VINCERE (2009) - ♦♦♦

Directed by - Marco Bellocchio

Written by - Marco Bellocchio, Daniela Caselli

Starring - Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Filippo Timi

"VINCERE tells the story of BENITO MUSSOLINI's secred lover IDA DALSER, and their son ALBINO. But it is no breezy love story. It is in fact one that from the start seems doomed to tragedy, the tragedy of a woman seduced and abandoned. As the film progresses, MUSSOLINI becomes more powerful and more unreachable, and IDA a pest that must be taken care of. 

BELLOCCHIO never fools the viewer into thinking that he is telling a drama. His story is dark and devoid of melodrama. The love shared between DALSER and MUSSOLINI is portrayed as one sided, and the aspect that most interested the dictator to be purely physical, sexual to the point of perversion, as the first part of the film clearly states. But aside from being an interpretation of this historical event, that only came to light after the execution of the dictator, 

VINCERE is also an examination of the destructive and corruptive power of love. DALSER is in fact obsesses, and just as responsible for her own progressively worsening situation, which relegates her to a mental instutition and by which she places her responsibilities as a mother second to her mission of getting some attention from her always more obscure object of desire. 

The cinematography intensifies the uneasy nature of the film, with its darkness, shadows and cold lightning. It is all a double edged sword, however, because it's hard to care for DALSER as she is too obsessive. And yet, there is something visceral and real about this film. Its focus makes it powerful, but its execution excessively lacks sensibility, and that is bound, which makes the charge of the film wear out and challenger's a viewer's emotional investment a little too much."

Drama, Italy/France