Vincere


Posted May 12, 2010 in Cinema Reviews

A contestant for Canne’s prestigious Palme d’Or award, and laced with archival footage, a booming opera soundtrack and some excellent performances, the first half of Vincere gives an audience a very well captured insight into the choking ambitions of Benito Mussolini. The second half of the film follows Ida as she leapfrogs from one insane asylum to the next while her son is taken to a boarding school.

Vincere manages to feel longer than its 2 hour running time, something that seems to be a trait in Italian film. There are excellent performances from Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Filippo Timi (looking nothing like a younger Mussolini) but embodying all of his power and what we’ll later believe to be madness as we see his son imitating him in a few chilling scenes. A well realised story of passions, one of a woman in love; the other of a man harbouring dangerous ambitions.

A worthy contender for the Palm d’Or, but I wouldn’t recommend it to the casual film goer.

Words: Anna Hayes

 

Cirillo’s

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