Recensioni degli utenti

A solid recommendation from me. I really enjoyed the flow, acting, action, and storytelling. I always find it fascinating how such a destructive force can rise to power-what forces support it, oppose it, and which ones get swayed, and why. The quality of the series is excellent. For me, it belongs in the same league as Der Untergang and Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter.

What makes this series particularly compelling is its exploration of the political landscape in Italy at the time. The power struggles between the socialists, the monarchy, and other factions add layers of intrigue, showing how different forces either resisted or enabled the rise of authoritarianism. The shifting allegiances and moral dilemmas make for gripping storytelling.

On top of that, the action sequences are intense and well-executed. The battles, street clashes, and political confrontations feel raw and realistic, adding weight to the historical events. The choreography, cinematography, and pacing of these scenes keep the tension high, making it a visually and emotionally engaging experience.

For those who have any interest in history, politics, and lessons on human nature, this is the show for you. Seeing the rise of Mussolini in such a way - with Luca Marinelli frequently breaking the fourth wall to speak to us, his audience - keeps it captivating and really holds up to the meta spectacle of his character. Despite the seriousness of the topic, the biting sarcasm and amusing moments keep it entertaining, too. Of course, for anyone who's been following the recent global rise in certain political trends, they'll undoubtedly feel a little uneasy when recognizing the patterns in today's day and age. An impressive production, Luca Marinelli's portrayal of the famous Italian dictator is downright stupendous. A wholehearted recommendation to watch and be amazed by M - Son of the Century.

Compelling plot, striking photography, excellent acting by Marinelli. Above all, a solid portrayal of a particular historical period.

Much more to be appreciated if you speak Italian, because Marinelli's performance is truly a masterpiece, both from a linguistic and human point of view. M is a winning example of how history should be represented in cinema: hard and raw, without unnecessary words or unnecessary events based on fiction.

I really recommend its viewing. However, do not expect a simple and straightforward viewing; the story is purely described, there is no shortage of harsh scenes and I felt like some stories missed some details.

What is interesting is that the meaning of some of the pictures goes beyond the simple political figure to the man, with his fears and weaknesses. Things that, of the figure of Mussolini, never really came out of that period.

Excellent cinematic work.

I mainly focus on the film aspects. Without getting too deep into it, I try to gauge how much truth versus mystification is presented. I don't align with either the right or the left.

This series is one of the most beautiful I have seen in recent times. Mussolini's dialogue with the camera is pure gold. The way he conveys his thoughts, mocks the viewer, and shares his confessions keeps you glued to the screen and makes you feel involved in the story. Marinelli is fantastic! Those who criticize him likely do so for reasons unrelated to his performance. Francesco Russo is superb, and Barbara Chichiarelli is perfect!

While the cinematography is out for everyone to appreciate, I feel a need to stress a couple of key points international audiences might miss.

First and foremost: the series is based on the first of four books about the life of Mussolini, and while they are routinely described as "novels", they are in fact impressively researched from a historical point. Pretty much every dialogue, speech, document and event are openly sourced and beyond question.

While the staging frequently and blatantly is not realistic in order to make the show more spectacular, pretty much everything happened as you see it - including a D'Annunzio's Japanese samurai secretary and other apparently absurd elements.

My second point is about the acting and language. While it will fly above the heads of anyone not _very_ experienced with Italian, the work behind regional accents, lapses into dialects and the very speech patterns of 100 years ago is exceptional indeed. It is a shame this will mostly go unnoticed, as it actually conveys a fair bit of refinement to an already stellar ensemble performance.

Lastly, the (not present in the books) stabs at current politics are far more varied than expected. Like, everyone can understand a sudden fourth-wall-breaking "Make Italy Great Again!", but you'll probably miss the reference to the catastrophic Berlusconi era (delivered via subtle voice and body acting, or even just a brief costume change), or to the sorry state of the last few recent Italian legislatures.

