Despite the inexplicable gushings from other reviewers, this is simply a bad movie; the directing, writing, acting, photography and music all bad in their own way. The first 45 minutes of the movie are confusing with no purpose; the movie jumps back and forth from different years making it almost impossible to get rolling and impenetrable to understand. By the time, Giovanna Mezzigiona is confined to a mental hospital (the last half of the movie) we just don't care, and nothing is added to the film. The film could have worked much better as a chronological story; how she met Mussolini, their subsequent relationship and should have ended with her confinement. The end credits could have told us that she never saw Mussolini again. There was absolutely no drama in the hour of the story during which she is confined. The movie tried (and failed) to do too many things: History, world wars, journalism socialism, Fascism, romance, betrayal, to name a few, and did them all poorly. The movie starts chaotically and never gets into any rhythm. The beginning was so bad that it resembled a student film. I hated the idea that the first part of the film was shot in such dark colors (it wasn't as if this was about a journey to light); in fact, it would have been better to start with a lighter palette and grow darker as both Mussolini rise and Mezzagiona's commitment follow. The music was way too intrusive and only added to the pain of watching this movie. The acting was also poor. (Mezzigiona is a major Italian actress and yet has a persistent habit in recent films of failing to connect with the audience and getting us to care about her character) Fellow IMDBers beware! This is a big whiff.
