«On my skin»: the story of a martyr to justice

Saturday's Netflix & chill - Alissa Musumeci

Thirty-one-year-old Stefano Cucchi was arrested on October 15, 2009. Drug use and trafficking, in his hometown of Rome, la sua Roma.

Because of the abuse he suffered at the hands of three police officers, who prioritized the’abuse of power to the’fiscal year Due to the abuse of power and a complete lack of medical care, Stefano died on October 22, 2009. That is when the Cucchi family’s battle against the Italian justice system began. The case was marked by a series of trials: convictions followed by acquittals. And an unimaginable variety of statements and theories, culminating in a verdict in favor of the young victim, honoring his memory. But this came at the cost of relentless battles—marked by humiliation, exhaustion, and disappointment—led by Ilaria Cucchi, Stefano’s sister.

On my skin, Released in 2018, the film chronicles Stefano Cucchi’s suffering during his final days. In his direction, Alessio Cremonini chooses to make Stefano’s emotional experience and the conditions of his incarceration the central focus of the film. The opening shots of the young man’s face—stunningly realistic—are crucial in exposing the violence of the guards’ beatings from the moment he was taken into custody. Cremonini divides the film into specific days, with the narrative unfolding day by day, like a countdown to death. In this way, he shows that just six short days were enough to take Cucchi from agony to the coffin.

The obvious causes of death are coming to light. But, of course, the staff at Regina Cœli Prison deny them. «No, Stefano was not beaten,» they assert, while also dismissing the possibility that any form of physical punishment could take place within the facility. In addition to these statements are the hypotheses put forward by the senator and Undersecretary of State for Family Affairs (Undersecretary of State for Family Affairs) Carlo Giovanardi, who insisted that anorexia, drug addiction, and a suspected HIV infection were the «simple and valid reasons» for Cucchi’s death. Statements that Giovanardi himself would later deny…

The family is at their wits’ end. There is a total lack of justice. It’s a slap in the face to the memory of their late son, Stefano. Ilaria Cucchi is forced to publish photos of her brother’s disfigured body to expose this scandal. The film captures the victim’s condition so vividly that it sends chills down your spine. Even though the images of the actual body shown at the end of On My Skin reveal that, despite the excellent makeup and the lead actor’s performance, the real Stefano was in a much worse state just by looking at him. It would have taken special effects to transform an actor into someone so ravaged and broken.

On November 14, 2019, after ten years, the Cucchi case came to a close. Carabinieri officers Alessio Di Bernardo and Raffaele D’Alessandro were sentenced to twelve years in prison without parole for intentional homicide. Unlike his colleagues, Francesco Tedesco was sentenced to only two and a half years in prison for making false statements and tampering with evidence. Ilaria Cucchi called it a great victory, but above all, a huge relief.

«My brother can finally rest in peace now.»

Photo credit: © Netflix and © The Social Post