The early career of Benito Mussolini (Luca Marinelli), from his founding of the Italian Fasci in 1919 to the assassination of socialist politician Giacomo Matteotti (Gaetano Bruno) in 1924 and his speech to Parliament on January 3, 1925.
With M – Il figlio del secolo (or Mussolini: son of the century in English), Joe Wright delivers an eight-episode series that traces the birth of fascism in Italy and the rise to power of Il Duce, Benito Mussolini.
A Man Presented Differently
The first thing that strikes you when you start watching M – Il figlio del secolo is that Mussolini is not directly presented as a villain. On the contrary, he is shown to us as a common main character, just like in any other political series.
The series thus offers a glimpse into Mussolini and his personal relationships, particularly with his wife Rachele, his mistress Margherita Sarfatti, and other emblematic figures of the era. This way of showing Mussolini’s ascent makes him sympathetic. At least, that’s the case in the first four episodes, in which we find ourselves hoping he will manage to achieve power.
The series manages to make the viewer almost forget what will follow, the atrocious things he did, and how he served as an inspiration for the Nazi movement in Germany. We also understand, through the way he is filmed, that he is charismatic despite his flaws and weaknesses. We see him grow as a person, and the effect is masterful.
This is a series that demonstrates how, by using imagery, you can lead people to love or hate a person.
Games of Images and Sounds
There is something else that is striking about this series. And it goes far beyond quality. In the 1920s and 30s, fascists and Nazis alike used images and media to make people believe in something. The technique remains effective whether you want to do something good or bad. The director of M – Il figlio del secolo plays with these notions to make us love his characters, despite what we know about them outside of the fictional universe.
Benito Mussolini (Luca Marinelli)
First, the visual richness makes this series almost epic. At times, you almost feel like you’re in a spy movie, as the ochre tones and darkness give the impression that you are observing something secret that will lead our hero to the top. To balance the emotions, the director also uses archival footage (or footage that looks like it). This reminds us that the series is about something that really happened and that it’s not all beautiful.
It’s a strategy that will likely prevent the series from being too shocking for viewers and the general public, despite the fact that Mussolini speaks directly to the viewer on several occasions.
A little more…
Like the novel on which it is based, the series tells the story of a country that capitulated to dictatorship and that of a man who managed to rise from the ashes many times. Initially a journalist, Mussolini even had socialist leanings at the beginning of his political career, but he was expelled from the Italian Socialist Party after advocating for military intervention during World War I. He then served in the army before being sent home from combat in 1917 after being wounded. Upon his return, he denounced the Socialist Party in favor of radical nationalism.
After being named Prime Minister following the March on Rome in March 1922, he transformed Italy into a single-party dictatorship with the goal of creating a totalitarian state.
At the time of writing this review, I had only seen the first four episodes, and Il Duce still feels very likable. One thing is for sure, I will quickly watch the rest to see, not how it ends, but how the character will become—or not become—unlikable.
