Ida Dalser was Mussolini's first wife. She had a son (also Benito) by him. This film is her story: how she was abandoned by Mussolini and later interned in a Mad House and treated as a paranoiac. She was physically restrained and denied access to her son who was in the custody of his aunt and uncle. Is she the victim of a conspiracy or a victim of her own delusions? The film is powerfully constructed and the result is effective and compelling. While the dialogue is minimal, authentic newsreel and music carry the narrative through. The acting is convincing: Ida provokes our frustration, anger and sympathy. She is a strong character yet unable to release herself from the hold Mussolini has on her past. At times lucid, otherwise delusional. Sometimes absurdly stubborn, yet immensely fragile and desperate.
Unfortunately the actor playing Mussolini did not physically resemble the Mussolini in the newsreel, which seemed confusing at times but the scenes where Mussolini's son impersonates his father in front of a group of students and then later in the asylum were brilliant.
Unfortunately the actor playing Mussolini did not physically resemble the Mussolini in the newsreel, which seemed confusing at times but the scenes where Mussolini's son impersonates his father in front of a group of students and then later in the asylum were brilliant.