I recently saw this at the 2010 Palm springs International Film Festival. From the respected veteran writer/director Marco Bellocchio this is the story of the young charismatic rising political leader and newspaper publisher Benito Mussolini (Filippo Timi) and his purported first wife Ida Dalser (Giovanna Mezzogiorno). The story begins in 1907 as Dalser, a successful beauty salon owner, meets a rising star in the Italian socialist party, Mussolini. Mussolini goes on to split from the socialists and form his own fascist faction of it. Dalser funds his new newspaper venture and as World War I begins, Mussilini is poised for a future political career that will take him to the top. He finds a new wife in Rachele Guidi and discards Dalser and eventually has her locked up and all records of the marriage and son by erased. Excellent art department with Marco Dentici on production design, Briseide Siciano as art director and Sergio Ball as costume designer. Superb editing, mixing archival footage with the storyline by Francesca Calvelli and a great cast in Mezzogiorno as Dalser and Timi in a dual role as the young Mussolini and as his supposed son Benito Albino Mussolini Dalser. Though it looks great it is shot too dark and shadow like. A nice effect at first but not for the whole movie. The Mussolini character is only there for the first half of the film and then you have to rely on pictures, archive footage and statutes and thus, the Mussolini character is not fully explored in its omission. It's a good film however and I would give it a 8.0 out of 10.
