Vincere (2009)

The story of Mussolini's secret lover, Ida Dalser, and their son Albino.

Director:

Marco Bellocchio

Writers:

Marco Bellocchio (story), Marco Bellocchio (screenplay),

Stars:

Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Filippo Timi, Fausto Russo Alesi

28 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Giovanna Mezzogiorno	...	Ida Dalser
Filippo Timi	...	Benito Mussolini / Benito Albino adulto
Fausto Russo Alesi	...	Riccardo Paicher
Michela Cescon	...	Rachele Mussolini
Pier Giorgio Bellocchio	...	Pietro Fedele
Corrado Invernizzi	...	Dottor Cappelletti
Paolo Pierobon	...	Giulio Bernardi
Bruno Cariello	...	Giudice
Francesca Picozza	...	Adelina Dalser
Simona Nobili	...	Madre Superiora
Vanessa Scalera	...	Suora Misericordiosa
Giovanna Mori	...	Tedesca
Patrizia Bettini	...	Cantante
Silvia Ferretti	...	Scarpette rosse
Corinne Castelli	...	Lacrime

Storyline

The story of Mussolini's secret lover, Ida Dalser, and their son Albino.

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Plot Keywords:

mussolini | mental patient | fascism | one word title | world war two | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp] Official site [us]

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian German

Release Date:

20 May 2009 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Kryfi eromeni

Filming Locations:

Trento, Trentino, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

€9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$18,096 (USA) (19 March 2010)

Gross:

$615,278 (USA) (11 June 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Offside, Rai Cinema, Celluloid Dreams

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min 118 min (cut) 118 min (cut) 118 min (cut) 121 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White (inserts only) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was one of the five Italian films pre-selected as the Best Foreign Film submission for the 82nd Academy Awards, along with Baarìa, Fortapàsc, The Big Dream and We Can Do That.

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Connections

Features Christus (1916)

User Reviews

Initial energy dissipates into aimlessness

My brother was in attendance for this one, and we were pretty much in unison in opinion. The first act of Vincere ("Win!") is quite extraordinary. In fact we both had the spine chills for the credits which featured a display of enormous mounted ship cannons.

It's a film about the relationship between Benito Mussolini and Ida Dalser. The first act, where they are actually together, is extraordinary. Mussolini is a power hungry madman, incapable of a non-hyperbolic thought, he quotes Napoleon at will and ravishes Ida in the moonlight of their cavernous apartment. He's the ultimate political opportunist, and Ida falls in love with his pure thuggery, despite his obviously third-rate intellect. I then had a problem for the remainder of the film, because I was expected to sympathise with Ida, whom Mussolini pushes away, even though she is a brute-loving nincompoop.

Despite Giovanna Mezzogiorno's excellent acting as Ida Dalser, it's like Bellochio isn't sure where to take the story, as if life doesn't really fit into his narrative structure. I remembered reading Robert Graves' book Count Belisarius as a teen, which starts off as a stonking good read about the adventures of a general in the Byzantine Empire, but then becomes far to encumbered with an adherence to history, that almost makes the latter part of the experience like reading a textbook, a real chore.

As another reviewer has pointed out, the actor in the movie who plays Mussolini, Filippo Timi, is far more interesting and nuanced than the actual historical figure, and it's simply ridiculous when we see newsreel footage and have to see Mussolini the real man, followed by Timi in the next scene. I have to hand it to Italians that they certainly have a talent for electing verminous cretins to high office that has lasted to this very day. You see the newsreel footage and it's impossible not to titter.

The film in retrospect is simply a misadventure in my opinion.