Benito Mussolini returns in an ambitious and controversial series to shout that he never left | Culture

When Luca Marinelli told his grandmother that he would be acting in a series about Mussolini, the old lady asked him what role he would play. The grandson explained that he would play the main character, the Duce. She then gave him only two words in reply.

-Because?

Marinelli recalls that he was shocked. As an anti-fascist and the son of a family of the same faith, he questioned his decision deeply. “The answer lies in the enormous importance of this project from an artistic, political, ethical and social point of view,” the actor said on Wednesday at the Venice film festival.

M. The son of the century The film was unveiled this Thursday at the oldest film festival in the world. Directed by the talented and renowned British Joe Wright. Based on the first and award-winning volume of the best-selling biography of the dictator written by Antonio Scurati. Released in the country where Mussolini was born – 200 kilometres from Venice – he established a totalitarian regime, was hanged and, deep down, is still present. He says it himself literally at the beginning of the series. And he suggests it when he presents himself as a symbol of “anti-politics”. But it is also confirmed by the fascist roots of Brothers of Italy, the party of the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. Or the fact that she and some of her ministers still have not finished denying that national tragedy. Or that, recently, public television censored a speech by Scurati that precisely criticised the president for not taking enough distance from the dictatorship.

There were, in short, more than enough reasons for the work to attract a spasmodic amount of attention. The quality, the acting of the protagonist, the historical accuracy, the tone. Many questions to be answered. Although the main one remains the one that Marinelli’s grandmother nailed. In Italy and abroad. In the audiovisual world and abroad.

“It is an attempt to reconstruct Mussolini’s rise to power in a rigorous, objective manner, faithful to the novel, which is, in turn, fully documented. It is a formidable tool for summarising history. And for understanding contemporary reflections. It will cause discussion, there will be controversy, but it will serve to refresh fragmented memories for everyone. To discuss, finally, specific facts. And with the means of cinematic language,” says the artistic director of the Venice Film Festival, Alberto Barbera. The series retraces what happened in chronological order, over eight episodes, each approximately one hour long. It begins in 1919 with a newspaper editor, a former socialist, who is distancing himself from the left due to disagreements over the First World War, which he claimed. It follows him as he builds, at first in fits and starts and then with relentless progress, an openly repressive and liberticidal party. And it ends with the same man on the way to drag Italy into the darkest phase of the 20th century.

Having to play with such material, the series even raises the stakes. From the beginning, the Duce looks at the camera, speaks directly to the viewer. He even jokes with him, whispers to him, as if he wanted to find a friend on the other side of the screen. Or a potential henchman. Although, later, he will move on to threats. “I hope that the public feels authorized at times to be seduced by Mussolini and fascinated by what he is doing. Demonizing these characters absolves us of moral responsibility and that is really dangerous,” said Wright in a recent interview with The Guardian.

The narrative, in the first episodes, even takes on a tone close to farce. There are rivers of blood, verbal and physical abuse, manipulation. The series wants to show all the horrors that there were. But also all the facets, including the funny one. Laughing at fascism? Above all, in reality, at the movement and its leader. Mussolini appears with his contradictions, shames, ridiculousness: an insecure weather vane looking for attention; a man willing to deny his greatest ideal, if he can profit from it; a rapist, a savage given over to the basest instincts; envious of the success of the poet Gabriele D’Annunzio; humiliated by his first electoral failure; firm at times, on the verge of giving up at others. Basically, pathetic. Which questions, once again, the viewer: even so, everyone followed him. Also because he was charismatic, intriguing, mysterious, daring, a magnificent speaker, as the series shows, which becomes darker as events also become increasingly gloomy.

“He was also all of these things at the same time. He was good with the masses, he knew how to capture people. He was once described as a ‘beast of the stage’,” Marinelli reflects. Playing him was a long and complex challenge for the actor. Perhaps his most difficult role, and that is despite works like Don’t be captive, They called him Jeeg Robot, Martin Eden either The eight mountainsHe has been confirmed as the most promising Italian actor, alongside Alessandro Borghi. “It is humanly impossible for me to understand how he went from one thing to another. But it was important, at least during the filming, to suspend judgment, to tell the man. We were not looking for ‘the devil, the monster’. I hope that the person can be seen,” adds the protagonist.

Although Wright wanted to add even more. M. The son of the century takes risks with some unconventional camera approaches, quick montage cuts, the soundtrack techno by Tom Rowlands, one half of the duo Chemical Brothers. A prioricourage and freshness are appreciated. But, with so much meat on the grill, something always ends up being overlooked. And, in such a serious case, what is essential is clarity: that the story can be followed and understood, without too many distractions. The Mussolini-public link is a find. But some effects, creative solutions and artifices become unnecessary and confusing.

Just the opposite of another key decision made by the director, for the sake of simplicity. The series was going to mix dialogues in English and Italian. Since Meloni’s electoral victory in 2022, Wright decided, however, that it should only be spoken in the language in which everything happened, so that no one in the country would miss a single word. “It was a fundamental step to understand his commitment to the project,” Marinelli praises him. Both the actor and Alberto Barbera claim to have discovered a few facts and aspects that they were unaware of. They probably studied it in high school, but memory can betray us over time. And even more so when some try to change it. Or even deny it.

“Who would I give my novel to today? To the greatest number of readers possible,” Scurati told the magazine. The Hollywood Reporter. And it is precisely with the intention of going even further that the series is now debuting. “The reason I started writing about Mussolini so many years ago is because I felt an urgent need to break the victim paradigm. Italy and Europe will never be able to settle accounts with fascism if we refuse to address a fundamental fact: we were fascists. We were all seduced,” the author added. The Guardian. The novelist was personally involved in writing the series, along with scriptwriters Stefano Bises and Davide Serino. Scurati wanted to ensure that there were no simplifications or romanticizations. He has shared that there were disagreements, “conflicts” and that he does not agree with some decisions. But, a posterioriis grateful that the series has chosen its own path and celebrates the final result.

The Duce, in fact, had already arrived on the screens. He was played by Antonio Banderas, in the 1993 miniseries The young Mussolini. He was rescued in 2018 by the film I’m backby Luca Miniero, an Italian version of the comedy that imagined the return of Hitler in modern-day Germany. Both works were also accused of trivializing fascism. And they did not transcend much. The new audiovisual approach intends the opposite. It is the most ambitious launched to date. And it comes with the intention of sweeping. While waiting for the public, the controversy has already begun. “Knowing things is the most important thing. I think we all have to face this historical moment,” says Marinelli. He, at least, has already overcome the fundamental verdict. His grandmother saw the series. Apparently, she liked it.