In short: come for the show, stay for the history lesson... and see it with an Italian resident if you can to enjoy it at its fullest.

By now it is evident that in the Post-network era and when from the zenith the third Golden Age of Television began its inevitable downward parabola no one, including myself, would have expected such a product... especially an Italian one.

M the son of the century is the classic turn of the century, the breaktrough event or, if you like a film allegory better: it is the hero we need but do not deserve. The future of Our television, it is clear, blatant and unashamed that it will be defined by the 'Before M' and the 'After M'.

Beautiful, beautiful series. Monumental every performance. Ficcanti every dialogue. Generative storytelling from history and brought up to date, without ever becoming exhibitionist. A series one step away from hybris without ever crossing the thin line and, because of this, incredibly verisimilitude in its (deliberate) staging between the theatrical and magical realism.

A possible event, because there is a thick book behind it, not only of volume but also of historical research... but also (oh my God, finally!!!) an adequate budget. It matters little that some images are realistically dated in the staging. It doesn't matter. You want the real date? There's the book but in this instalment it was perfectly there.

A futurist Zang Tumb Tumb series like we've needed for a long time. Because, just like futurism, the last true and pure current of thought and artistic movement that since the publication of its manifesto in 1909 has not found to date a worthy new cultural vision that can be described as truly original and not a rinsing of dishes from other shores. This is M. The first of something else in the making that, los peri pernos, will be even more surprising and innovative.

Zang Tumb Tumb.

Best Most Engrossing TV In Years.

I don't know how much of the Parliamentary madness is historically accurate, how much the birth of Fascism was accurate either, what I do know this series is giving me and anyone who takes the time to engage with the movement the phenomenon called Fascism build by a human being who cut out the representative instinct, the fundamental purpose of Legitimate Representation, the instruments that since the Athenian experiment was found to successfully create, control the masses. The tools to create a society.

Mussolini brought this idea into our world. The use of chaos into politics. That by changing your position, saying the insayable, thinking the unthinkable you can take control of millions of people.

Mussolini proposed to do the impossible and made people believe he had done it. He unbalanced his opponents. The whole body politic couldn't construct a coherent strategy to combat him.

Sensible, pragmatic policies are forgotten as those who think otherwise gasp for breath.

And Benito with his grasp of how the prolaterate thought. How he instructed them to believe "His Message". The truth was never considered. Benito was the 1st. All our modern demi gods use El Duce play book. No Hitler. No Franco. No Pinochet. No Pol Pot. No Saddam without Mussolini.

El Duce thought them all.

And we laugh at him. Maybe its us that are the fools.

Who'll be next to use his bag of tricks?

So now we have this magnificent expose of control by an English director an Italian writer and Rupert Murdochs Sky putting the money, the distribution, the lesson on how not to be a politician in front of us.

The "Making Of" might be a mini series for another day.

To think till now "Gomorrah" was the height of our appreciation for Italian modern story telling. And season 1 ends with Matteotti murder. What a rich vein of contemporary instruction lays before us.

By the way. This is Magnificent. A 10 all day long and double on Sunday.

The header here is not my line but taken from when Mussolini sometimes bursts through the fourth wall and comments to the viewer. This was a superb attempt at capturing the rise of a chaotic man during one of the most chaotic periods of history.

Mussolini was flawed, selfish, vindictive and thuggish - and so very full of contradictions.

What this series perfectly captures is the influence of Margherita Sarfatti, his lover and his principal advisor. She coins the best line to describe his motivation and that of fascism 'Take what you want by any means.' This is both chilling and a warning from history... One reviewer here talks about how far fetched the story becomes - A Samurai ? Yes he featured in real life. He influenced Italian poets to introduce Haiku! However bizarre the story seems to be, much of what you see is really not that far fetched.

The film presents the beginnings of Benito Musollini's political career. But to a greater extent it is a study of the creation of a dictatorship. And this is a universal and timeless phenomenon.

