Where it was filmed 'Robbing Mussolini'

Robbing Mussolini is a war film that tells a story that is part true, part invention. The truth lies in the treasure of Mussolini; although it really existed, there is no certainty where it ended up. The invention added to this story regards a group of misfit thieves concentrated on surviving the misery of war who decide to attempt a crazy undertaking: stealing that immense hoard.

The film is set in Milan in April 1945 a few days before the end of WWII: the city has been reduced to a heap of rubble. To reproduce the setting, images from other cities were superimposed onto the gargoyles of the cathedral of the Lombard regional capital: Trieste, whose hangers and warehouses in the porto vecchio and Palazzo Carciotti was used to recreate the “black zone”, the inaccessible area where the gang organizes their unlikely heist with the help of a fake air aid alarm and bombing. The semi-destroyed buildings of wartime Milan features Amideria Chiozza of Perteole di Ruda (Udine) a former starch factory that ceased production in 1986 and now an example of industrial archaeology.

The film also shot for a week in mount Soratte, about four weeks in Rome and one in Viaganello, in particular at the Ruspoli Castle where the gang attempts to steal explosives. In post-production, the director decided to shoot additional scenes in Turin, in the heart of the historical centre: via Roma, via Cavour, via Dei Mille, via Po, via Andrea Doria, the Cavallerizza Reale and the area around piazza Castello.

The region of Friuli, where the production shot for a total of 5 weeks, also features in the final scenes with the pristine natural landscape of the Fusine lakes in the municipality of Tarvisio (Udine) providing a background.