Luca Miniero
Sono tornato

I think I previously wrote about the film version of the best-seller “Er ist wieder da” (Timur Vermes, 2015) on these pages, so it's worth spending a few words on the all-Italian "remake" titled “Sono tornato" which has just been released in theaters. Directed by Luca Miniero and written by Miniero with Nicola Guaglianone, the story features, instead of Adolf Hitler, the "return" of Benito Mussolini (played by Massimo Popolizio), who materializes out of nowhere in the capital in front of the alchemical door in the year 2017. Believed by everyone to be some sort of comedian, after traveling the country eager to understand the new reality before him, Benito Mussolini becomes a television and web star: his invectives, his speeches, his ideas expressed in the same manner as during the two-decade rule and faithful to his (let's say) political vision, easily appeal to the Italian population who are entertained yet at the same time also fascinated by this strong man, far from the political class they are used to, which is always portrayed as incapable and devoid of ideas, content, and ideals, only interested in looking after their own interests.

The story is thus pretty much the same as Timur Vermes' best-seller and replicates quite faithfully many of the scenes from David Wnendt's film, even though overall the quality, even at a production level, is certainly poorer and at the same time lacks those ideological features which in a country like Germany, where Nazism is clearly taboo, are addressed with sharper tones and political, historical, and social arguments that I would consider, within the overall grotesque tones of the work, certainly more brilliant and interesting. On the contrary, what this new "Mussolini" seems to propose appears more like a classic fight against the "establishment" but also against a certain widespread populism, which he nevertheless also benefits from using for his own gain and his climb towards success and popularity, as has already happened, in a re-staging of our country's past history.

From this point of view, one remains on the fence about judging this film more or less negatively. It's evident we're not facing a masterpiece, but I'd leave aside the usual critiques and the inevitable dislike for Frank Matano, who here even manages to be tolerable: after all, the film is, shall we say, pleasant and entertaining with the right amount of satire, which here, however, prevails over the grotesque content of the main work. As for the rest, the lack of in-depth discussion of political and social arguments clearly reflects this country (but some might also consider that Mussolini didn't have much to say on a strictly political level) and perhaps is unintentionally proposed by the director and the film's authors just two weeks before the least interesting political elections in this country's history, staging a kind of farce with this puppet of the most famous national bald guy (the one De Gregori poetically described as "the jaw") and only lacks the appearance of the deus ex machina Pulcinella who, armed with a stick, duly gives him a deserved beating.