Customer Reviews

Biography - Mussolini: Italy's Nightmare [VHS]

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With the passage of so many years and the knowledge of the events of world war two, it is difficult to watch this tape and place yourself in the proper historical perspective. The exaggerated pout, pompous strut and other mannerisms of Mussolini seem so comical that it is hard to understand how he could have risen to power. And yet, he gave Italy the longest period of stable government that it has ever seen and he was wildly popular for nearly all of his time as Prime Minister. As I watched the tape, I had to keep reminding myself of this, as at times, he looks so ridiculous.
The years immediately after world war one was a time of near chaos in Europe and although her human losses were relatively small compared to those of the other countries, Italy was in worse shape than most. Mussolini promised, and delivered, what others could not do, a stable government and society. Albeit, a few people had to be killed, but the majority were willing to live with that. His "rise" to power was yet another of his overblown "achievements", and the description on the tape of the Fascist "march" on Rome is correct, as opposed to the absurd description given by the Fascists. In fact, the weak King of Italy appointed Mussolini Prime Minister, as he lacked the backbone to stand up to him.
Unfortunately for Italy, Mussolini seemed to commit the sin that so many of his kind do, they begin to believe their own absurd rhetoric. Fancying himself an heir to the Caesars, he launched a series of military adventures, the first few of which were foolish, but not disasters, His biggest and most incomprehensible mistake was to join with Hitler in his war on the remainder of the world. Had he remained neutral, Italy could possibly have emerged from the war the second strongest nation in Europe, behind the Soviet Union.
The creators of the tape spend some time on Mussolini's relationship with Hitler, pointing out many of the differences between them. Few alive today realize that it was Mussolini who prevented the German annexation of Austria when Dollfuss was assassinated by the Nazis. I would have preferred that the producers spend more time on this aspect of his life, as the German-Italian military alliance was not inevitable. One can only speculate on how things would have been different had Mussolini followed his true feelings towards Hitler and stayed out of the war as much as possible.
Mussolini and his actions were the role model followed by Adolph Hitler as he consolidated his hold on Germany. In fact, during the early years of Hitler's rule, Mussolini was the senior partner in their relationship. Although he appears to be a pompous ... on this tape, Mussolini was a masterful politician, manipulating public opinion by brazenly stating outlandish and contradictory stories in the media. He was the first to truly realize the power of the media and the very short memory of the masses. Mussolini also gave Italy a stable government, with many successes in building the nation's infrastructure, something commonly forgotten.
If you view this tape with the events of world war two foremost in your mind, then you will not be able to understand how Mussolini did what he did. However, if you can place yourself in the historical perspective of the years after world war one, then it is possible to realize that it is almost inevitable that such a man would be able to rise to power in a nation desperately looking for a savior.

In the world of historical documentaries, Adolf Hitler probably leads the field as a subject. His inspiration, Mussolini, by contrast, has been almost completely neglected. There's only one other Mussolini documentary on the market that I know of(assuming it's still in print), and it's ludicrously old.

This video, from the A&E Biography series, is probably about as good a life of the Italian dictator as we'll get in less than an hour. Mussolini's transition from socialism to fascism is awfully abrupt, as if he woke up one morning and decided, for no particular reason, to start the Fascist Party. One would like to have heard more about Fascism's roots in socialism and syndicalism. Nevertheless, this is the best video life of Mussolini currently available.

This biography on the Italian dictator not as long as desired and therefore not the most in-depth coverage to be found. Nonetheless, it is filled to the brim with spectacular video footage of Mussolini and Italy during WWII, which is almost by itself a reason enough to acquire this for a WWII library.

Maybe people should talk to people who lived under Mussolini, before giving there opinion on him. My family lived under Mussolini for several years and said he was a great leader and did more for the people then the leaders do today. Don't let the media distort the truth, like it usually does

As a high school teacher of 15 years, I can say this is the best dvd for my high school students to learn about Mussolini and Fascism.

A&E Biography - Mussolini, Italy's Nightmare (1987) will draw those
with a passion for history and real wartime images and news reels.

Over 50 minutes, a biographical expose of Mussolini is told,
showing his rural origins, being the son of an intelligent school
teacher mother and a maverick, outspoken and agitator or rebellious
father.

The documentary is controversial, not for it's short playing time,
but rather for a totally condescending and dismissive attitude
towards the Italian leader, almost as a clown, a poseur, an
opportunistic demagogue who by accident and disbelief became leader
of perhaps the most prestigious and sophisticated country in the
history of world.