What is unusual is the form, which may put off some viewers. The main character often speaks directly to the audience, presents his thoughts and comments on the events taking place, sometimes these allusions are current, e.g. In episode four when he says the slogan MIGA (you will understand when you see it). It is a really great scene.

The film is also quite baroque, at times surreal.

The acting makes a great impression. Luca Marinelli (Musollini) behaves on screen like his prototype. If you know the history and have seen Mussolini's grotesque speeches, you can imagine that this required great skills. Other roles, although episodic, are also worth attention. For example, Benedetta Cimatti is great as the suppressed wife of the Duce.

Due to the specific form of the film, some viewers may be put off by it.

But it's a very good movie.

Interesting drama about the rise to power in Italy of Mussolini. Though did not like when he spoke to the camera as took away the intrigue of it all.

But the real powerhouse of this series is the performance of Luca Marinelli as the dictator, he is truly magnificent and gave out strong reminders of Robert De Niro in his pomp, and dominates every scene he is in Before watching this only really knew of Benito Mussolini from World War Two, so this was an eye opener of a history lesson.

I would be interested in a second series if it happens but mainly just to see Marinelli in action again as he truly is the best thing about it all.

This is a stunningly good miniseries about the rise of Mussolini. The visual approach is highly creative, weaving in old newsreels, new footage made to look like old newsreels, nightmarish puppet shows, all inspired by the Expressionist cinema of the time.

The acting performances are volcanic and the subject matter is highly topical, maybe a bit too topical. They go overboard in drawing modern parallels a couple times, like the audience needs to be hammered over the head. But that's only a minor fault.

For Americans as of late June 2025, this series is not streaming anywhere, but fortunately it's easy to find under M: Son of a Century on YouTube.

The subtitles are the only drawback. They are translated far too literally from Italian which results in some hilarious moments. Mussolini had a husband and his closest adviser was a pizza. Pronoun use is all over the map. Sometimes the subtitles invent new words that are neither Italian nor English.

But other than that, it's a terrific series well worth making a little extra effort to see. I wish they'd continue the story into Mussolini's reign after he consolidated power. And that they would put this on Netflix where everyone can see it.

Let the facts be the facts, and that is why I am honest in admitting that I tried to start watching this series and fall asleep each time after some 10 minutes of watching. I made like 5 attempts, and each time I fell asleep,

As someone with a keen interest in everything about the Second World War (WW2) - I maintain an IMDb list in which I describe and rate over 250 of the best movies and series about WW2 - I was actually looking forward to watching this series. It is not often that you get the ability to get to see a high budget series made on such an important person from the WW2. And it is even more rare to see content in which Mussolini is featured in such detail. It therefore had a lot of things going for it.

But immediately from the start of episode one, it was a huge disappointment. And how much I tried to like it, the way in which it is produced is just so dull and uninteresting! Why on earth could SKY ever greenlight this?! Instead of making a series that is made a good viewing experience for the majority of the audience, it seems to be more some kind of artistic attempt to make some cult-like series destined for winning prizes. Well, in my opinion, it failed in all ways possible! And unfortunately, the format stays the same in all episodes. Dullness after dullness...

Instead of a series that could have reached the top-10 of streaming / veiwing charts for quite a number of weeks, I think it will only gather a very limited interest. And it is such a wasted opportunity! Just look at ather WW2 series that are still being watched many years after its initial release, a series on Mussolini could also have achieved that! But for this, SKY only would have needed to select a director that is able to make a normal series! Instead SKY chose to go with this artistic and experimental format that is unwatchable from the first second. Listening to an audiobook is a lot more appealing than this series.

Concluding, I score this series 3.7/10, resulting in an IMDb rating of only 4 stars. And I personally think that is even generous. Why on earth could people within SKY allow this trainwreck ever to happen?! In my opinion, SKY should really look into sacking several people that were involved in this project. Because in todays age of cutthroat competition on getting an audience, this is just about the worst it can get.

