Category Archives: Italy

Person: Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (1883-1945)

Posted on by
Reply

mussoliniBenito Mussolini had a father who believed in socialism, anarchism, and republicanism. Like his father, Mussolini also praised Giuseppe Garibaldi for successfully overthrowing the royal family and unifying Italy. After moving to Switzerland, he got to know Lenin, who had taken refuge in Switzerland; Mussolini learned German and French from Lenin, and they built a relationship of mutual respect. In his youth, Mussolini adored Karl Marx’s ideology and believed in class struggle. After returning from Switzerland to his home country, Mussolini joined the Italian Socialist Party, but since he advocated for participation in World War I, he was expelled from the Socialist Party that insisted on staying neutral. It is said that Lenin was very disappointed with the Italian Socialist Party for expelling Mussolini, whom he believed to be smart and promising.

Mussolini enlisted in World War I; after returning from the war, he formed the National Fascist Party in 1921 with support from Great Britain, and he repeatedly battled with the Socialist and Communist Parties. Both Great Britain and America praised him, saying, “Mussolini is an ideal leader in these new times,” and American newspapers reported him favorably through the first half of the 1920s. Winston Churchill also at first held Mussolini in high esteem as “one of the great leaders of our times.” However, Ernest Hemingway had concerns about Mussolini relatively early on. On a personal level, it is said that Adolf Hitler at first respected Mussolini, but Mussolini hated Hitler. Due to the alliance between Germany and Italy that later developed, the relationship between Mussolini and Hitler gradually improved, but when it became clear Italy was losing in World War II, Hitler’s attitude towards Mussolini gradually became cold.

Mussolini, in addition to Italian, was proficient in English, German, and French, and it is said he was a cultured person who understood philosophy and the arts. After Italy’s defeat in World War II, he tried to flee to neutral Switzerland, and it is said he planned to go from there to Spain—another neutral power that was governed by Gernalísimo Franco, the only fascist administration that remained in Europe. However, on his way to Switzerland, he was discovered by partisans, and was executed with his lover Clara Petacci by shooting; his corpse was hung in Piazzale Loreto in Milan. The hanging was done by a rope from a rooftop in the piazza; since this was the same style in which those who offended the fascist administration were hung to their death in the streets, this act appeared to be the partisans’ retaliation against the fascist administration. It is said that Mussolini, who was never interested in filling his own pockets while in power, left behind barely any assets after his death. After their deaths, people in Italy did not hate Mussolini as much as those in Germany hated Hitler, and although people have some bad images of Mussolini, they still have a relatively good impression of him for completely oppressing the mafia and for his efforts to improve employment.

Mussolini had a long relationship with Rachele Guidi—the daughter of Mussolini’s father’s lover, Ana Guidi—and in 1910, Rachele had their daughter Edda. He had his first marriage ceremony with Rachele in the town hall in 1915, but after becoming famous as a politician, Mussolini had a second, Catholic-style wedding ceremony with her in 1925.

However, according to Marco Zeni’s books published in 2005, the possibility was discovered that when Mussolini got a job as a journalist and moved to Trento in 1909, he met Ida Dalser, who was from the area, and they married in 1914. Mussolini, struggling to make ends meet, got financial assistance from Ida, who supported Mussolini’s socialist ideals; in 1915, Ida bore Mussolini his first son, Albino. The reason this marriage wasn’t publically known until 2005 is that it is said that Mussolini’s administration completely destroyed all official documents regarding Ida Dalser and Mussolini, as well as destroyed the correspondence between the two of them as much as possible. Both Ida and Albino died in mental hospitals, and in particular, there is a strong possibility that Albino, who died when he was just 26 years old, was killed. This situation is depicted in Vincere.

If this is true, Mussolini seems to have had relations with Ida from 1909 to 1915, even though he was formerly involved with Rachele. Furthermore, if the marriage with Ida was official and there was no official divorce, Mussolini committed the crime of bigamy. Either way, by 1915, Mussolini had abandoned Ida—who understood and loved him as a socialist—and he chose Rachele as his wife. Mussolini had a complicated life path, but certainly around World War I, he experienced a major turning point in both his public and private life.

