Quiet please, gentlemen.
After the extraordinary duel of a theological nature,
produced by Father Oretti's words,
I give the floor to Mr. Benito Mussolini,
a union representative and Socialist Party member.
Although of differing opinion,
it is correct to hear his opinion
and let him express himself freely.
I'll be brief.
Does anyone have a watch?
Don't worry, I'm not a thief.
It is ten past five.
I challenge God!
I'll give Him five minutes to strike me dead.
If He does not, it will be the proof He doesn't exist.
I'm ready.
Time's up, God doesn't exist.
WIN
MILAN 1 914
Long live the Republic!
A world of brothers, in peace and freedom!
Long live Socialism!
Don't believe the Vatican nonsense.
TRENT 1 907
We want justice on earth, here, now!
There can be no victory without action, rebellion, violence.
Help me!
No warring between peoples!
Long live the Republic, long live Socialism!
Government rulers are arming for war.
We want peace and justice.
Long live Socialism!
Victor Emanuel, son of a murderer!
Down with the King!
The son of parasites!
With the guts of the last Pope
we'll strangle the last King.
Long live the Republic!
MILAN 1 914
Remember?
My love!
I love you!
SARAJEVO
WAR!
War!
- Where are you going? - I have to leave.
I'll come too! I have to see you again!
Sure...
Your laces are untied.
...it'll start a national revolution,
the bloody crown of Victor Emanuel, the dwarf, will roll!
I'm sorry, you can't go in.
- You've sold out to the French! - How much?
History will prove I'm right.
I'll be at your side despite your insults,
a revolutionary aims straight to the goal, at all costs.
Turn in your Party card, you're a disgrace to the Workers' Party.
This isn't an assembly, it's an execution.
The Party has opted for absolute neutrality.
The Party is the people and you've betrayed them.
- Neutrality is for the castrated. - What?
Listen to me!
You listen too, Benito.
Proletarians don't want this war,
they don't want to get killed for the middle-class.
They think war is suicide.
It's peace that gives bread.
This war will kill all wars.
Middle-class slave!
In July you said "down with war".
I've changed my mind!
Only mules never change paths.
Besides, the middle-class doesn't like my interventionism,
they growl, accusing me of recklessness,
they're scared the armed proletarians will turn against them.
This war, in which Italy must absolutely not remain neutral,
will turn the wheel of history with its blood.
It will be a revolutionary war.
Peace is revolutionary.
Don't forget Blanqui: "Who has iron, has bread".
And there's Napoleon.
Don't be appalled if I say his name.
Revolution is an idea which has discovered bayonets.
You hate me, because you still love me.
Take my arm.
War!
WAR THE WORLD'S ONLY HYGIENE
RALLY DON'T ROT
In my youth I wanted to be a musician or an author.
But I knew I'd be mediocre
and I'm terrified of time passing.
You're the editor of Avanti, you should be satisfied.
I'll never be satisfied, never!
I have to climb higher.
I feel it my duty to be different
from all who accept their mediocrity.
The army of the virtuous can't even imagine
how this society can be changed, revolutionized,
moving beyond morality.
That morality is my destiny.
- Like Napoleon. - Much more than Napoleon!
He was a mere general! Napoleon...
I've resigned from Avanti,
they wanted me to take a leave of absence.
I'd tripled circulation, that's why they wanted me to stay.
I'll found a newspaper.
I already have the title: Il Popolo d'Italia.
How?
Luck goes past each man's door at least once.
You must open the door to welcome it, at that very moment.
When I see a priest, I feel the need to wash my hands.
Long live Italy! Down with Germany!
War! Down with tyranny!
Long live the national revolution!
Depart Italian soil,
depart, the time has come...
depart, all foreigners.
Ida?
What happened?
I sold everything.
What do you mean?
I sold everything.
The apartment, the shop, the furniture, the jewellery.
For your newspaper.
Take it.
No.
It's done, you have to take it.
