'Vincere" (aka "Win" in Italian) is one nutty movie.
At times maddening and bombastic, complete with an explosive, operatic score that people will either see as exciting or annoying, "Vincere" tells the story of Ida Dalser (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), a woman who is smitten with a young Benito Mussolini (a crazy-eyed Filippo Timi) to the point where her undying love becomes the thing that destroys her.
It starts when he challenges the existence of God by demanding that the Supreme Being strike him dead in less than five minutes, in a room full of people. Ida becomes crazy for this intense revolutionary. She does everything she can to further his cause, even selling her belongings and giving him the cash. All the while, she overlooks the fact that the guy rarely loses the driven, egotistical look in his eyes - even when they're in bed.
Mussolini's yen to become Italy's fascist leader - not to mention his wife - prohibits him from accepting Ida in his life, even after she gives birth to his son, also named Benito. Ida claims that they were married in the eyes of God, a claim that gets her sent to an all-female mental institution (by Il Duce's cronies, of course), where she spends her days while her son (also played by Timi, still crazy-eyed) grows up without her.
"Vincere" has to be the grandest story of cruel, unrequited love I've ever witnessed - and, yes, I am counting "(500) Days of Summer." If Dalser hadn't actually existed, I'd have a hard time believing a woman would put herself through such pain and misery for a guy. (What am I talking about? I'm virtually surrounded by women like that.)
A movie in two halves
The first half of "Vincere" is visually in-your-face. Apart from the production design and cinematography being overstylized to the point where it resembles an overcaffeinated Sir Carol Reed production, renowned Italian director Marco Bellocchio ("Fists in the Pocket") occasionally socks his frames with flashing words like "WAR!" and splices black-and-white archival footage into the narrative, even giving us footage of the real Mussolini giving his signature, boisterous speeches to the people.
The second hour is more subdued, mostly thanks to Bellocchio's concentration on the mesmerizing Mezzogiorno, who ends up making us sympathize with a character who, when you think about it, should've been locked up. Her obsessive fixation on continuing to love a man who obviously doesn't love her (she wouldn't be in the nuthouse if he did) makes her look like the loon she keeps declaring she's not. Thankfully, she starts to wise up and makes it her mission to convince the world that she is Mussolini's wife, not to win back his love, but to remind people of the truth he's hellbent on concealing. It's a futile battle, but at the same time, she's seen as the first person who stands up to Mussolini and his fascist tyranny.
Unruly, unbelievable and ultimately unsettling, "Vincere" is a reminder that, even in the annals of world history, people have done some crazy things for love.
