Lengthy earlier than Benito Mussolini turns to the digicam and says, “Make Italy nice once more” — talking in English for the one and solely time in Joe Wright’s eight-hour restricted sequence — it’s clear whose title would precede “Son of the Century” if MUBI had been to greenlight a twenty first century installment.
After all, Donald Trump possible looms bigger than different fashionable fascists for me, given my (more and more embarrassing) American roots, however “Mussolini: Son of the Century‘s” chosen timeline maps its tyrant’s rise to energy so plainly onto that of the USA’ wannabe-dictator, it’s exhausting to argue coincidence. Fascism is on the rise all over the place, however this thrumming critique has its sight set on one explicit blackshirt, and he’s stained in orange.
Take, for example, the place the sequence begins: with Mussolini the “journalist” railing towards socialism whereas crafting entertaining propaganda that furthers his personal agenda. Positive, Trump “solely” used tv to manufacture his repute as a superb businessman, fairly than write Fox Information chyrons first-hand, however media manipulation continues to be media manipulation, then and now, in print or on TV. A extra express reference comes seconds later, when Mussolini (performed with boisterous tenacity by Luca Marinelli) mocks his right-hand man for having “the smallest palms.” (“I can’t think about his cock,” Mussolini provides, talking on to the digicam.) Then, nonetheless inside 10 minutes of the primary episode, a mob of fascists brutally batter a peaceable group of socialists.
The ghastly scene units up the sequence’ ongoing central battle (establishing the villains and heroes, if you’ll), and — although “Son of the Century” was made lengthy earlier than right-wing media painted Zohran Mamdani as an existential menace to America — fascists and socialists tossing barbs at each other (or, extra precisely, fascists tossing grenades and socialists shouting accusations of grenade-tossing) nonetheless brings the battle between Twenties Italian political events roaring into 2020s New York Metropolis.
Mussolini truly was once a socialist, even operating their official newspaper earlier than he was ousted as a warmonger and pivoted to fascism. When Mussolini explains it (on to the digicam once more, as he so usually does), fascism is a motion of contradictions: “We’re not a celebration,” he says, “we’re an anti-party.” They don’t have interaction in politics as a result of they’re anti-politics, and the identical goes for elections, the monarchy, and the church. “Fascism is all the pieces,” Mussolini says, “and the alternative of all the pieces.”
So… it’s nothing. Accepting such ruthless adherence to victory with out which means is the inspiration of Mussolini’s motion — “Our solely doctrine is motion,” he says — so it’s no marvel he steadily betrays every of his oppositional positions in an effort to transfer up the ranks. Anti-politics? Not if slightly politicking brings him extra energy. Anti-elections? Not if he can win them (democratically or in any other case). Anti-monarchy? Not if he has an opportunity to be king. Anti-church? Who’s God to a person like Mussolini, besides one other affect to be introduced underneath his command?
If none of this brings Trump to thoughts, initially, I envy you greater than you possibly can presumably think about, and secondly, congratulations in your latest escape from that big rock. Wright’s restricted sequence is a livid fever dream connecting the previous to the current. Occasions span simply over 5 years of Mussolini’s life, ending proper earlier than his decades-long dictatorship formally begins, however they nonetheless cowl his pivotal March on Rome (when Mussolini referred to as for an “rebel” as a substitute of elections), the fascist get together’s infiltration of Parliament (“[They] assume they’ve domesticated us, however they’ve solely legalized us”), and a number of scenes foregrounding Mussolini’s violent therapy of girls. (He’s proven raping a newspaper staffer, and his spouse, Rachele, brags that their first time collectively was “by pressure.”)
Wright captures the madman’s power together with his trademark kinetics. There are rear-projections of outdated newsreel footage forged towards foregrounded black-and-white photographs of his forged; iris ins and outs that emphasize Mussolini’s isolating, irreparable ego, or reveal momentary aid through his throngs of admirers; ornate events, rallies, and clashes stuffed with scores of extras and set inside shadowy, palatial areas; and, after all, there are prolonged monitoring photographs galore.
Marinelli — a two-time Finest Actor winner on the Venice Movie Competition (“Don’t Be Dangerous,” “Martin Eden”) who Wright referred to as “one of many biggest actors of his technology, if not the biggest actor of his technology” — is on the middle of all of it. His forceful speechifying is commonly captured from a low angle, positioning the viewer like Mussolini’s awed front-row viewers, however such formal assists are largely pointless relating to appreciating the character’s gravity. From enunciation to intonation, gesticulation to cadence, he nails the propulsive rhythm of Wright’s scenes (co-written by Stefano Bises and Davide Serino) and earns your consideration with out elevating Mussolini above the opportunistic, shitty little man he was. Marinelli’s efficiency is well-measured, even when his character is hifalutin and brash.
Nonetheless, “Mussolini: Son of the Century” comes up brief relating something exterior of Mussolini’s viewpoint. We’re so intently tied to the central character’s perspective — he’s in almost each scene, he narrates his personal story, and he sucks up all of the oxygen by design — that it’s unattainable to see him how the general public will need to have seen him then. He talks of casting “magic methods” on Parliament and the proletariat alike, however we’re concurrently too removed from the spectators to understand the phantasm and too near the magician to see something however a liar.
The sequence additionally shares a typical battle with different tales of Trump relating to dissecting a psyche devoid of rules and which means. “We fascists haven’t any preconceived concepts,” Mussolini says, not lengthy after he defines fascism as “the alternative of all the pieces.” Hinging a prolonged biography on an individual whose complete id comes right down to procuring energy doesn’t make for a dynamic portrait; it’s a easy one, and “Son of the Century” does a tremendous job acknowledging as a lot. That’s what makes fascists so harmful, in any case — they don’t imagine in something, which makes them each unpredictable and ruthless — however it doesn’t lend itself to a layered, creating narrative.
Mussolini will say something and do something to additional his private agenda, and his private agenda quantities to hoarding energy. There’s nothing else to him — all bluster and no substance — and as trustworthy as that characterization could also be, it’s dramatically inert. For as keenly as Wright’s path represents Mussolini’s bombastic flash because the plot ticks off historic second after historic second, the story tied to them can really feel repetitive, acquainted, and hole.
What that leaves is an eight-hour sequence with the emotional impression of watching the information. The message is effective and pressing — nobody’s disputing the necessity to establish Nazis so Indiana Jones can instantly punch them within the mouth (figuratively talking) — however the packaging of that message does little to deepen our understanding for or appreciation of the anti-fascist motion. Mussolini was Trump earlier than Trump, and Trump is the trendy Mussolini. OK. No argument right here. What else ya received?
Grade: B-
“Mussolini: Son of the Century” is now accessible on MUBI.