It's no sacrifice, it's a joy, I love you.
- It's a loan. - Alright... a loan.
I'll sign a receipt.
- Later. - Now.
"I,
Benito Mussolini,
receive
from Lady
Ida Dalser
the sum of..."
I'll leave it blank.
I'd say I have to marry you.
Say "I love you" just once.
AUDACITY!
Long live the War! Down with neutrality!
En garde.
Doctor!
The duel ends here.
- Have you had satisfaction? - No.
Let them treat you.
First I want to read the record.
What happened?
A duel.
I have to talk to you, it's urgent.
- Can't you wait? - No, it's urgent.
I have to talk to you right away.
I'm pregnant.
Better a baptism than a funeral.
Wait.
A duel to the death, to kill each other.
They began before the judge opened procedures.
A blow to the ear, one to the arm...
Mussolini wanted to kill him.
It was brutal!
Here's the text: "Mussolini-Treves Duel".
Mussolini's name must come first.
Hurry, Rachele's here.
- Who's she? - Let's go!
Go to Daddy.
Edda!
So much blood!
A clean shirt.
What did you do?
You wanted to play hero.
Give me a kiss.
Another...
ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA-HUNGRY
WE MUST WIN!
Long live Italy!
Long live war!
War!
Peace!
War is the world's only hygiene.
- Peace is the only solution. - Shut up, draft-dodger!
Depart Italian soil...
Long live neutrality, long live Socialism!
Long live the poor!
You cowards, we're far more Socialist than you.
We're ready to die for Italy.
Italy wants to go to war.
Italy wants peace.
You sold out to Germany and Austria.
You sold out to France.
- Italy's starving! - You Judas!
- Long live the working class! - You're all clowns!
You're corrupt!
Latest news!
Mussolini wounded on the Carso Plateau.
Mussolini wounded on the Carso.
Turn the lights on!
Right here, Your Majesty.
How are you, Mussolini?
You must be suffering.
It's agony.
But we have to hold out.
General Olmi speaks highly of you.
Thank you, Your Majesty...
I just did my duty.
Italy and the House of Savoia are very appreciative.
Why are you here? Go home, you spy!
- I'm his wife. - What? You brazen hussy!
I'm his wife. Nothing to say?
- Be quiet. - Tell her I'm your wife.
Don't forget your son, don't abandon us.
- Get out! - Don't abandon us.
Mad woman!
I'm fine.
I'll kill her, rip her ears off!
You're my woman.
So, be quiet.
You're my little mouse.
Kids, stop it or we won't bring you anymore.
Sit down!
Sit in your seats.
FUTURISTIC EXPO 1 91 7
Welcome, Mr. Editor.
I'm honoured and warfully happy that you are here.
Long live the Hero of Doberdò!
The "rat-a-tat-tat" of machine guns is a joy.
Italy needs people willing to risk their lives,
to give blood for victory.
It's the only direction for change.
Futurism will explode the depravity of our times.
- Hurray for the war! - Long live Futurism!
You've realized the only redemption is to win or die.
- What's happening? - A good deed.
Benito, look at me.
I'm ready to forgive you.
Do what you like but keep me with you.
Get your hands off me!
REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA
POWER TO THE SOVIETS
LENIN DICTATOR
"Chaos in Russia"...
or "Lenin dictator"?
Come outside, you thief!
You've abandoned your wife and son to the deepest poverty!
I've written to the Pope,
the Prime Minister, the Court of Milan,
to the editor of Il Corriere della Sera!
So they'll send you to prison.
You thief!
WAR IS OVER!
OUR MARTYRS HAVE ALL ARISEN!
TRENT, TRIESTE AND UDINE FREED
THE IDEAL HAS BEEN REACHED!
RAISE HEARTS AND BANNERS ON HIGH!
Ministry of Internal Affairs
February 1 3, 1 920, Ida Dalser
and her son Benito Albino Mussolini
have been taken to the home
of her sister Adele,
who is married to Mr. Paicher,
an accountant in Trent.