日本語→

Movie: A Farewell to Arms (1957)

Posted on by
Reply

Hollywood made two movie adaptations of Hemingway’s novel published in 1929, which was based on his younger days in Italy as a Red Cross volunteer in World War I in 1917. The first was made in 1932 and starred Gary Cooper; the flashy remake was made in 1957 after the war, during a prosperous time for Hollywood, and Rock Hudson performed the lead role.

Italy formed an alliance with Germany in World War II, but they were a member of the Allies in World War I –along with France, Great Britain, Russia, and the U.S.—and fought against Austria, Germany, and Turkey of the Central Powers. The protagonist Henry, a projection of Hemingway, is a soldier of the U.S. forces who serves as an ambulance driver to transport injured Italian soldiers from the battlefield to the hospital. The German and Austrian armies were dominant militarily, and Italy always felt threatened by the Central Powers’ forces because, while Italy concentrated on establishing a democracy, Germany focused on expanding their military; Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms favorably depicts Italians, who proudly hold onto and protect their republic and democracy. However, over time, Italy kept moving toward fascism, allying with Germany before World War II. Hemingway, who constantly watched Italy, may have later wondered, “Where has Italy gone?” Although Mussolini was extremely popular after World War I, it is said that Hemingway was wary of Mussolini. In this story, the Italian military police suddenly interrogate fellow Italians suspected of being spies, who are one after another shot to death without being allowed a hearing. The protagonist barely escapes alive and becomes a deserter; the interrogation scene symbolizes Italy’s path to World War II.

Let’s return to talking about the 1957 movie remake. Rock Hudson somewhat resembles London Olympics gold medal swimmer Ryan Lochte, and he has a “pretty face,” but is unable to capture Hemingway’s intellect or ruggedness. Jennifer Jones—performing as the nurse who cares for and falls in love with the protagonist when he is injured—looks as if you added the duller halves of Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn together; she doesn’t have the alluring eye power of Elizabeth Taylor, and she also doesn’t have the sweet innocence of Audrey Hepburn. Jennifer Jones, if I say it nicely, is too sexy, but if I say it bluntly, doesn’t seem to possess the purity needed for this character. Also, the two people are supposed to be “madly in love” in the movie, but there is no spark at all between them on-screen, so the love between the two during this dangerous wartime does not emotionally move me at all.

In the hospital ward that should be packed full of sick and wounded soldiers, the protagonist is always laying there alone in a big, empty room, which makes me wonder, “What happened to the other sick and wounded soldiers?” The nurse who should be busy helping many patients instead spends all day running around an Italian town searching high and low for American food that the protagonist likes. In the protagonist’s private (so it seems!!) hospital room that nobody disturbs, the two are preoccupied with their love affair, as if the world just exists for the two of them; then the head nurse who notices this orders, “If you are so healthy, return to the battlefield!!!” Although, the head nurse is supposed to be a super-villain who obstructs the two lovers, the two lovers are so self-centered that the head nurse seems like a decent person. This movie ends with the feeling that it doesn’t really matter how the war turns out, since the world conveniently revolves around them.

It is said that Hemingway was disappointed with how each time Hollywood adapted one of his stories into a movie, the political themes in his novels got watered down and they became simple love stories; this movie makes me think that his anger was completely reasonable. The audience of Hollywood movies is not stupid. This glamorous remake had an astonishingly high budget and was filmed on the actual site, but it is said that it was a failure in the box office, and it received very low ratings compared to the 1932 movie, which was nominated in many Academy Award categories. It is said that Jennifer Jones—a big actress in those days—asked her lover, director Charles Vidor, “Can I please star in another A Farewell to Arms?” I don’t know whether or not Hemingway watched this movie, or what he thought if he did watch it, but this movie makes me feel sorry for him.

日本語→

Movie: Tea with Mussolini (1999)

Posted on by
Reply

Tea with Mussolini is a movie with a comedic touch, and it depicts the life of an Italian boy/young man named Luca who is deeply involved with the lives of some British and American women living in Florence, Italy from 1935 to 1945. The story includes the rise of fascists led by Mussolini, the lives of Britons and Americans in an internment camp after Britain and America declared war on Italy, Jews being hunted, and the partisan movement, but there are few gunshots or murders, and this curious movie never loses the elegant smell of tea and biscuits. Actually, the contents of this movie may be more true than one would think because Franco Zeffirelli, who wrote the story for and directed this movie, projected his own experience onto Luca. It is said that Zeffirelli participated in anti-war activity as an anti-fascism partisan during the time of the war.

