''Vincere'' (in English, 'To Win') is a 2009 Italian biographical drama film based on the life of Benito Mussolini's first wife,

Ida Dalser Ida Irene Dalser (20 August 1880 – 3 December 1937) was the first wife of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Early life Ida Dalser was born in Sopramonte, a village near Trento (Trient), which was then within the borders of the Count ...

. It stars Giovanna Mezzogiorno as Dalser and

Filippo Timi Filippo Timi (born 27 February 1974) is an Italian actor, director and writer. Biography Winner of ‘best actor under 30’ at the 2004 UBU Awards, the maximum prize for Italian theatre, onstage he has been Orpheus, Danton, Perceval, Cupid, H ...

as Mussolini. It was filmed under the direction of

Marco Bellocchio Marco Bellocchio (; born 9 November 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Life and career Born in Bobbio, near Piacenza, Marco Bellocchio had a strict Catholic upbringing – his father was a lawyer, his mother a schoolt ...

, who also wrote the screenplay with Daniela Ceselli, and it was released 22 May 2009 in Italy. It was the only Italian film in competition at the

2009 Cannes Film Festival The 62nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. Twenty films from thirteen countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 23 M ...

. It won four Silver Hugos at the

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

(Best Actor (Filippo Timi), Best Actress (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), Best Director and Best Cinematography (Daniele Ciprì). and won four

Silver Ribbon The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani ...

(Actress (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), Cinematography, Editing and Art Direction). Giovanna Mezzogiorno was rewarded with the

National Society of Film Critics The National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) is an American film critic organization. The organization is known for its highbrow tastes, and its annual awards are one of the most prestigious film critics awards in the United States. In January 2014, ...

Award for Best Actress 2010.

Synopsis

The film opens in 1907, with Ida Dalser watching a speech by the young journalist and socialist Benito Mussolini. She immediately falls in love with him, and they begin a torrid affair. Mussolini initially opposes Italian involvement in the European

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, but then reverses his position. This leads to his expulsion from the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

, and he develops a new political philosophy, which will become

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

. He decides to start a

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

to expound his views, and Dalser sells all her belongings to finance it. They have a son, Benito, then Mussolini goes to war, and Dalser does not hear from him for a long time. When she does, he is in hospital recovering from wounds, but when she goes to visit him, she finds that he has a new wife and a daughter. Dalser insists that he is legally married to her, but he denies it. From then on, Mussolini appears in the film only in newsreels, reflecting the fact that Dalser never sees him in person again. By the early 1920s, he is Italy's leader, and in the process of concluding a

concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Edi ...

with the Vatican. Dalser intensifies her campaign to prove that she is Mussolini's wife and that her son, Benito Albino, is legitimate. She finds that all the might of the fascist state is turned against her. She is committed to an

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

, and when she continues to protest from there by writing to the newspapers, and even to the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, Benito Albino is committed to a different asylum. Dalser descends gradually into madness. Although the film ends with a caption listing the official cause for their deaths (Dalser in 1937 and Benito Albino in 1942), the film's last scenes hint at the possibility that one or both of them were murdered.

Cast

* Giovanna Mezzogiorno as

as both Benito Mussolini and

Benito Albino Mussolini Ida Irene Dalser (20 August 1880 – 3 December 1937) was the first wife of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Early life Ida Dalser was born in Sopramonte, a village near Trento (Trient), which was then within the borders of the County ...

Michela Cescon Michela Cescon (born 13 April 1971) is an Italian actress. Her film credits include '' Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy'', ''Salty Air'', '' Viva la libertà'', '' Quando sei nato non puoi più nasconderti'', '' First Love'' and ''Tulpa ...

Rachele Guidi Rachele Guidi (11 April 1890 – 30 October 1979), also known (particularly in Italy) as Donna Rachele (Italian for "Lady Rachael") and incorrectly as Rachele Mussolini in the English-speaking world, was the second wife of Italian dictator and ...

*Fausto Russo Alesi as Riccardo Paicher *Pier Giorgio Bellocchio as Pietro Fedele *

Corrado Invernizzi Corrado Invernizzi (born 25 April 1965) is an Italian actor. Biography In movies, he appeared in Vincere (directed by Marco Bellocchio) as a psychiatrist, in Ford v. Ferrari, directed by James Mangold as Franco Gozzi (Enzo Ferrari's right h ...

as Dottor Cappelletti *

Nataliya Kozhenova Nataliya Kozhenova is a Ukrainian actress who has worked in Hindi films. She has done many Hindi movies, and is best known for her movie ''Anjunaa Beach'', in which she was the main protagonist. She encountered some controversy as this movie w ...

as Suora

Reception

The film received universal acclaim from film critics, with rating of 85 from the review aggregate site

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, as well as a 92% "fresh" rating from

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

with the site's consensus being: "Part political treatise, part melodrama, Marco Bellocchio's Mussolini biopic forsakes historical details in favor of absorbing emotion -- and provides a showcase for a stunning performance from Giovanna Mezzogiorno." ''Vincere'' was well received by French critics during the

, and was considered to be a possible ''

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

'' contender, along with '' Un Prophète'' from

Jacques Audiard Jacques Audiard (; born 30 April 1952) is a French film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is the son of Michel Audiard, also a film director and screenwriter. He has won both the César Award for Best Film and the BAFTA Award for Best Fi ...

and (the eventual winner) ''

The White Ribbon ''The White Ribbon'' (german: Das weiße Band) is a 2009 German-language drama film, written and directed by Michael Haneke. Released in black-and-white, the film offers a dark depiction of society and family in a northern German village just be ...

'' from

Michael Haneke Michael Haneke (; born 23 March 1942) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, G ...

.Audiard, Haneke ou Bellochio?
in ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2009 films 2009 romantic drama films 2009 drama films 2009 biographical drama films 2000s Italian-language films Films directed by Marco Bellocchio Films about Benito Mussolini Films about psychiatry Films set in Milan Italian drama films Italian biographical films Italian historical drama films Italian biographical drama films Films set in 1907 Films set in 1922