Mussolini: Son of the Century is an adaptation of Antonio Scurati's Strega Prize-winning novel, an international bestseller. The eight-episode Sky Original series, directed by Joe Wright and starring Luca Marinelli as Mussolini, recounts the birth of Fascism in Italy and Benito Mussolini's rise to power. It offers a glimpse into Mussolini's private life and his relationships with wife Rachele, lover Margherita Sarfatti, and other iconic figures of the era. The episodes cover the period from the founding of the Fasci Italiani in 1919 to Mussolini's infamous speech in Parliament following the assassination of Socialist MP Giacomo Matteotti in 1925.
The set of the headquarters of Il Popolo d'Italia at Cinecittà Studios
The series was filmed partly in Rome: locations were recreated at Cinecittà Studios, in particular the exteriors of the newspapers, Il Popolo d'Italia and Avanti! and the surrounding streets, and the interiors of the Mussolini's newspaper headquarters.
Parco degli Acquedotti provided the site for a Fascist rally: the so-called casale di Roma Vecchia, located in the heart of the historic park, provided the set for a trattoria where a clash between socialists and fascists takes place.
Locations in city centre included: the streets around Ponte Sisto, Teatro Marcello, the Coppedè neighbourhood, baths of Caracalla and forte Bravetta. The Church of Santa Maria in Portico in Campitelli stands in for a Milanese church, where Rachele Guidi (Benedetta Cimatti) goes to pray.
The monumental staircase of Rome's Palace of Justice (known to Romans as the "Palazzaccio") which now houses the Supreme Court, is the backdrop to the beating of the one of the party’s first supporters, fascist Cesare Forni, guilty of rejecting “weather vanes” to preserve the purity of the movement.
Palazzo Farnese, in Caprarola provided locations for the 1922 March on Rome. The facade features an element that doesn't actually exist in reality: a CGI curved wall added by production designer Mauro Vanzati. In the upper gardens, near the fountain of the Glass or of the Rivers, Giacomo Matteotti (Gaetano Bruno) takes his last walk, one that continues under the arches of the Theatre of Marcellus and along the banks of the Tiber near isola Tiberina, where he is stopped by the Fascist squadristi who will kill him.
More than 20 local professionals in Friuli Venezia Giulia were employed in the eight days of filming (November 2022) in Aquileia and Gorizia.
The scenes shot in Aquileia depict Mussolini's meeting with Don Luigi Sturzo (Paolo Macedonio), kneeling in prayer in the left nave of the Early Christian Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta (4th century) which provides a glimpse of the circular Romanesque Temple of the Holy Sepulchre with its conical roof.
Locations in Gorizia included Palazzo Krainer (as Mussolini’s residence) and via Rastello (with large-scale set elements).
Filming in the region was completed in early 2023 in Trieste and the Chiozza starch factory in the municipality of Ruda.
Inevitably, a series that chronicles Benito Mussolini's rise to power from 1919 to 1924 must focus on the places of that power, starting with Parliament, built at Lumina Studios in Labaro (Rome).
Many official locations, however, effectively "interpret" other places. The most striking example is undoubtedly the Quirinale Palace, for which at least two recognisable buildings were used. The first being the Royal Palace in Naples, a neoclassical masterpiece whose architects included Ferdinando Sanfelice and Luigi Vanvitelli, where the grand staircase serves as the entrance to the residence of King Victor Emanuel III (Vincenzo Nemolato). The second is Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome, whose 18th-century hall of mirrors overlooking via del Corso, provides the setting for meetings between Mussolini and the king.
Mussolini had his office first in the Golden Drawing Room of Palazzo Chigi and later in the Sala del Mappamondo of Palazzo Venezia. In the series, the latter is represented by the Audience Hall of Palazzo Ricci Sacchetti, also known as the salone dei Mappamondi (hall of the Globes), due to the presence of two globes, celestial and terrestrial, by Vincenzo Coronelli.
In December 2022, the crew and cast moved to Naples, filming a violent sexual encounter in the living room of "Casa Martiniello" (as a hotel room) in via Foria. Locations also included the Naples waterfront, rione Sanità, and the Reggia of Portici, which served as the prefecture.
The Royal Palace, as previously mentioned, was transformed into the Quirinale Palace. Mussolini attends Giacomo Puccini's Madame Butterfly on October 24, 1922 at the Teatro di San Carlo where there are glimpses of the boxes in the Neapolitan theatre and the curtain created in 1854 by Giuseppe Mancinelli, depicting Parnassus, with Apollo, the Muses, and the artists.
