Search - Biography - Mussolini: Italy's Nightmare on DVD

Must be viewed with a historical perspective

Charles Ashbacher | Marion, Iowa United States(cashbacher@yahoo.com) | 09/01/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"With the passage of so many years and the knowledge of the events of world war two, it is difficult to watch this tape and place yourself in the proper historical perspective. The exaggerated pout, pompous strut and other mannerisms of Mussolini seem so comical that it is hard to understand how he could have risen to power. And yet, he gave Italy the longest period of stable government that it has ever seen and he was wildly popular for nearly all of his time as Prime Minister. As I watched the tape, I had to keep reminding myself of this, as at times, he looks so ridiculous.
The years immediately after world war one was a time of near chaos in Europe and although her human losses were relatively small compared to those of the other countries, Italy was in worse shape than most. Mussolini promised, and delivered, what others could not do, a stable government and society. Albeit, a few people had to be killed, but the majority were willing to live with that. His "rise" to power was yet another of his overblown "achievements", and the description on the tape of the Fascist "march" on Rome is correct, as opposed to the absurd description given by the Fascists. In fact, the weak King of Italy appointed Mussolini Prime Minister, as he lacked the backbone to stand up to him.
Unfortunately for Italy, Mussolini seemed to commit the sin that so many of his kind do, they begin to believe their own absurd rhetoric. Fancying himself an heir to the Caesars, he launched a series of military adventures, the first few of which were foolish, but not disasters, His biggest and most incomprehensible mistake was to join with Hitler in his war on the remainder of the world. Had he remained neutral, Italy could possibly have emerged from the war the second strongest nation in Europe, behind the Soviet Union.
The creators of the tape spend some time on Mussolini's relationship with Hitler, pointing out many of the differences between them. Few alive today realize that it was Mussolini who prevented the German annexation of Austria when Dollfuss was assassinated by the Nazis. I would have preferred that the producers spend more time on this aspect of his life, as the German-Italian military alliance was not inevitable. One can only speculate on how things would have been different had Mussolini followed his true feelings towards Hitler and stayed out of the war as much as possible.
Mussolini and his actions were the role model followed by Adolph Hitler as he consolidated his hold on Germany. In fact, during the early years of Hitler's rule, Mussolini was the senior partner in their relationship. Although he appears to be a pompous ... on this tape, Mussolini was a masterful politician, manipulating public opinion by brazenly stating outlandish and contradictory stories in the media. He was the first to truly realize the power of the media and the very short memory of the masses. Mussolini also gave Italy a stable government, with many successes in building the nation's infrastructure, something commonly forgotten.
If you view this tape with the events of world war two foremost in your mind, then you will not be able to understand how Mussolini did what he did. However, if you can place yourself in the historical perspective of the years after world war one, then it is possible to realize that it is almost inevitable that such a man would be able to rise to power in a nation desperately looking for a savior."

Adequate

Chris Johnson | 01/19/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"In the world of historical documentaries, Adolf Hitler probably leads the field as a subject. His inspiration, Mussolini, by contrast, has been almost completely neglected. There's only one other Mussolini documentary on the market that I know of(assuming it's still in print), and it's ludicrously old.This video, from the A&E Biography series, is probably about as good a life of the Italian dictator as we'll get in less than an hour. Mussolini's transition from socialism to fascism is awfully abrupt, as if he woke up one morning and decided, for no particular reason, to start the Fascist Party. One would like to have heard more about Fascism's roots in socialism and syndicalism. Nevertheless, this is the best video life of Mussolini currently available."

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Chris Johnson | 02/06/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Maybe people should talk to people who lived under Mussolini, before giving there opinion on him. My family lived under Mussolini for several years and said he was a great leader and did more for the people then the leaders do today. Don't let the media distort the truth, like it usually does"

Bravissimo

diane cavallaro | 01/20/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This biography on the Italian dictator not as long as desired and therefore not the most in-depth coverage to be found. Nonetheless, it is filled to the brim with spectacular video footage of Mussolini and Italy during WWII, which is almost by itself a reason enough to acquire this for a WWII library."