7 hours ago
3
ARTICLE AD BOX
Filmmaker Joe Wright says he was propelled to explore the roots of fascism through his eight-episode series "Mussolini: Son of the Century" as he is worried about the way the right-wing idealogy has been embraced by contemporary politicians and cultural figures world over.The British filmmaker is not new to period stories or biographical dramas having adapted books like "Atonement", "Pride & Prejudice" and "Anna Karenina" as well as "Darkest Hour", which detailed the early years of Winston Churchill as British Prime Minister."Mussolini", which currently streams on MUBI India, is adapted from Antonio Scurati's famous novel "M: Son of the Century by Antonio Scurati"."Mussolini really wrote the rulebook on contemporary populism.
This idea that you take the very legitimate concerns of a disenfranchised populace and exploit them to your own ends is something that he did. And we see that happening even now," Wright told PTI in a telephonic interview from London."The sophistication with which these fascist ideas and methodologies have been taken up by contemporary politicians and cultural figures (is worrying). And fascism looks very different now, but is still at its root the same thing," he addd.
Wright said it was important to have the audience understand how Mussolini was able to seduce an entire nation and much of the world with these ideas."The fact that he started as a newspaper man and understood the power of the catchphrase of the headline... That idea has now developed into clickbait and kind of algorithms looking for the most outrageous comments to direct public attention and increase user engagement.
It's all the same idea, just with a different technology," he said.The filmmaker said while growing up in the 1980s, fascism was used as a "pejorative term for anyone in authority" that people didn't like."So the police were fascists, and the teachers were fascists. But I don't think we really understood what the word meant. Now it felt like it was incumbent upon us to try and understand where the word came from, and to really get to grips with it," he said about the political ideology, which emerged in early 20th-century Europe, first under Mussolini in Italy and later through Adolf Hitler in Germany.The extreme right-wing ideology was characterised by authoritarian control, ultranationalism, suppression of dissent, and the glorification of the state or leader, becoming a symbol of oppression and totalitarian rule.The series features a gripping portrayal of the Italian dictator by actor Luca Marinelli.Mussolini began his career as an Italian journalist before entering politics. He first rose to power as Prime Minister in 1922 and later established himself as a dictator, ruling until his overthrow in 1943.
As the founder of fascism, Mussolini played a central role in shaping and spreading the ideology across Europe.What were the things that surprised him during the course of his research and making the series? Wright said he felt constantly shocked by the depth of Mussolini's "moral corruption"."It was really understanding the duplicitous nature and a kind of clarification of the lines of fascism that was most fascinating.
We obviously did a lot of research, but there hasn't really been any movies or television work about him, which is shocking."I guess one of the things that surprised me most was how in certain quarters in contemporary Italy, he's still revered and that was really shocking to me. It is a time when we are really, world over, seeing the rise of the right. And Mussolini's father was a staunch socialist," he added.The series also stars Lorenzo Zurzolo, Barbara Chichiarelli, Benedetta Cimatti and Francesco Russo among others.
English (US) ·