Temporarily peaceful
but with her propensity to flight,
Ida Dalser is under
strict surveillance night and day.
Thank you, Ma'am.
Madame President, good morning!
Good morning, Madame President...
That's enough!
- Can you make the Fascist Salute? - Yes.
- Which hand is used? - The left.
The right! That's very important!
THE GOVERNMENT PRESIDED BY MUSSOLINI
TOOK OFFICE YESTERDAY
You went the wrong way, it's here.
Are you cold?
I saw Mussolini.
On the movie screen.
He's changed, he looks like a giant.
He's lost lots of hair, but his eyes are the same.
I wrote him today too, he'll answer sooner or later.
You write to Mussolini...
to the Pope, the King, the Bishop, the Police.
Have you ever had a single reply?
He wants to punish me, but for what?
Not even his lowest secretary has replied.
I've never betrayed him, not even in thought.
- That's bad, find another man. - Either him or no one.
I'm going to bed.
Will he get my letters? Will he know I'm alive?
That his son attends a country school and not the Royal College?
Your son needs normality, put your heart at rest.
They call him a bastard.
He's distracted, his grades are poor but not due to a country school.
His teacher hates him.
She has nothing to do with it.
We're watched day and night like criminals.
You think we are guarded because you're Mussolini's wife?
If the Carabinieri got the letters, it might be different.
The Carabinieri swear loyalty to the King.
Keep this up and you'll lose your son.
Today I barely managed to keep custody.
The judge knows me, but tomorrow?
- They want him in another's care. - Whose?
- A Fascist, one of them. - Who?
- Magistrate Giulio Bernardi. - That snake!
Calm down, they're all turning Fascist.
I've been threatened to be fired from the bank.
Do we beg for alms?
It's a lost battle, they're stronger, resign yourself!
I can't.
I'm his wife.
How can you think I could adapt to a normal life?
Only I understand him deeply, because I love him.
I'm convinced he still loves me too,
we have the same ideas, the same principles.
I was the first to believe in him.
If he is what he is, he owes some thanks to me.
I'm the mother of his first-born son, his natural heir
who mustn't end up like the Aiglon, the King of Rome.
You don't even know French.
Riccardo help me.
Benito, there's just one shot here, it's for your father's heart.
Ida, it's time.
Benito Mussolini, do you take Ida Dalser
as your lawfully-wedded wife...
Yes, I do.
Let me go, I have to play!
Wait for me!
Good morning, Ma'am.
TODAY TRUSTED MINISTER IN TRENT
Where are you going?
...in the centre there's the altar of porphyry
with the tomb of the hero,
created by the sculptor Fozzer...
She's crazy.
We could write "paranoia syndrome".
- She has a son. - Too bad.
The marriage certificate?
- It's not here. - I knew it!
Bernardi, it's not here.
How are you?
Where am I?
- In the hospital at Pergine. - In the madhouse!
"Abandon every hope all who enter here".
Quiet!
Where are my clothes, my papers?
The Police have them.
I have to go home,
my son is waiting.
Are you deaf?
My son is Benito Mussolini's first-born son.
Benito Albino Mussolini.
I'm Benito Mussolini's wife.
And I'm Napoleon's!
- Shut up, or I'll tie you down. - We are already!
I'll put you in straight jackets.
Fascist!
To arms, we're Fascists...
That's enough!
Stop it!
I'm not joking, I'll put you in isolation.
Do you know Tatiana Pavlova, the ballerina?
She was my teacher and a friend of il Duce's.
Write her.
Stay still!
Cover up.
Be good!
Don't make me be bad.
No, stay down
or they'll put you in a straight jacket.
You're beautiful.
Is it true you're il Duce's wife?
How does il Duce screw?
"They were intent in their boisterous pastime" comma,
"in the golden peace of the shadowed path..."
Slowly.
Comma.
"...the two youths.
In playing" comma "as serious as if toiling"...
