I just watched Fiume o morte! In a small cinema in Zagreb, and I was most pleasantly surprised. The director starts by interviewing locals at Rijeka's main market, asking if they know who Gabriele D'Annunzio was, and soon shifts to reenacting the bizarre episode of his occupation of the city - with those very same people. The blending of documentary and drama works perfectly throughout the film, which is based on over 10,000 photographs taken during the occupation, along with some video footage. What's striking is that this original archive material - real images of D'Annunzio and his legionaries - is at all times more bizarre and grotesque than anything the film's reenactors create. And that's saying something, because the reenactment is intentionally playful, at times outright silly, and often laugh-out-loud funny.
The film has great pacing from start to finish, balancing humor with serious themes in a way that feels completely natural. Nothing about it is pretentious. While it tells the story of D'Annunzio, the real protagonist is Rijeka itself - its residents, its history, its character. The director, a native of the city, treats it with warmth and respect, as do the locals who become part of the film. Adding to its uniqueness, the film is narrated in the Fiume dialect of Italian by Fiumani residents of the city, with the narrators switching as the film progresses.
And then, near the end, a perfect punchline: a brand-new statue of D'Annunzio has just been unveiled in Trieste. This comes right after the film makes it clear that his grand adventure in Rijeka was nothing but reckless destruction, ending with Italian soldiers killing other Italian soldiers in what was, in reality, the same army.
It's an important film, especially today, with the rise of nationalism across Europe and beyond. And it's also one of the most engaging historical docudramas I've ever seen. Anyone can watch this film - because the story itself is fascinating, and because it is told in such an effortlessly entertaining way.
