Original subtitles

SHAME by Benito Mussolini

The scene is majestic.

The King's throne overlooks the chamber which begins to fill

with newly elected deputies.

The socialists enter first.

They represent workers and laborers

who have entrusted them with

their hopes for social redemption.

For a better life, for a better future!

Good day.

M: They drool at the thought of seeing the King

The very same monarch...

The very same monarch

that the proletariat, the real one,

would like to kick in the ass.

The very same monarch who is giving the government back

to that shell-less snail,

the slug Nitti

who will keep workers and laborers starving.

And they tremble, like virgins during their first intercourse,

trying to hide their filthy desire

behind an impotent carnation.

Enter the Corazzieri.

The King's guards.

- (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) - MAN: Long live Italy!

They must be at least 6 feet 2 inches tall.

It takes giants to watch over a dwarf.

MAN: Long live Victor Emmanuel!

Long live Italy!

M: The ridiculous prevails.

But all of a sudden, the imponderable happens.

The socialists show their courageous integrity,

their wild revolutionary and anti-monarchical spirit

roars and explodes

by keeping their asses on their seats.

MAN: Long live the King!

There it is, the long-awaited socialist revolution,

the first ever revolution,

from an armchair!

Poor homeland!

An excellent piece...

if it had ended there.

I salute the elected members

of the twenty-fifth legislature of the Kingdom of Italy.

- (ALL CLAMORING) - Shame on you!

Shame on you!

MAN: This is treason!

Where are they going? I've just begun.

Traitors!

Instead, they stood up

and walked out, in front of the King.

I should have been the one doing it.

It should have been me.

I should have been the one doing it.

A resounding slap to that dwarf's face,

to that slug Nitti, to that corpse-like political class.

Cowards, corrupted!

Latched like leeches onto the state

and its exhausted people.

I should have been the one doing it.

But instead I'm here,

watching helplessly

like a martyr.

A martyr...

A martyr! That's what I am!

A martyr for the cause,

a victim of a conspiracy.

A victim...

A victim of a rotten and corrupt state.

The people loves the martyrs and the persecuted.

Don't they?

So,

martyrdom it is, all the way!

It's from this martyrdom that I will rise again.

- PREFETTO: Mussolini? - Yes?

You're free.

What do you mean?

You're free.

But I'm a martyr.

You can't set me free.

PREFETTO: Sorry.

By order of His Excellence, Prime Minister Nitti.

The slug Nitti is setting me free.

Why?

PREFETTO: I believe he listened

to the opinion of a wise advisor.

Which opinion?

You really want to know?

Yes.

- Literally? - Literally, by God!

Mussolini is a wreck, let's not make him a martyr.

You mustn't cry, you should never cry.

- (CRYING) - Right? You should never cry.

Domestic martyrdom.

Brings no consensus.

(IN ROMAGNA DIALECT) I haven't slept, we missed you.

But now we're all glad you're back, right?

-What's that, Rachele? -Slippers.

Slippers? Slippers are the ruin of man.

Take this child.

Benito, you swear?

Swear what?

That you won't do it again.

That you'll never do anything dangerous.

-For you and us. -I've been away 48 hours!

48 hours.

That coward!

Sometimes he raises his voice.

Sounds like he's angry with me, but no.

It's his way of showing me he loves me.

He wanted me so much, you know.

So much that the first time...

He took me by force.

So...

His dad and my mum were both widowed.

You know, they kept each other company.

And he...

He was crazy for me.

Nothing wrong with it, we're not siblings.

So, listen.

One day he shows up with a gun in front of his dad and my mum.

He says that if he can't have me, he will kill everyone.

How crazy is my man!

We were poor.

Very poor.

He told me I had to believe in him.

So nine months later, Edda was born, the first.

Five years later, though he doesn't believe in marriage,

he married me.

He raises his voice at times. It's like I'm invisible

But I'm his pillar.

(WALL THUMPING)

(MOANING LOUDLY)

(ROARS)

Jail.

Best aphrodisiac in the world.

You don't seem a wreck to me.

I forbid you to use that word.

I could write novels.

Got three in my mind already.

Play the violin, go around the world.

If things don't work out, I can do a lot of things.

Be a bricklayer too.

It's true.

I believe you.

I have bet on you.

My savage.

On my rough diamond, not on a bricklayer.

I was just saying.

What?

M: Don't you see what's happening?

The country is paralyzed by

the biggest wave of strikes ever seen.

CROWD: Strike!

M: The socialists have incited the peasants

and promised a revolution they're never going to make.

The peasants have occupied the lands.

Letting the crops rot.

Not milking the cows.

The workers have occupied the factories.

Long live socialism!

Death to the bosses!

M: Kicked out the bosses.

The desperate, the oppressed, the exploited.