Wait.
Hello.
- What's the matter? - We have a search warrant.
From whom?
From the King's magistrate.
We'll start upstairs.
- Where's my sister-in-law? - Is that a question to ask?
Bernardi, don't you know anything?
Adelina, take the child away.
Auntie!
Leave him alone! Benitino!
- Benito, don't worry. - Sir, it's in your interest.
Leave him alone.
Uncle, help!
Bernardi, stop!
You have no right, I have custody of the boy.
We're in charge, you count nothing.
Don't worry, she hid it.
Here's the new boy.
Come here.
That's your place.
You'll sleep here.
Alone?
School's over, they've all gone home.
There's a light here that stays on all night.
I sleep there, see that door?
When will my mother come to get me?
- First she has to get better. - Is she sick?
- What's wrong with her? - She's too agitated.
And my father?
He has to save Italy, don't be selfish.
Remember, everything we do is for your own good.
Thank you.
Please, don't give them to the Mother,
mail them yourself.
I can't.
Please!
He's testing me.
Who?
Il Duce.
He wants to be sure I'm ready for anything,
even to sacrifice my life for him.
When I've passed the test, he'll come for me
and he'll present me to Italy as his lawful wife.
I'll enter Chigi Palace with my son Benito, his first-born.
And Rachele?
He'll open a restaurant for her.
She was a waitress when they met.
Everyone will get their due.
I can't help you,
if I lose my job, I'll starve.
My son...
Quit licking that Fascist's ass!
You're very good.
Thank you!
Don't you ever stop?
I have to practice all the time.
Where are you going? Don't go out!
Get back in here!
Boys, listen.
I'm il Duce's wife.
He doesn't know I've been put in the madhouse,
or that they won't let me see his son,
who's my son too, his name's Benito.
Notify the Judiciary, the Magistrate,
but not Party Secretary Bernardi, he's a wretch
and the cause of all my calamity.
The eye of il Duce shines, aIive in us, his "BaIiIla".
We're the spark of love
that one day his heart released.
Duce, your "Balilla" are here,
with faith held high and dear.
No sweeter name for us will do.
Duce, for you.
- Have you seen yourself? - Mussolina, go inside.
Come with me.
VENICE - SAN CLEMENTE MADHOUSE
Stop!
- Where are you taking her? - To division 6.
Why?
In Pergine she was with the agitated ones.
Take her to Observation.
It looks still, but it's moving.
Who are you?
A psychiatrist.
So, you can tell me why I'm here.
Contarini, Garbin,
Pezze.
Why do you pretend to read, if you don't know how?
I'll read it for you.
Lady Dalser, Sir Bernardi,
who you know well,
has a letter from your son.
- Why isn't she in her room? - There's no need.
It's been dictated.
Why should he say: "I'm very well, I'm always happy"?
Why does he sign Benito Dalser?
Mussolini has acknowledged him, his name's Mussolini,
Benito Albino Mussolini, like his father.
When il Duce finds out, you'll end up in jail.
Where's my son?
I feel compassion for you, you're not yourself.
For the good of your son, you should sign...
What?
It's no matter if you don't sign, I already have custody.
What custody?
The magistrate in Trent has named him your son's custodian.
You're not signing custody release, it's an authorization,
the power of attorney for that part of the inheritance
which belongs to your son and you.
Thief!
It's a conspiracy to steal from me.
Don't look at me with compassion to rob and kill me,
me and my son, if he hasn't already been murdered.
Lady Dalser,
listen to me.
You're doing it wrong.
You can go.
Now I'll tell you what I think, let me talk.
Let's sit down.
You attack,
you leap from the trenches and attack.
I've been in war too, but there were two armies
slaughtering each other with matched weapons.
You though, are alone against everyone:
Carabinieri, militia, army, the Royal Guards...
Too many.
So you're wrong to holler the truth.
Not that the truth shouldn't be hollered!
But it's the manner, the method,
the timing that's not right.
