French film star Fanny Ardant arrived at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday amid continuing polemics over her recent expressions of admiration for the Red Brigades, Italy’s far-left terrorist movement, and its founder.
The 58-year-old French actress triggered the row last month by telling an Italian magazine: “I have always considered the Red Brigades phenomenon very absorbing and passionate“.
“Renato Curcio is a hero for me,” said the actress, referring to the leftist militant who founded the Red Brigades in 1970. Ardant praised Curcio for remaining true to his left-wing ideals. She said he “didn’t become a businessman” like his French left-wing contemporaries.
The Red Brigades, Italy’s most infamous far-left terrorist group, spread terror in the 1970s and 1980s. Their most notorious act was the 1978 murder of Christian Democrat leader Aldo Moro.