At no time over the entire work, do the narrators refrain from
discounting Mussolini's talents, hard work, love for his country,
and belief (that he felt he was doing what was right). Indeed, the
film suggests anyone among Italy's 60 million people could have
replicated Mussolini's achievements... a big assumption.

Granted, the authors convincingly state their case that the leader
had a definite theatrical element in him, mastering from an early
age a passion for getting involved with current events in the
community, vocalizing what too many people left unsaid publicly for
fear of repercussions. He expressed the challenges faced by people
either in person or through blistering editorials first in the
leftist ideological papers, and then to the right. He had a
populist approach, adhering to whatever direction the winds were
blowing at any particular time, to score instant high approval
numbers.

It is said that Mussolini was expelled from school, was a yard
bully, draft-dodger in WW1, carried and used a knife, was a
delinquent, often being found in local brothels. At one time, he
also had tough words for the monarchy, the government and church.
In sum, the film presents him as an agitator, stirring the pot to
become the center of attention or the main attraction.

They say that Mussolini was totally clueless and lost when called
to prepare and weigh various military options one against another,
and disparages the Italian army as ineffective, disorganized,
unequipped and demotivated.

A journalistic micro-manager, he abolished rival political parties,
personally corresponded with newspapers in critiquing positively or
negatively various news items and commentary about his government
and policies, exerting pressure in one way or another on reporters.

It suggests Hitler was a fan of Mussolini a lot before the latter
completed his 10 year term in power, and later adopted Italian
theatrical displays of power, image manipulation and nationalism in
Germany.

An open question is set in the minds of viewers, that Mussolini
never intended to conquer or subjugate Europe with his troops, but
merely went along for the ride with Hitler, for friendship and
ideological likemindedness on the one hand, while hesitant,
reluctant and repulsed by what he saw in the German dictator on the
other. He could bring himself to rupturing the relation for fear of
retaliation by a much more lethal nation - Germany - backed by a
superb, modern, professionally managed and equipped Wehrmacht
military institution and SS.

It's an old biography that I already have seen in a tape. It is made by somebody that does not know Mussolini and the history of Italy. Mussolini made basically only one big mistake that eventually distroyed Italy and him: the one to enter into WW2.
Until the declaration of war in June 1940,95% of Italians would have voted for IL DUCE if there had been free elections.
Mussolini was not one of the most ruthless dictator. On the contrary his dictatorship was very, very mild. And he had a lot of humanity. Nothing to compare with Hitler or even worse with Stalin. The film shows only the bad aspects of Mussolini, but does not show the many achievements Mussolini did during his time. It's interesting to read the very positive comments some political people did about Mussolini before the WW2: particularly Winston Churchill and Austen Chamberlin.

This documentary is not to bad, it could have been better. A&E goes and states in the documentary that Mussolini was wounded fighting in the Alps of Italy, wounded by a grenade that went off near him, and in another instance they go and say Mussolini was a coward and never seen any action (duh).

At the end of the documentary they have an interview with Mussolini's grand daughter, she is definitely worth watching. You also see fascism is still alive today in Italy. A&E also shows Mussolini in Ethiopia, footage of his death, some speeches, the blackshirts, and other things.

This documentary could have been more pro Mussolini but with a title like "Mussolini, Italy's Nightmare" what do you expect. In my personal opinion Mussolini was one of the best things that ever happened in Italy.

As the review title states, and other reviewers say: Mussolini was a complex man and his likeness cannot truly be captured in fifty minutes. The footage is really good throughout, and interviews are conducted with people who lived under his regime. The information is biased, and his military blunders and evil acts are given far more discussion and criticism than the good things (his public works projects) he did for Italy are only listed in a few seconds, but not discussed. The fact that the mafia was virtually non-existant under his rule is not even mentioned. As a previous reviewer stated, his political and economics views seemed to change overnight in this documentary. He was described as a dedicated socialist for the first ten minutes or so, and then "in 1919....he founded the Fascist Party", without so much as a brief explanation of what Fascism is and why Mussolini created it.

This is great for a beginner, and the footage is both rare and interesting, so it is good in that respect. However, if you are looking for a deep look into Mussolini and want more than basic information (that can be found on Wikipedia), this is probably not for you.

By the way, this is on YouTube in full.

This documentary is about ALL the wrong things Mussolini did, and NOTHING about the good things. Better to read a history book.