This is the time to be quiet, to be actors.
I'm a physician, I treat patients.
Have you ever heard me say: "Down with il Duce"?
Today, not always,
we must be great actors.
But the character you must play to save yourself
is not a rebel in constant agitation,
but a normal woman,
a housewife, obedient, remissive, taciturn,
a lover of order.
The Fascist woman who knows her place is in the home.
Also for your son.
My son?
Benito Albino Dalser, nothing else.
Understand me?
But if I die, who'll remember us?
If no one listens, I have to holler.
Why should you die?
You're young, healthy, beautiful.
Why think about the past
and not look to the future, the present?
What future?
The man I adored and gave everything to, has erased me,
like I'd never existed, a ghost.
- Not even a ghost! - You're here, we're talking.
Do you think Fascism will last forever?
I want to release you, give me a little time,
immediately would be dangerous.
Meantime, go to church, confess,
read Pascoli, memorize it,
the Mother Superior adores him.
The Church is the only mother Fascism still fears.
HOSPITAL IN PERGINE
So?
- Well, Miss... - Mrs...
Mrs.
Miss is alright too.
Well...
- How many fingers on a hand? - Five.
How many eyes does a man, or a woman have?
Two.
Except for Polyphemus who had one, but he was a Cyclops.
Fine, last question.
Is it day or night?
Day includes the night as well.
It's morning.
Morning... Do you know the date?
January 1 8, 1 927.
Correct.
Your name is?
My name's Ida Dalser.
Alright.
Born in Sopramonte, August 20, 1880.
Very good.
Parents, Dalser Albino and Corradino Caterina, deceased.
Fine.
And I add...
I don't say this to argue,
mother of Benito Albino Mussolini,
born in Milan on November 1 1 , 1 91 5
and acknowledged
by His Excellency Benito Mussolini,
in January 1 1 , 1 91 6.
That man there...
is the father of my son...
and my husband.
Ma'am, I want to help you.
I'm here to help you,
but if you continue to insist...
- Because I am. - Let me speak.
If you insist you are the wife of Benito Mussolini
who is regularly married to Rachele Guidi
with whom he has four children,
united in civil matrimony
and recently
also in religious ceremony.
He was married in church?
On the other hand...
there is no trace
of your alleged marriage.
I say alleged
because it is not documented,
nothing has been found.
No municipality,
no notary public, no magistrate
can prove you were married,
despite scrupulous research.
I would be willing to believe you
but you should produce a document,
like a marriage certificate,
as proof you're telling the truth
and that you're not a fraud,
nor deranged.
The documents were stolen.
The parish records have disappeared.
Why should I give you
my marriage certificate,
allowing I have one?
Do you have one?
Yes or no?
I do,
but won't give it to you.
I made a rhyme.
Admit you lied,
you aren't Mussolini's wife, you said so in desperation
because you felt abandoned,
to protect your son.
Doing this you'll avoid interdiction.
Just admit you lied,
you invented your marriage.
Your son's acknowledgement
is another matter.
I'd go step by step.
Then...
I would be released?
Everything in due time.
You mean, I wouldn't be released?
Not right away.
This questioning...
is a farce.
Everything
has already been decided.
So,
why not...
DALSER IDA WAS PLACED UNDER JUDICIAL INTERDICT
FOR MENTAL ILLNESS.
HIS EXCELLENCY BERNARDI WAS GIVEN CUSTODY.
TOWARDS THE PEOPLE
Merry Christmas, Benito Dalser.
Dalser, come out, we won't hurt you.
My name's not Dalser, it's Mussolini.
Dalser, you'll catch cold.
- Don't be silly. - I'm not Dalser, I'm Mussolini.
Benito, come here.
Be a good boy.
Do as you're told, come out.
Obey, come out right now.
What's my name?
- What's my name? - Benito.
- Then? - Enough, come out!
My name's Benito Mussolini!
In Saint John Lateran square, a silent, orderly crowd,
standing in a downpour,
wait for the signal of certainty.
