Why I loved the new Mussolini drama – by an expert in Italian fascism

It is impossible to ignore the contemporary relevance of this series, and it is clearly intendedas a warning. Democracy, this series tells us, is extremely fragile. At one point Mussoliniturns to the camera and says: “Democracy is beautiful. It even allows you the possibility of destroying it.”
February 3, 2025
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As a historian who has studied and taught courses on Italian fascism, I have spent many hourswatching footage and listening to the speeches of dictator Benito Mussolini, who ruled overthe country from 1922 to 1943.

So I was rather excited to be asked to review the new Sky Atlantic TV series M: Son of theCentury. The series focuses on the rise of Italian fascism and its consolidation in power from1919 to 1925. Watching all eight parts in one sitting, I was astounded above all by theperformance by well-known Italian actor Luca Marinelli.

Marinelli is on screen for almost the entire eight hours of the series – often in close up andlooking straight at the camera. It is an extraordinary tour-de-force performance. Physically, Marinelli inhabits the role much as Robert De Niro did in Raging Bull, putting on a lot of weight in order to play this part; the resemblance to the dictator is uncanny.

But there is much more. We are confronted with a torrent of words, speeches and internalmonologues, many of which have been drawn directly from Mussolini’s journalism andspeeches. Here Marinelli captures the precision and charismatic nature of Mussolini’s speech, but also the brutality of many of the concepts he was expressing.

There is a great deal of baroque Italian swearing too, and Marinelli powerfully portrays theuncouth son-of-a-blacksmith and his range of expressions with relish. I would be amazed ifthis actor does not win awards for the role. It is an astonishing performance.

Director Joe Wright’s series is based on Antonio Scurati’s best-selling Italian historical novelof the same name. Scurati’s approach to Mussolini’s story draws on historical work anddocuments, but importantly tells the story with the flair of an experienced and successfulnovelist.

This and the other three books in Scurati’s series about Mussolini have provoked controversyamong Italian historians of fascism, not least for some of the historical inaccuracies, but alsofor what they considered a “dumbing-down” of history. However, others have defended thebooks as a new way of understanding and disseminating history, and the books have beenwildly popular with general audiences.

Wright’s series adapts the first book. Its starts when Mussolini formed the first fascistmovement in 1919 and inspired the “blackshirt” squads who used violence to crush the tradeunion and socialist movement. It covers events in 1922 when Mussolini led the fascistinsurrection that brought him to power, known as the March on Rome. And, it ends with his famous speech by in parliament, which marked the beginnings of the consolidation of Mussolini’s dictatorship in 1925.

This is a complicated story, but the scriptwriters and director have done an exemplary job in bringing this history to a wider audience. Unsurprisingly, they have often simplified the past, or altered events to fit the narrative. This paring down of events generally works well in bringing this period to life, but, of course, historians of the period will notice the numeroustimes that episodes deviate from what really happened.

For instance, certain figures close to Mussolini who play a central role in the series are usedalmost as symbols and as ways of understanding the dictator. Above all, this technique uses is used to elevate Margherita Sarfatti, the writer, journalist and lover of Mussolini who was a key figure in inventing and spreading the cult of dictator.

In Wright’s drama, Sarfatti is depicted as a kind of spin doctor, as someone he turns to in times of difficulty and as an inspiration for his political strategy. Her role is overplayed in theseries, but this is done to increase the clarity of storytelling and provide a sharp narrative.

The tone of the series shifts constantly between darkness and extreme violence to occasionalcomedy and farce. This is a tricky balance to pull off, but it generally works. Anyonewatching will have their views on which parts lapse into bad taste and which do not, and therisks of glamorising or playing down shocking and tragic events.

Certainly, there were moments which jarred, especially the farcical telling of the March on Rome in 1922. Wright and the scriptwriters, correctly in my opinion, place the violence of fascism at the centre of the story, and it rarely pulls its punches in this regard.

It is impossible to ignore the contemporary relevance of this series, and it is clearly intendedas a warning. Democracy, this series tells us, is extremely fragile. At one point Mussoliniturns to the camera and says: “Democracy is beautiful. It even allows you the possibility of destroying it.”

With the victory of Trump and the political rise of Elon Musk, the pertinence, prescience andpower of this film has deepened. There is even a discussion at one point of the meaning androle of the “Roman salute” in terms its use during fascism, something which has been muchdebated in the light of Musk’s own recent controversial “hand gesture”.

But the ultimate finger of blame is pointed at those who enabled Mussolini’s rise and whotolerated his incendiary language and the violence of his followers. The series ends starkly, with the word “silence”. Those who did nothing were just as responsible as those whosupported the rise of this brutal dictator.

* John Foot does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefitfrom this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

 

Source: https://theconversation.com/why-i-loved-the-new-mussolini-drama-by-an-expert-in-italian-fascism-248358