Io e il Duce

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.

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.

The script for this TV soap opera is so bad that even A. Hopkins at some point had to play like an undergrad drama-student so as to bring some life in his script-dead character. I do not know whether this was the purpose of the director, but Hopkins' Ciano reeked nothing but vanity, fear and lack of self-esteem. The real Ciano possibly was all that but then, why make a movie about him? Mussolini was a bit more convincing, and his long way down was as if closer to the truth. Edda Mussolini was plain ridiculous (not because of Sarandon, but because of the impotent script), while she had to be the central character of this alleged familial drama. Watch it only if you enjoy Venezuelan soap opera.

Interesting film, made for tv in Europe originally. The DVD version is significantly longer than the video version. Many scenes are extended as well as new scenes. Nice historical soap opera with much tragedy. Hopkins as usual is great as is Sarandon and Hoskins. The dubbing is kinda obvious, but so what, it works.

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.