Also in News:
Mussolini: Son of the Century is an adaptation of Antonio Scurati's Strega Prize-winning novel, an international bestseller. The eight-episode Sky Original series, directed by Joe Wright and starring Luca Marinelli as Mussolini, recounts the birth of Fascism in Italy and Benito Mussolini's rise to power. It offers a glimpse into Mussolini's private life and his relationships with wife Rachele, lover Margherita Sarfatti, and other iconic figures of the era. The episodes cover the period from the founding of the Fasci Italiani in 1919 to Mussolini's infamous speech in Parliament following the assassination of Socialist MP Giacomo Matteotti in 1925.
The set of the headquarters of Il Popolo d'Italia at Cinecittà Studios
The series was filmed partly in Rome: locations were recreated at Cinecittà Studios, in particular the exteriors of the newspapers, Il Popolo d'Italia and Avanti! and the surrounding streets, and the interiors of the Mussolini's newspaper headquarters.
Parco degli Acquedotti provided the site for a Fascist rally: the so-called casale di Roma Vecchia, located in the heart of the historic park, provided the set for a trattoria where a clash between socialists and fascists takes place.
Locations in city centre included: the streets around Ponte Sisto, Teatro Marcello, the Coppedè neighbourhood, baths of Caracalla and forte Bravetta. The Church of Santa Maria in Portico in Campitelli stands in for a Milanese church, where Rachele Guidi (Benedetta Cimatti) goes to pray.
The monumental staircase of Rome's Palace of Justice (known to Romans as the "Palazzaccio") which now houses the Supreme Court, is the backdrop to the beating of the one of the party’s first supporters, fascist Cesare Forni, guilty of rejecting “weather vanes” to preserve the purity of the movement.
Palazzo Farnese, in Caprarola provided locations for the 1922 March on Rome. The facade features an element that doesn't actually exist in reality: a CGI curved wall added by production designer Mauro Vanzati. In the upper gardens, near the fountain of the Glass or of the Rivers, Giacomo Matteotti (Gaetano Bruno) takes his last walk, one that continues under the arches of the Theatre of Marcellus and along the banks of the Tiber near isola Tiberina, where he is stopped by the Fascist squadristi who will kill him.
More than 20 local professionals in Friuli Venezia Giulia were employed in the eight days of filming (November 2022) in Aquileia and Gorizia.
The scenes shot in Aquileia depict Mussolini's meeting with Don Luigi Sturzo (Paolo Macedonio), kneeling in prayer in the left nave of the Early Christian Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta (4th century) which provides a glimpse of the circular Romanesque Temple of the Holy Sepulchre with its conical roof.
Locations in Gorizia included Palazzo Krainer (as Mussolini’s residence) and via Rastello (with large-scale set elements).
Filming in the region was completed in early 2023 in Trieste and the Chiozza starch factory in the municipality of Ruda.
Inevitably, a series that chronicles Benito Mussolini's rise to power from 1919 to 1924 must focus on the places of that power, starting with Parliament, built at Lumina Studios in Labaro (Rome).
Many official locations, however, effectively "interpret" other places. The most striking example is undoubtedly the Quirinale Palace, for which at least two recognisable buildings were used. The first being the Royal Palace in Naples, a neoclassical masterpiece whose architects included Ferdinando Sanfelice and Luigi Vanvitelli, where the grand staircase serves as the entrance to the residence of King Victor Emanuel III (Vincenzo Nemolato). The second is Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome, whose 18th-century hall of mirrors overlooking via del Corso, provides the setting for meetings between Mussolini and the king.
Mussolini had his office first in the Golden Drawing Room of Palazzo Chigi and later in the Sala del Mappamondo of Palazzo Venezia. In the series, the latter is represented by the Audience Hall of Palazzo Ricci Sacchetti, also known as the salone dei Mappamondi (hall of the Globes), due to the presence of two globes, celestial and terrestrial, by Vincenzo Coronelli.
In December 2022, the crew and cast moved to Naples, filming a violent sexual encounter in the living room of "Casa Martiniello" (as a hotel room) in via Foria. Locations also included the Naples waterfront, rione Sanità, and the Reggia of Portici, which served as the prefecture.
The Royal Palace, as previously mentioned, was transformed into the Quirinale Palace. Mussolini attends Giacomo Puccini's Madame Butterfly on October 24, 1922 at the Teatro di San Carlo where there are glimpses of the boxes in the Neapolitan theatre and the curtain created in 1854 by Giuseppe Mancinelli, depicting Parnassus, with Apollo, the Muses, and the artists.
Also in News:
Like the novel of the same title, the series tells the story of a country that surrendered to dictatorship and a man who rose from its ashes several times. The eight episodes cover the period from the foundation of the Fasci Italiani in 1919 to Mussolini's infamous speech in Parliament in 1925 following the murder of the socialist deputy Giacomo Matteotti.
