of Chichiarelli’s life as it charts the story of his time in Rome. Although it takes a firmer route in exploring the mysteries of the forger’s connections and criminal involvements, it still instills a level of ambiguity in the narrative. On the other hand, in an effort to serve the on-screen protagonist’s story well, the film ends up obscuring more factual aspects of his life, including his death and its aftermath. Additionally, the dramatized story also pulls focus on the interpersonal relationships in Chichiarelli’s life, tinkering with some historically known connections while inventing others to deliver a well-rounded characterization. Inversely, it commits to a realistic depiction of the socio-political world around the character to ensure a level of historical accuracy in the tale. Ultimately, these fictionalizations and departures from reality end up prominently defining the narrative. Consequently, the film becomes a mix of fact and fiction.
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