Der Duce und ich

Can anyone tell me the name and location of the beautiful house which appeared in this film? It is probably near Rome, but I have never seen it in anything else and it is so spectacular that I am really intrigued as to its whereabouts and a bit about its history. I have also enjoyed the first part of the four part showing of this film and despite comments on the acting, I find it interesting for the historical and social comment on the times. I found the Hitler character unrealistic, but thought Bob Hoskins put in a good performance. I would be grateful for any information on the background to this film. I thought it captured the period and style of the era very well, and the characters were in the main sympathetic - which was not an emotion I expected to feel. Susan Sarandon was also strong as she always is, and I thought Anthony Hopkins, looking so much younger, came across as trying to prevent further disaster for his country. I particularly enjoyed discovering the background to Il Duce's daughter and her husband as this was a part of the conflict I knew nothing about. It inspired me to find out more.

Most people remember Benito Mussolini simply as Hitler's ally in WWII. "Mussolini and I" shows his family life during his years as Italy's leader. Starring Bob Hoskins as the Fascist himself, Susan Sarandon plays his daughter Edda, who married Count Galeazzo Ciano (Anthony Hopkins). Among other things, the movie shows not only how the relationships among these people were always shaky, but also that Mussolini and Hitler didn't totally trust each other.

Towards the war's end, Il Duce had Count Ciano executed, and shortly thereafter, Il Duce himself was of course arrested and executed. Edda escaped to Switzerland and survived the war. It's too bad that Mussolini was already dead when they hung him on the meat hook.

Very well done.

The shame of this production is that it treats one of history's most successful mass murderers with downright affection. It comes across as a black shirt recruitment film.

I have no problem with biographies that treat historical figures as complex human beings. In fact I think it is important to treat history with respect. I do think we need to be shown the complete story, however. Mussolini and I never shows us the brutality of the fascist regime. We are not really shown the torture chambers, the concentration camps or the complete collaboration the Italians gave the Germans in putting together their FINAL SOLUTION.

The series builds empathy for the mussolini clan. Hoskins delivers a portrayal of Benito ("Benny") as a man of conscience and morality. The other poles of sympathy are Hopkins as the spineless administrator who helped keep Mussolini in power for 22 god awful years.

If this were a series made today about Saddam Hussein viewers and reviewers would be in an uproar. The producers would be crucified for their fascist leanings.

This is a very solid dramatic movie based on events in Italy during World War II. Hopkins plays the son-in-law of Mussolini who was also high in the Fascist party. He was a golden boy whose star rises quickly and then big trouble as he tries to get Mussolini to break ties with Hitler and the Nazis. I don't want to spoil this for anyone who hasn't seen it so don't want to get into the plot too deeply... but Hopkins is excellent, he'll make you cry and sweat. It is good drama (you'll be on the edge of your seat during the last half), good acting and a part of that time periods history that I didn't know much about prior to seeing this movie. It is a bit long, but definitely worth your time.

As with many things in life, the devil is in the detail, and this film fails massively in that area.

Actually, it doesn't even get out of the starting gate because its title is grammatically incorrect. It should be "Mussolini And Me", not "Mussolini And I". I have no interest in watching an English language production where the scriptwriters, producers etc. can't even get such basic grammar right. Nonetheless, I watched twenty minutes before deciding that my initial assessment was correct, and that the film makers had paid no attention to any sort of detail, or character development. The reviewers who likened this to Dynasty, or a Venezuelan soap opera, had it about right.

Presumably the rest of the film is littered with similar lack of attention to detail as the title and the first twenty minutes, but I have to be honest and say that I neither know nor care.