Mussolini: The Untold Story

There needs to be a good film about Italian fascism, but this isn't it. It's soap opera for the most part.

Who cares about Mussolini's daughter marrying a playboy? (And far from being a dutiful wife, she had plenty of affairs herself.) Who cares about his son, played by a young Robert Downey, taking the virginity of his girlfriend? This soap opera thinks the viewer does when I just laughed and fast forwarded.

The soap opera also hides how much Mussolini's family were nearly the evil he was. The daughter was an honorary member of Hitler's SS, the death camp killers. The son portrayed by Downey, shown as a romantic pilot with lots of hot sex scenes? The film leaves out that he bombed Ethiopian civilians, mass killing them with chemical weapons. Photos also show he was fat and homely.

The good part, the reason it doesn't deserve a 1 or 0, is George C Scott. He is perfect to show Mussolini as the blustering blowhard and mass murderer who smiled while viewing photos of mass executions he ordered and bombing African civilians while claiming he brought "civilization to these savages."

The soap opera nonsense is a wildly disturbing attempt to humanize him, or more charitably at least get the Harlequin Romance readers to sit through a history lesson.

And for the record, the rape scene didn't happen just once, but hundreds of times. Mussolini had his men bring him women for sex partners every week. Those who refused he raped.

This man was a monster who killed two million people for his own greed, power, and bigotry. The non soap parts of this film make that clear. Those posting their admiration of a mass murderer should be ashamed of their ignorance.

The final thing the film changes is how he died. He was hiding fearfully when the partisans found him. He groveled like a coward when he was executed too.

One could also wish there were more actual Italians in this film. Lee Grant and Virginia Madsen are so out of place.

If you can find this anywhere, watch it. An excellent cast, featuring George C. Scott and Raul Julia, propel this engaging and often historically-accurate tale of one of the Twentieth Century's most influential men. Memorable production values.

Duce - Duce - Duce the crowd screams as the little giant struts out to give the faithful a tough face. George C Scott best known for playing the invincible George Patton on the silver screen has the mannerisms and the facial expressions of the sawdust caeaser who led Italy into a disastrous war and brought about his own downfall.

One of histories great ironies lies in this: Had the Deuce avoided WWII which the Germans really didn't want him involved in anyway, he might have had the acclaim for glory that he vaingloriously sought.

The film presents with a degree of historical accuracy the terrible end to which Italy and its Deuce came as a result of the quest for glory. It comes as a shock that the Anglo-Americans would bomb Rome. Count Ciano lolling on the beach at Lido as the flying fortresses zoom over exclaims, "The Pope lives here." This film is an excellent warning for our time which has produced a new pied-piper. This one claims to personally talk to God. The Deuce at least had the good graces to be an atheist.

This review is based on the DVD release that has it on two double-sided discs, and comes with no extras. I do not know much about the real events, so I can't say if this is an accurate account or not. This takes us through over two decades, starting in 1922. It is a tale of love and hate, rise and fall, life and death. From the very beginning to the ending... a well-chosen and memorable final image... this is engaging. The plot is good and well-written, as is the dialog. This is excellent, in the way of its characters... thoroughly developed, credible, and it doesn't try to include a greater amount than it can do justice to. Most of the drama comes from the interactions and relationships, not from the visuals. The acting is all marvelous, and the roles are well-cast. Downey Jr. is instantly accepted as the young and energetic Bruno, Byrne as the more serious Vittorio, Mastrantonio as the strong-willed Edda, Julia is charming as ever as Galeazzo, and last but by no means least, C. Scott adds tremendous depth to the part of Benito himself, in his portrayal. The score is fitting. This has nice cinematography and editing, if neither are beyond what we've seen from other mini-series. It was an interesting choice to cut in actual footage from the time. Of course, you can tell, still, it's reasonably well added in. In spite of what the cover and this site both suggest, this is about five hours and twenty minutes long... I suppose the other count is with commercials. The violence is not excessive or graphic. Sexuality is tasteful and not gratuitous. Language is infrequent. This has disturbing content, and is not for children. I recommend this to anyone who wants a presentation of the history of Mussolini, the man and the family, in the time before, during, and until the end of, the second World War. 7/10

Although it says here it is a seven hour title, I disagree. I recorded the series when it was broadcast in 1985/6, in the USA on a Betamax system, and it was five and half hours long.

I also recorded it in 1989 here in the UK on a VHS system.

The DVD is exactly the same running time today and is exactly the same program scene by scene.

Unless it was drastically cut by one and half hours before it was originally broadcast,I cannot see how it was seven hours long.

All three programs are exactly the same running length.

This does not detract from the program which I think is an excellent portrayal of a man who was corrupt, immoral, and blinded by his own power and ideology.

The acting by George C Scott and Raul Julia is superb,who demonstrate the differences between the two men.

Although not always historically accurate, it does provoke thought about WWII not just from the usual UK/USA & Germany angle, but to the situation in Italy which was still only a country 50 years old and full of conflict after the results of the 1st world war.

I would recommend this to any person interested in a different aspect to troubled period.