Right before World War II, in an area populated by foreigners in Florence, there is a group of British women led by Lady Hester, the widow of a diplomat who was stationed in Italy. Elsa, an American singer, is friends with the group, but the proud and old-fashioned Hester dislikes the American and nouveau-riche Elsa. Another group member Mary is a secretary for an Italian businessman; her boss wants to raise his illegitimate son Luca as a British gentleman, so he asks Mary to educate Luca. Meanwhile, since Elsa was friends with Luca’s late mother, she sets up a fund to help educate Luca. However, since Italy breaks off its ties with Great Britain and grows closer to Germany, the father changes his plan for Luca’s education, and has Luca sent to an Austrian school to learn German. Hester worries about the rise of fascism, and in order to protect Florence’s British community, she goes to meet her acquaintance Mussolini; she returns from afternoon tea with Mussolini, relieved by his words, “I’ll protect the British, no matter what happens.” However, after Italy declares war on Great Britain, the British women are sent to an internment camp.

Elsa uses a large sum of money in order to transfer Hester and the others out of the internment camp and secure their housing in a high-class hotel. Also, she provides fake passports to Jews in Italy and helps them flee from the country. When Luca, who has grown into a lovely young man, returns home from Austria, he helps Elsa and becomes the arms and legs of her mission. Before long, due to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, America at last joins the war, and Italy and America become enemy nations; danger approaches Elsa who is in fact Jewish. Luca asks the partisans for help with Elsa’s escape, and also Lady Hester, having found that it was not Italian Mussolini but American Elsa who had protected them, takes part in Elsa’s escape. Luca, along with Lady Hester’s grandchild, joins the partisan—which later merges with the Scottish army led by the Allies—to fight for the liberation of Italy from Nazi occupation. The movie ends with the German army hastily retreating from the Italian town that Hester and the others live in, and Luca and the others of the Scottish army arriving to town and receiving an enthusiastic welcome from the townspeople.

Although this movie is not a masterpiece that will remain in history, it is well-made, like a small gem, and there are some details that can only be told by people who lived during that time.

First, there was an amicable relationship between Britain and Italy from the end of World War I until the early 1930s. Therefore, for an Italian, proficiency in English was a big plus. Also, most British people viewed Mussolini favorably until a certain time. Furthermore, Britons seemed to believe that the war would remain local—Italy/Germany vs. the countries around Germany—and that the British government could skillfully avoid getting involved. To some degree, the war was somebody else’s problem. However, once Great Britain had no choice but to participate in the war, America’s existence became a big deal. Until then, British people had considered America—for better or for worse—to be a distant country across the ocean, but America became something like a savior for Great Britain. America’s participation in the war is received with gratitude by Hester and the others.

In addition, the interesting antagonism between England and Scotland within Great Britain is depicted. Luca, who wanders around the battlefield with the intention of joining the Allies, loudly asks some troops that look to be part of the Allies army. “American army?” “NO!” “English army?” “Never!! We aren’t those cruel people!!!” Then the soldiers roar with laughter at the dumbfounded Luca. They say, “We are Scottish! Relax!”, laugh heartily, and then welcome the relieved Luca.

The mission of the Scottish army in which Luca participated was to free the British prisoners, including Hester, and transport them to a safe place. The Scottish soldier that meets Hester in the town states, “I order everyone to gather up your luggage immediately and move to the safe place for everyone’s personal safety,” but Hester angrily says, “A Scot giving me (an English aristocrat) orders is not acceptable!!”; the movie ends with Luca and the Scottish soldier exchanging a smile that seems to say, “What can you do?”

