There are many excellent Italian movies that never make it to the United States, but we’ve been lucky enough to get a few made by one of Italy’s most important and prolific of the modern directors – Marco Bellocchio.
I’ve reviewed most of the ones that I know of that are available here in the US on I Love Italian Movies and they’re all good , but if you are only going to see one Bellocchio film, I’d urge you to see one that he wrote and directed, the 2009 Vincere (to win). Bellocchio was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes for this movie and he won and was nominated for dozens of other awards; he’ll receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement this year at the Venice Film Festival.
Vincere is the true story of Ida Dalser, Mussolini’s secret wife/lover. She asserted to have been married to him and went to her grave defending that claim, though we’ll never know for sure. We do know that she lived for him, sacrificed her life for him, and that they had a son together, Albino, who was abducted by the government, raised in an orphanage, and died in an insane asylum, ranting about his father, Il Duce.
The acting is out-of-this-world, with Giovanna Mezzogiorno in her most powerful role to date, playing Ida. Giovanna is stunning in her fierce performance, one that reminded me of the old-time Italian actresses, and she won many awards for it, including best actress from the National Society of Film Critics Awards in the US, beating Annette Bening for The Kids Are Alright.
Mussolini is played by an actor who I consider one of Italy’s best, Filippo Timi, who recently did such a good job in La Doppia Ora, The Double Hour.
Read what I wrote about Vincere HERE.
Enjoy the trailer.
I Love Italian Everything 