The english subtitles are a disaster. They look like automated translations not reviewed by someone who understand italian. For example "Margarita" (the name of a woman) is translated as "margarita pizza". Or "No, no" is translated "ninth", because in italian "nono" means "ninth".

Sometimes these bugs don't help comprehension. They mix up pronouns: "They kick it out" instead of "They kick him out". They don't take into account the formal you that in italian is she. For some complex sentences there is no analysis done by a human : "his husband".

An amateur job done by incompetents.

Such a magnificent work deserves better.

Based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Italian author Antonio Scurati, "Mussolini: Son of the Century" (M. Il figlio del secolo) is equal parts high stakes drama and historical sweep and pageantry, chronicling the early years of Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini from his stint as newspaperman and combative revolutionary to the hallowed seats of the Italian parliament. Along the way the road is paved with bombast, fiery speeches, mercurial temperaments and personalities, sex (a lot of the "behind" kind), political machinations, violence and murder. Lead actor Luca Marinelli carries this rambunctious 8-Part miniseries ably as the balding and fleshy upnosed, arms akimbo, domineering and comically strutting Mussolini as he stomps his way from tenement to the halls of power. The solid supporting cast and realist script with an intellectual bent add quality and depth to this tale of chaos and disorder.

Oddly for all it's in your face noise and unyielding relentlessness the series is slow highlighting its lack of that artistic touch that graces cinematic greatness. The EDM soundtrack is a woefully distracting and misguided intrusion to this Jazz Age depiction. It's history. And what do you do when you're tackling serious history?

While no classic, "Mussolini: Son of the Century" is one of the notable television releases of recent times and a good watch for fans of history and quality TV in general. A panoramic glimpse at one of the darkest eras of human history and a potent lesson on the price of megalomania where at one moment one is speaking in front of adoring thousands from a balcony; the next one's corpse is hanging at the middle of a street above a seething crowd hellbent on revenge, so intent that when one's cadaver hits the ground the furious hellions kick one's face so bad that one's visage deforms sideways as if eternally wanting to kiss the ground it once ruled on. Take it easy.

I really, really tried to like this show. It's got amazing cinematography, stellar directing, and great acting, but a lot of the decisions by the show writers will make you roll your eyes.

The character arcs are just too far-fetched. The bastard son of a blacksmith becoming the ruler of the country, really? It's like someone took the Gendry storyline from Game of Thrones and set it in 1920s Italy. And the lead character's plot armor quickly becomes annoying as he cheats death over a dozen times. It defies the viewer's suspension of disbelief.

The show writers clearly love to kill off likeable characters just to emulate George R. R. Martin. It's sad because the actor who plays Matteotti does a great job, and you really want the character to stick around for future seasons. The writers also threw in a samurai character solely due to the popularity of FX's Shogun.

The writers (all men) don't give their women characters any agency. Its never explained why Rachele or the secretary don't try to become the prime minister themselves instead of the lead character. Why doesn't Rachele march on Fiume? It's like the writers couldn't come up with anything better for them to do except continue to be housewives and mistresses.

I think we all really had high hopes for this show but, hey, what can we do? Let us hope the upcoming Season 2 of The Penguin at least lives up to its hype.

There are hundreds of films about fascism, but only 35 MCU films and a dozen or so DCU movies. The same ridiculous budget for this series could have been better spent on a Marvel or DC film or television series which would be enjoyed by far more people.

There is simply NO reason to make this series. None. The reality is that superhero films today like Captain America: Brave New World have more worthwhile things to say about our current political moment with the Red Hulk in the White House.

It's pure snobbery and elitism for Joe Wright to pretend that this artsy-fartsy show for egg-heads and neck-beards is somehow "better" than The Winter Soldier or Endgame.

Audiences today want less talking and thinking, and more punching and shooting. That doesn't make us stupid, Joe: It means your stupid for not giving us what we want. Mussolini would understand this all too well.