In the rationale of most people, mental patients are incapable of doing the right thing and of contributing to the society. In other words, they are societal surplus that do no good on behalf of our benefit. Changing such underlying thoughts toward these people, the film We Can Do That (Si puo fare in Italian) vividly displays that insane people can become a great help to our community. This sanguine movie changes people’s stereotype by turning seemingly impossible affairs into possible ones.

▲ Official poster of the film in Italian Provided by rottentomatoes.com

Set in Milan in the early 1980s, Nello is a trade unionist whose ideas are ahead of his time. Because of his reputation as a troublemaker, he is dismissed and is sent to run a cooperative of over-medicated, and under-stimulated, but potentially creative, mentally ill patients released after the closure of many psychiatric hospitals. Against all odds, the stubborn and passionate Nello manages to bring out the best in his new employees and to restore their dignity as they become specialists in “mosaic parquet”, an innovative and profitable business that helps them reintegrate into society.

The film is created based on the real story about “Noncello Cooperatives,” which consisted of 600 unionists in which 30 percent were mental patients in Italy. Moreover, this movie is closely correlated with the time when Basaglia Law (also known as Law 180) was enacted in 1983, a reformation that directed the entire country to close down all psychiatric hospitals. Instead of simply gathering all the patients in a confined and suffocating environment, the Italian government believed that they could achieve a more effective rehabilitation of mental patients through services outside the hospital network. As a result of implementation of the law, many patients were gradually discharged into the community.

The aftermath was astounding as work cooperatives run by and for individuals with psychiatric disabilities all around Italy were heralded as models for social enterprise. Once deemed as a socially inappropriate group of people, mental patients were finally successfully blending into the Italian mainstream environment. In order to eulogize the unconventional actions taken by Italy, Giulio Manfredonia decided to make this incident into a film to stamp out people’s stereotypes.

▲ Scene in which cooperative members struggle to deal with the instruments. Provided by mopa.org

The complexity of this film lies in its genre of tragicomedy. The director incorporates humor into the film to unravel the grave topic so as to allow the audience to more easily relate to the plot. Specifically in the beginning of the movie, dim-witted and whimsical characteristics of mental patients are comically illustrated, a part that complies with most of the people’s notions toward these people. However, as the movie proceeds, the director adds solemn elements into the film, such as conflicts amongst the cooperative members and people’s sarcastic and derisive remarks toward Nello for taking responsibility for the Cooperative 180, to reflect the reality and the initial reaction of society.

To offset the negative attitudes, work cooperatives successfully proved their abilities to work just like sane people and people’s perception started to undergo some changes. Due to the creative mosaic parquet they created, the demand for their services exponentially increased. Although there are many twists and unexpected situations toward the end of the film, the director closed the story with a hopeful and incisive message that we must accept and confidently claim mental patients as being part of society.

As a result of the unprecedented public attention and popularity it has gained, We Can Do That received the Golden Glove Producer Award, one of the most prestigious awards in Italy, in 2008 and collected more than 400,000 viewers over a year. Compared to other independent films that rarely gather more than 100,000 viewers, this number is more than a miracle and brought about a social reverberation.

This film teaches us that medications are not the things needed by the mental patients. Instead, it is the small concern and love of the people to these isolated second-class citizens that matters after all. Under the name of psychiatric patients, they were oftentimes segregated from the society, losing their basic human rights and dignities. In the midst of watching this film, one will feel ashamed and frustrated for his or her past actions and thoughts that they had towards these people. The film touches the very inside sentiments and allows some time for audiences to reflect upon their past actions.

Some cold-hearted people might still raise a doubt and question what this movie has to do with their lives. However, this film is actually applicable to our current lives, which is generally characterized as being competitive and profit-seeking. Like the notion of socialism, the unionists of Cooperative 180 get paid equally and do not encourage competition amongst the members. Each member has the right to make the decision and vote for the betterment of the group and no one is perceived as being futile. Each member tries to cover an other’s weakness through their strengths and strive to reach the common objectives together, rather than working independently.

This picture is very much disparate from our reality since the goal of most corporations is profit maximization. Cooperative 180 tries to help the handicapped people to get reintegrated into society with the slogan “We can do that” and serves as a guideline that teaches people the true meaning of being human.

Due to the high unemployment rate and the unstable environment of the world, many people feels inferior and, thus, even commit extreme actions such as suicide to mark a period in their lives. This movie conveys the message that we can expunge the perception that we are petty and useless in this society, and that we might regain confidence by chanting out, “We can do that!”

Although released in 2008, this film still holds great significance in 2014 due to its core message: eradicating the negative thoughts toward handicapped people and encouraging people to enhance community sentiment instead of pursuing individual goals. As people are becoming more egoistic and competition based, this film is more than relevant to the modern day.In the midst of prevalence and inundating exposures to Hollywood movies, this relatively less popular Italian film will touch one’s heart with tenderness and prove that there are great films outside the United States (U.S) valuable enough to watch.