L'America

L’America depicts Albania during its time as a transitional economy. The country had recently experienced a political change which was characterized by a shift from communism to capitalism. The communist’s regime which was oppressive and limiting had been eliminated and replaced by an emerging free market, but capitalism wasn’t without its problems. As we see in L’America, capitalism spawns individualistic attitudes which cause men to prioritize their own financial success over the community. In L’America we see the worst aspects of capitalism. As two men, Fiore and Gino enter Albania seeking to exploit others to profit off of government grants used to strengthen and rebuild Albanian economy.

The plot in L’America begins with two corrupt Italian businessmen named Fiore and Gino. The two men are hoping to establish a phony business in Albania to take advantage of the Albanian government’s grants. In order to receive grants, however, the chairman must be Albanian. The two men carefully chose their chairman, who was in their eyes an Albanian prisoner who was psychologically ill, but had no known relatives (at least at the time of his hiring). The two men would use the chairman for nothing more than his signatures to gain the paperwork necessary to gain investments. Therefore, Michele unknowingly became the puppet chairman for the two con artists.

When put into historical context, the film is very depressing. Albanians had suffered under a fascist regime, which was later overthrown by communist, only to be change once again into an open market. However, once the open market concept was introduced there were already people there waiting to exploit the situation. It’s no wonder why L’America shows Albanians eager to enter Italy. They felt hopeless for a number of reasons which made them want to flee Albania rather than to rebuild its economy.