Vincere Special 1: Fascism is Dead, Long Live Il Duce

Man or monster: the humanising of Mussolini

by William WardThursday, 13 May 2010

'Vincere': the future Duce (Filippo Tomi) seduces his mistress (Giovanna Mezzogiorno)

Applauded by the audiences at Cannes last year, where it was the only Italian film in the competition, and nominated for a Palme d’Or, awarded four prizes at the Chicago International Film Festival, and favourably received at home, Marco Bellocchio’s Vincere is now being released in the UK, increasingly a rare event for films of Italian origin.

Mussolini theorised thus: “The masses love a strong man, and the masses are female in nature”

Buy

Find The Woman Who Shot Mussolini on Amazon

Explore topics

Share this article

The future of Arts Journalism

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

more Film

Nocturnes review - the sounds of the rainforest transport you a remote region of the Himalayas Mansi spends her nights counting moths in North East India

theartsdesk Q&A: filmmakers Guy Maddin, Evan and Galen Johnson on 'Rumours' Archetype-bending auteur Maddin and co. discuss their new film's starry, absurd G7, autobiography and artifice

Merchant Ivory review - fascinating documentary about the director and producer's long partnership Stephen Soucy examines Ismael Merchant and James Ivory's complicated relationship with input from many stars

Grand Theft Hamlet review - intriguing documentary about Shakespeare as multi-player shooter game How two jobless actors created a novel Hamlet inside the game Grand Theft Auto

Nightbitch review - Mother's life as a dog Amy Adams hits it out of the park in Marielle Heller's film

theartsdesk Q&A: filmmaker Payal Kapadia on 'All We Imagine as Light' An in-depth conversation with the director of the instant Indian arthouse classic

Rumours review - pallid satire on geopolitics The Guy Maddin team's caustic mainstream spoof misfires

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl review - mordant seriocomedy about buried abuse Rungano Nyoni writes and directs a vitriolic story about the Zambian middle class