Among the crowd, I recognize princes and princesses...
- Cut it out? - I have to practice.
Now what's happening?
It's as if a shiver passed through the crowd
illuminated by an invisible light it moves, swaying.
The bells are pealing. Hear them?
It's 12:1 0 on February 1 1 , 1 929,
the signing has taken place.
Long live the Pope!
Long live il Duce, the man of providence!
The Papal State has been acknowledged by Italy...
Thank you, I must watch what I eat.
Have one.
Help me see my son, I'm desperate.
Why complain?
You have a son by a man all women would like as a husband.
Or lover.
Be happy with that.
You have good memories.
Mother General,
in the name of merciful Christ, of the bereaving Virgin,
let me see my son again, it's been three years.
In the name of the habit you wear,
you cannot allow such a sin to be perpetrated.
Give him my letters.
My dear,
I understand you, I wouldn't have a heart if not.
Think of the suffering of the Madonna at the foot of the cross.
Offer your suffering to God as Santa Caterina did.
Think of what the Madonna said to Bernadette:
"I can't promise to give you happiness in this life,
but in the next."
Sister, she's escaping!
Silvia, come back!
VILLA TORLONIA - RESIDENCE OF IL DUCE
You're the ugliest one!
Ida, will you give me a hand?
Black Shirts, saIute iI Duce!
Black Shirts, you have
the honour and the privilege
to host in your sea
the naval forces of Fascist Italy.
We were once
great
when we dominated the sea.
Rome couldn't have become an Empire
before having first crushed
the maritime power of Carthage.
So that the Mediterranean,
which is not an ocean,
does not become the prison
that humiliates our life vigour,
we must...
When the belI toIls,
it is a certainty
that all Italian people
will be ready
to make the necessary sacrifices.
And remember, BIack Shirts,
if this is to be,
I will be at the forefront.
Benito, imitate il Duce.
Duce, speak to your people.
Black Shirts,
you have the honour
and the privilege
to host in your sea
the naval forces of Fascist Italy.
This privilege
imposes particular duties.
Duce!
Rome couldn't have become an Empire
without having first crushed
the maritime power of Carthage.
And when the bells tolls
it is certain that all Italians
will respond to the offense.
And if this is to be,
I will be at the forefront.
I am Benito Mussolini.
Even if now I'm not called Mussolini, but Bernardi.
I know.
Could you give this letter to my mother?
Go inside.
I have something to give you.
What?
Hide it, don't let anyone see.
"Dear Mother, you can't imagine my joy when I met Uncle Riccardo.
I want to reassure you I am well
and hope to hug you again in a long embrace,
I've been dreaming of you for so long now.
I prayed to the Madonna, and she finally granted her grace.
I hug and kiss you, your beloved son Benitino."
Where's Benito?
We'll ask the Police Commissioner.
Is he in Trent?
Where's my son?
He's in La Spezia, at Radiotelephony School.
He's a sailor.
I phoned so that he can return in time.
Why are you laughing?
Please, send me back to San Clemente, not to Pergine,
I have more humane memories.
I swear on the cross, on my children...
Why do I make you laugh so?
Are there many people?
- How many? - The whole town.
Don't accompany me.
Be merciful, free her!
Shame on you!
Don't forget me.
Murderers!
Win!
And win we shall!
IDA DALSER DIED ON DECEMBER 3, 1 937
FROM CEREBRAL HEMORRHAGE.
SHE WAS BURIED IN A COMMON GRAVE.
HER MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE TO MUSSOLINI
HAS NEVER BEEN FOUND.
BENITO ALBINO DIED AT 26 IN A PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL.
LIKE HIS MOTHER HE WAS BURIED IN A COMMON GRAVE.
ON APRIL 25, 1 945 ITALY WAS LIBERATED FROM FASCISM.
ON APRIL 28, 1 945
MUSSOLINI WAS EXECUTED BY THE PARTISANS.