I recently wrote a column titled, “Why Is Trump Protecting Hollywood?” It was written in response to a proposal from President Trump to impose a 100 percent tariff on movies produced in foreign countries.
“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Trump stated. “Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated.” (RELATED: Can Trump Make Hollywood Great Again?)
I fully disagreed.
Hollywood is dying not from foreign competition but from its own rotten corruption and toxic wokeness.
Hollywoke’s hideous environment has sent many good American filmmakers fleeing abroad. They have been chased out, effectively exiled to make movies in overseas safe havens, free from the Hollywood Left’s thuggish cancel culture and California Democrats’ confiscatory tax rates. (RELATED: As Hollywoke Crumbles)
As a case in point, I gave the example of one of President Trump’s designated Hollywood ambassadors: Mel Gibson. Gibson’s magnificent The Passion of the Christ is the most successful independent film ever. Did he make it in Hollywood? Certainly not. He had to shoot it abroad — in Italy. The same is true for his coming sequel, on the Resurrection (again starring Jim Cavaziel). Like The Passion, it will be filmed in Italy.
Hollywood’s leftists revile Mel Gibson. They’d crucify him if they could. And yet, President Trump’s tariff action rewards Gibson’s tormentors and, conversely, punishes Gibson for making his films abroad — for exercising his only real option. Trump’s proposal protects Hollywoke but harms Mel Gibson.
As I said, I wrote about this a few weeks ago. I don’t know if Donald Trump was listening, but perhaps Mel Gibson was. Gibson has responded with a brilliant proposal.
Mel Gibson and Italian producer Andrea Iervolino have proposed a co-production agreement between the United States and Italy that would incentivize Italian filmmakers to make movies in America. The “bilateral agreement” calls on the Italian government to initiate “support programs for productions that strengthen cultural ties between Italy and the United States.”
Reports on the proposal are sparse in detail, including whether Gibson has brought it up to the Trump administration. But according to Iervolino, he and Gibson have talked about reaching some sort of agreement during the Venice Film Festival in late August. They hope to draw “authoritative representatives” from both the motion picture industry and the American and Italian governments.
Does this proposal have legs? It should. Italian filmmakers have long talked about forming some sort of cooperative agreement with the United States. And either way, we should much prefer talk of cooperation between America and Italy on matters of film than confrontation.
The fact is that Americans and Italians have worked beautifully for many decades to create some of history’s best films, done by names from Frank Capra to Franco Zeffirelli, from Martin Scorsese to Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola, of course, directed The Godfather, based on a book and screenplay by Mario Puzo, with a cast of legendary Italian-American actors. The Godfather series combined American and Italian artistry and genius in a way unprecedented in film history.
Other examples? You can even look at musical scores, like any of the countless ones done by the splendid Ennio Morricone. He created the memorable sounds for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, the iconic film starring Clint Eastwood and directed by Sergio Leone.
Americans and Italians together have made great films as faithful partners who like and respect one another and each other’s countries.
Beyond film, the current politics are conducive to a bilateral deal.
The current political leadership in America and Italy is molto simpatico. President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are two tough cookies. Meloni might well be the new Iron Lady of Europe, a no-nonsense donna who could slap around wimps like Canada’s Justin Trudeau and France’s Emmanuel Macron. (RELATED: Italy, Giorgia Meloni, and the Future of the West)
Meloni is a fierce defender of the West, unafraid to confront the woke. She fights for family and traditional marriage and gender. She is boldly, brazenly, happily politically incorrect.
As is, of course, Donald Trump.
Giorgia Meloni and Donald Trump respect one another. Both have shared strengths and a willingness to resist the revolutionaries. Both are nationalists and patriots who love their countries, their heritage, and their people’s remarkable record in film.
Donald Trump’s America should not be penalizing countries like Italy on matters of film, but instead should find ways to support each other and work together. Mel Gibson himself has done that in the past and now suggests a new level altogether. His proposal ought to be carefully considered by Trump officials.
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