'Mussolini: Son of the Century' - the transformation of official places
ART AND LOCATIONS: CINEMA IN DETAIL
Any series about Benito Mussolini's rise to power from 1919 to 1924 must inevitably focus on the places of that power, the most prominent being Italy’s parliament, built on set at Lumina Studios in Labaro (Rome). As previously noted (link to Part I) in the article analysing Margherita Sarfatti's living room, there are additions to the set designcurated with great care and refinement by Mauro Vanzati that make the whole even more fascinating and evocative. A detail in the parliamentary chamber, while not philological, undoubtedly enhances the atmosphere, lending a splendid light to the entire space: the Emeralite lamp, also known as the "ministerial" or "Churchill" lamp, with its unmistakable round metal base and green lampshade, is seen on every desk in Mussolini: Son of the Century?. Designed in 1909 by American engineer Harrison D. McFaddin, the lampshade,which emitted a soft, relaxing green light psychologically beneficial for those poring over documents all day, made the Emeralite such a success that it was produced in three successive series until 1939, becoming an icon of its time.
While the parliamentary set was built from scratch by set designers, many other official locations successfully "stand in" for other places. In undoubtedly the most striking case, the Quirinale Palace was created from at least two famous, recognizable buildings. The first being the Royal Palace in Naples, a neoclassical masterpiece whose designers included Ferdinando Sanfelice and Luigi Vanvitelli. The exterior, whose universally renowned façade provides a backdrop to Piazza del Plebiscito, is never seen, as the focus is instead on the interior, specifically the Grand Staircase that serves as the entrance to the residence of King Victor Emanuel III. The large L-shaped structure was built in 1858 by Francesco Gavaudan based on a design by Gaetano Genovese, necessitated by the fire of 1837 which damaged the Baroque original that Montesquieu called "the most beautiful staircase in Europe" in 1729. Standing perpendicular to the entrance, it ismade of marble from quarries of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and features a pavilion vault with stucco work on a grey background and plaster statues of the Virtues in niches.
The second building used for the Quirinale isPalazzo DoriaPamphiljin Rome. The only corridorin the famous gallerywithout paintings, which houses works by Algardi, Bernini, Carracci, Correggio, DossoDossi, Guercino, Lotto, and others, is the 18th-century Hall of Mirrors, overlooking Via del Corso, whose vault is frescoed with Stories of Hercules by Aureliano Milani of Bologna (1731-1734). Here Mussolini (Luca Marinelli) has several meetings with “King Pippetto”, as Vittorio Emanuele III was known in Rome, due partly to his height and to writer Giggi Zanazzo’s creation of avain characterof that namewhich perfectly fit the Savoyard sovereign. In addition to the mirrors, the room's most recognizable features are the candelabras and statues on the walls, and the mirrored door at the back that leads to rooms that house the collection's three famous Caravaggio paintings (Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Penitent Magdalene, Saint John the Baptist), among others.
An additional insight: the tall throne where the king is seated, his feet dangling to mock his stature, was erectedoutside the small room that houses the famous Portrait of Pope Innocent X (Pamphili), painted by Diego Velázquez for the Jubilee of 1650.
in Mussolini: Son of the Century - © Web Gallery of Art
Another place of power that recurs during the series is, of course, the Golden Drawing Roomin Palazzo Chigi,used by Mussolini as Prime Minister until he moved his office in 1929 to the Globe Room in Palazzo Venezia, built by Pope Paul II (of the Barbo family) in the late 1400s. Perhaps with this move in mind, scenes set in the Golden Drawing Room were filmed in Palazzo Ricci Sacchetti‘s Audience Hall which is also known as the Globe Room due to the presence of two globes, celestial and terrestrial, by Vincenzo Coronelli (1650-1718). The Audience Hall, used for Cardinal Giovanni Ricci’s audiences, is decorated with frescoes of Stories of David by Francesco Salviati (1553-54), seen in various sequences as arethe globes and classical busts in seashell-shaped niches above the doors.
Episode 5 offers a historical and artistic leap of twelve centuries, when Mussolini meets with Don Luigi Sturzo, kneeling in prayer in the left nave of the Early Christian Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta in Aquileia (4th century) which offers a glimpse of the Romanesque Temple of the Holy Sepulchre, a circular structure with a conical roof that alludes to the Anastasis in Jerusalem. Lateran intense and poignant dialogue between Mussolini and Sturzo, the Cardinal Vicar for the Church-State Agreement, unfolds in a darkened room, which featuresprojections of Caravaggio's Roman paintings - David and Goliath and The Calling of Saint Matthew, actually located in Galleria Borghese and the Basilica of San Luigi dei Francesi. The two themes provide appropriate echoes to what is happening in the scene: the first is a focus on prostration (Caravaggio portraying himself as Goliath to ask for pardon), the second is linked to the venality of money (Matthew taken from his profession as a tax collector). The physical staging has Mussolini, at that moment the embodiment ofasubmissive State, positioned below while the Cardinal is on a throne on a high pedestal, symbolizing the Church acceptingthe State’s cajolements.
Caravaggio, The Calling of St. Matthew, 1599, Rome, Church of San Luigi dei Francesi,
Contarelli Chapel - © Web Gallery of Art
The upper gardens of Palazzo Farnese in Caprarola, used as a location for the 1922 March on Rome (see Part I), provide another set, with the so-called Fountain of the Glass or Rivers, designed by Giacomo Del Duca and later completed by Girolamo Rainaldi. The fountain originates withjets from the personifications of two rivers that pour water into a large cantharus and then fallsinto a large basin that separates two flights of stairs. Here Giacomo Matteottitakes a walk on the last day of his life, a macabre stroll that continues beneath the arches of the Theatre of Marcellus and along the banks of the Tiber (designed by Raffaele Carnevari for the Savoy family in 1871) near Tiber Island, where he is stopped by the Fascist squadristi who will kill him. Several episodes previously, the same fate befell Cesare Forni, a true Fascist believer, who had rejectedthe proposal to accept“weather wanes” into the party in the name of purity and was bludgeoned to death in a stunning sequence on a monumental staircase... belonging to the Palace of Justice in Rome, now the seat of the Supreme Court, known to all as the "Palazzaccio," another building of Savoyard Rome, designed by architect Guglielmo Calderiniof Perugia between 1889 and 1911.
These are just two of the many examples of the essence of Fascism being put into practice, as perfectly summed up by Margherita Sarfatti's chilling phrase in episode 6: "Always wanting more until you take everything by any means... that’s Fascism."
Now, all that can be done for us, is to wait for the second season...
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