"Il giovane Mussolini" (1993) TV mini-series

Director:

Gianluigi Calderone

Writers:

Vincenzo Cerami (writer)
Mimmo Rafele (writer)

Genre:

Drama | History

Plot:

The story starts at the point in Benito Mussolini's life when, at the age of nineteen, he gave up being a schoolmaster...

Plot Keywords:

Mussolini | Benito | TV Mini-Series | Character Name In Title

Cast

Antonio Banderas	...	Benito Mussolini
Toni Bertorelli	...	Primo
Valentina Lainati	...	Giulia Ferrari
Ivano Marescotti	...	Giacinto Serrati
Franco Mescolini	...	Ferrari
Anna Geislerová	...	Eleonora
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Raffaella Azim	...	Margherita Sarfatti
Flavio Bonacci	...	Giuliani
Vitezslav Bouchner	...	Steelworks Foreman
Franco Castellano	...	Rocca
Hana Davidona	...	Anna Kulicioff
Alice Dvorakova	...	1st Woman Patron
Ladislav Gerendás	...	Ciccotti
Andrea Giordana	...	Naldi
Lidije Glavanakova	...	Renzi's Wife
Karel Hábl	...	Police Officer
Jaroslav Heyduk	...	Lawyer
Karel Hlusicka	...	Ambassador
Jan Hrusínský	...	Vautrot
Robert Jaskow	...	Cesare
Ivan Jirík	...	Libero
Hugo Kaminský	...	Don Dallabrida
Jindrich Khin	...	Gasparotto
Jan Klar	...	Fencing Instructor
Viktorie Knotková	...	2nd Woman Patron
Eduard Kolar	...	Leonida Bissolati
Claudia Koll	...	Rachele
Magdalena Kopicova	...	Rachele (10 years old)
Václav Kotva	...	Old Priest
Dan Krames	...	Duilio
Renata Kubisova	...	Damerini's Wife
Rudolf Kutilek	...	Vogler
Jan Laibl	...	Tagliatela
Susanne Lothar	...	Angelika Balabanoff
Hubert Marík
Steva Marsálek	...	Bussi
Eva Matalova	...	Annina
Jiri Meigl	...	City Councilor
Milos Mejzlik	...	Damerini
Pino Micol	...	Claudio Treves
Jirí Nemecek	...	Judge
Jan Novotny	...	Mazzoni
Jirí Ornest	...	Barrister Sarfatti
Zdenek Pechácek	...	Eleonora's 1st Escort
Memè Perlini	...	Renzi
Jaroslava Pokorná	...	Rosa Maltoni
Klára Pollertová	...	Carmen
Petr Pospíchal	...	Lazzari
Jan Preucil	...	Corporal
René Pribil	...	Gaudenzi
Pavel Rímský	...	Bertoni
Radan Rusev	...	Bacci
Jiri Schmiedt	...	Marinetti
Jan Sedlisky	...	Alessandro
Milan Stehlík	...	Magni
Karel Suchy	...	Bergonzi
Petr Svárovský	...	Valmaggi
Josef Vajnar	...	Eleonora's 2nd Escort
Jan Vala	...	Bonavita
Vlastimila Vlková	...	Renzi's Mother
Karel Vyborny	...	Filippo Turati
Gabriela Wilhelmová	...	Sirotina
Vlastimil Zavrel	...	Prisoner
Luca Zingaretti	...	Pietro Nenni

Also Known As:

A Man Named Benito
Benito: The Rise and Fall of Mussolini (USA) (DVD title)
El joven Mussolini (Spain)

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality/nudity.

Runtime:

114 min | Finland:301 min (3 parts)

Country:

Czech Republic | Spain | Italy | Germany

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | USA:R

Company:

Microfilm

A Five Hour Epic Graced with Superb Acting and Historical Recreation

In 1993 Gianluigi Calderone directed this biography of Benito Mussolini (script by Vincenzo Cerami and Mimmo Rafele) as a three-part television series, wisely electing to engage one Antonio Banderas, fresh from his triumph in the film 'Philadelphia' in the States, to tackle the legend of one of the treacherous leaders of Italy in the first half of the 20th century. The DVD is now available in a 2-disc format, which allows the viewer to watch Parts I, II, and III on separate evenings. It is a beautifully captured bit of history and Banderas proves his considerable acting chops in a role that spans the entire spectrum of emotional response.

The film opens when Mussolini, at age 19, was disenchanted with being a schoolteacher and instead focused on womanizing and the plight of the workers in Italy. A man of astounding power of verbal presentation and conviction, he managed to seduce not only nearly every woman who crossed his path but also the multifactioned working class, a mass of frustrated and abused workers who jumped from promise to cause to new hero with regularity in an attempt to change the sad situation of class struggle in Italy.

Mussolini (Banderas) manages to court the interest of Angelika Balabanoff (Susanne Lothar), a Russian Socialist with hard rules and concepts of her own but also a woman who could foresee Mussolini's growing importance as a leader of social reform. The story unwinds at a fine pace, pausing to reveal the tender side of the man with his marriage to his childhood sweetheart Rachele (Claudia Koll), his challenges to attack his education further through the influence of another lover, med student Eleanora (Anna Geislerová), as well as through his ruthless manner through his confrontations with Manzoni (Jan Novotny), Bissolati (Eduard Kolar), his rise to power by becoming the editor of Milan's influential Avanti! newspaper, and his leadership of the Italian Socialist Party. But power gets a strangle hold on him and he develops the cruel Fascismo Party, and with that turns all of his supporters against him in his revolution that started for the working class into a sellout to the landowners, from his initial stance of pacifism of revolution to his active engagement in the World Wars.

Banderas does a fine job of allowing us to see all sides of Mussolini: this is not a cardboard cutout but a man with multi-dimensional characteristics. The superb cast includes German, Spanish, Italian, and Czech Republic actors and therein lies a bit of a problem. While the acting is excellent, it appears that each of the actors is peaking in his own tongue, that the final version released on DVD is dubbed in Italian and/or English with English subtitles. But the dialogue is so fast-paced, filled with vibrantly important information that the viewer rarely gets to look at the mouths of the actors to see who is speaking what - so it doesn't distract from the brilliance of the film.

The cinematography and set design and costuming are all excellent as is the wondrous musical score by Nicola Piovani. It would help to be more informed about Italian political history to fully enjoy this spectacle, but the epic does provide a fine condensation of years of world politics and the rise of Socialism that allows us to understand that strange era far better. Watching BENITO requires an investment of time, but for this viewer the investment is well worth the effort and the subsequent pleasure. Highly Recommended.