日本語→

Movie: Vincere (2009)

Posted on by
Reply

All I knew about Benito Mussolini was that he was an Italian dictator killed by Italian partisans in 1945 and his body was hung upside-down in the public square as retaliation against him for his massacre of partisans who were sometimes hung in this fashion; this movie depicts that Mussolini was in fact a bigamist, a side of him that wasn’t well-known. Ida Dalser fell in love with young Mussolini who was full of ambition, supported him as his first “wife” economically while he was a novice journalist, and bore him a son. However, the existence of this woman was completely concealed and erased by the government that Mussolini commanded and, in the end, she was sent to a mental hospital until she died; her son was also sent to mental hospital and died at the age of 26. The movie credits at the end say that there is no proof that she officially married Mussolini and it is unclear whether Ida really was married to Mussolini or only that she carried the delusion of being married to Mussolini due to a mental illness.

In 2005, journalist Marco Zeni published two books—La moglie di Mussolini and L’ultimo filò –based on his own investigation revealing the existence of Ida Dalser; a TV documentary about Ida Dalser based on these was televised and greatly shocked the people of Italy. In 2009, Italian movie maestro Marco Bellocchio directed the movie adaption about her life and this movie caused a big reaction across the whole world. In an interview, Marco Bellocchio was asked why he decided to make this movie about Ida. He answered this question with the following:

“It is because Ida wasn’t known at all. Even I learned of her by chance. I unintentionally learned by watching the documentary and reading the newspaper, but even historians didn’t really know her private life then at all and it just recently surfaced. Although I thought I knew fascism very well, I was very much intrigued and surprised that I didn’t know about her at all, and thus I made this movie.”

It seems natural that I didn’t know since this Italian with extensive knowledge did not know. Director Marco Bellocchio was not interested in depicting Mussolini as a fascist; his passion for making this movie was to focus on Ida, a strong woman who didn’t cave to authority as she attempted to gain true “victory”. He speaks of this in the following:

“My reason for wanting to make this movie about this woman is very simple. It is because Ida Dasler is a hero. I was not interested in exposing or highlighting the evils of a fascist administration. But I was very moved by this woman named Ida who refused to give in. She was completely alone for years. She—perhaps without noticing or involuntarily—made enemies of not only the Supreme Leader, but nearly all of the people of Italy. She deeply loved Mussolini for himself even when he was young and still anonymous. She loved him when nobody cared about him. She protected him when he was penniless, was criticized, and faced contempt. After that, their positions reversed. Everyone loved him when he became Supreme Leader while she was shut out and everyone turned their back on her. But she still couldn’t break out her reckless love; she didn’t notice who had the upper hand and thus made enemies of all of Italy.

“At that time, Italy supported the fascist doctrine and it was Mussolini’s world. This woman Ida—bravely opposing the Supreme Leader, refusing to compromise, and remaining a rebel until the end—reminds us of Antigone, a tragic heroine appearing in Greek mythology, and closely resembles Aida, the heroine in an Italian melodrama. This movie is a melodrama that depicts the mental strength of one anonymous Italian woman. She gives in to no power, so in this sense, it is her that truly wins. She had strength, bravery, and, in a way, foolishness to face the world. This is why her story is historically valuable to me.

“To us today, fascism is absurd and irrational and we laugh when we see it, but knowing about her life makes us remember that fascism is a cruel dictatorship, not a funny story. In order to execute this insane paradigm, anyone who obstructed it was crushed and countless innocent people were victimized for the sake of the system.”

Director Marco Bellocchio’s intention is simple, but I wonder if his intention is successfully transmitted to the audience. In this movie, it is unclear whether she is really Mussolini’s wife and the movie may make the audience think that she died insane with these delusions. Without certainty, the audience that continues to watch on and on for two hours may wonder what the point is to keep watching her insanity. If the director wants to depict Ida’s victory, I think this ambiguous way of depicting is not the best method to accomplish his intention. If contemporary Italians have the freedom of speech and behavior to the point where he could say “fascism is absurd and irrational and we laugh,” I wonder why he doesn’t show clearly, based on historical facts, how the lives of this mother and child who could have been killed were completely concealed by authorities. This movie’s cinematography is certainly charming and I can see that he was aiming for an artistic movie, as seen by the incorporation of silent and historical footage, but I feel he could have done something different to more effectively dedicate it to this anonymous heroine. After watching this movie, I can’t help but think that making a straight-forward movie that is able to clearly transmit the facts to the whole audience would be the best way to honor this anonymous heroine who was totally neglected.

日本語→