Italian director mocks centre-left

The Italian film director's comments embarrassed centre-left leaders but pleased supporters

ROME, Italy -- Just as they possibly thought things could not get worse, Italy's electorally defeated centre-left has been publicly humiliated by one of its leading supporters.

The award winning film director Nanni Moretti used an appearance at a packed rally to say that the movement's leaders are losers and that they should find other jobs.

"I am very sorry to have to say this but with these kinds of leaders, we will never win," Moretti said at the rally on Saturday.

He added: "Even this rally has been useless. The problem of the centre-left is that in order to win we will need to skip two, three, or four generations (of leaders)."

While his comments drew huge cheers from the crowd, many of those Moretti was criticising were in the audience while at least one left the platform.

Moretti, who won the Palme D'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival last year for "The Son's Room," was sharing the stage with Francesco Rutelli, who lost the premiership race to Silvio Berlusconi in last May's elections.

Also speaking was Piero Fassino, head of Italy's largest leftist party and former prime minister Massimo D'Alema.

'Leaders will never win'

Since the May electoral rout, the left has been cloaked in grief and dealing with virtual political death.

Moretti spoke out after the crowd heard speeches from Rutelli, Fassino, and D'Alema.

D'Alema walked off the stage and the others were left with their heads in their hands as the crowd cheered.

Moretti, whose attack filled Sunday's newspapers, told the embarrassed leaders they had simply lost touch with the people.

"We were waiting for some self-criticism for the errors that you committed. But the bureaucrats here have not learned anything. With these leaders we will never win," he said.

Some leftists have gone as far as suggesting that perhaps Moretti may be the ideal candidate to take up the leadership of a badly battered, splintered and disoriented left.