Will end up starting a revolution by themselves.

And if the socialists wake up, they really make it.

And we fascists, what are we there for?

We're too few, disorganized, without resources.

We have only our will.

And right now, that too is shaky.

Now you do seem like a wreck.

I'm like an animal. I can smell the times ahead.

And unfortunately, it's not my time yet.

MARGHERITA: I must go.

Stay.

I have a husband.

(CHUCKLES) Me too.

He leaves tomorrow.

Come in the evening, for dinner.

Every five seconds, siege guns, rip space open with a chord...

"A mutiny of 500 echoes to bite it, mince it

- "Scatter it to infinity - M: You like this stuff?

MARINETTI: "In the middle of those tam-tuuumb

"Splattered, 50 square km wide...

- What the fuck is he saying? - "Leaping bursts cuts drums...

"Shot fast violence cruelty regularity

You are?

"This low serious descending...

Hey, are you deaf?

"Mad, agitated high notes

"Fury, stressed ears

"What joy to see, to hear, to smell all

Benito!

- Benito my ass! - But Marinetti is here!

- "Slaps 'traak traak'... - Marinetti can kiss my ass.

MARGHERITA: What do you want? MARINETTI: "Oddities jumps

"200m high of the fusillade

"Clattering like brass plates

"Ching here, clink there

"And ching-ching-ching-ching

"And up above our heads, how fine!

"Flames, flames, flames!

"Flames the limelight of the forts is behind

"Flames, flames

"Behind that smoke, zang! Tumb! Tumb!"

Just you and me, you said.

- MARGHERITA: Never said that. - Never said that?

You left me on a sofa with that mute kid.

Vasa? (CHUCKLES) He's not mute.

He speaks no Italian, but he's a genius.

- Really? - The party's in his honor.

(PLAYING CLASSICAL MUSIC)

(ALL APPLAUDING)

MAN 1: Bravo! MAN 2: Bravo!

ALL: Bravo!

Thank you. Gentlemen.

Thanks to our Vasa, a child prodigy.

- And now... - [ALL APPLAUDING]

And now, I'd like to invite another violinist to perform.

A dear friend.

The editor of Il Popolo d'Italia,

Benito Mussolini.

- Bravo! - No...

Come on, Benito. Don't be shy.

No, I haven't played in so long.

I'm an amateur.

But you've taken lessons,

you must know how to play a little.

- (VOCALIZING) - (ALL LAUGHING)

Orchestra, fools, beating, those

beaten orchestra conductors!

- Play! Play! - Play!

- Play! Play! - Play! Play!

- Play! Play! - Play! Play!

- Play! Play! - Play! Play!

Yes!

You fool!

Gosh.

M: The first piece that comes to mind.

(PLAYING CLASSICAL TUNE)

- (PLAYS OFF NOTE) - (SNICKERS)

(CONTINUES HITTING OFF NOTES)

- Got a cigarette? - Get lost.

- How many do we have? - Only 700.

Hurry up.

You have a lifetime ahead.

Things aren't going well,

- but don't worry - M: Leave my secretary alone!

Have you seen the last issue?

And when I say "last," I mean it literally.

We're out of paper!

We don't have a single cent!

You just go to your trendy social salons

instead of facing facts!

Take what you want. Chairs, desks. Go find a job!

I have a job. I'm a fascist!

- You're a fascist? - I am!

That's great, Cesarino.

After almost a year,

we have 800 members and 37 branches.

With all of them, we can hold a revolution in a chicken coop,

- as long as it's not too big! - So?

So, it's over!

Now get out!

- Call the girl for me. - No, I'm staying here!

Okay, we talk later.

He wants you, for your baptism.

Sir?

You're leaving?

Yes, but if you need...

I have a need.

Come.

Close the door.

(MUSIC PLAYING ON RECORD)

(GRUNTING)

EDITOR

♪ He'll think I'm all happy

♪ He asks me to love him And he'll be mine

♪ But that's not how I understand love

♪ What is life without passion?

♪ Jumping and dancing

♪ The heart is happier When looking at some gold

♪ Come, my beloved fish We'll have a little talk

♪ Come here ♪

MAN: Cesare Rossi?

It depends.

We'll only disturb you for a moment.

"A land of free and equal men,

without distinction of sex, race, language, class,

and religion. Free and equal.

Where the citizens' lives must be not just dignified,

but beautiful.

Beautiful, dignified.

May the man remade by freedom live magnificently."

That's beautiful, sir.

You know how to touch the heart.

M: Those are D'Annunzio's words.

I only published them.

The principles of Fiume's Constitution.

I did everything wrong, my girl. Everything.

I should have stood by the poet's side,

ace of the skies, war hero.

Content to shine in his reflected light.

Wait patiently under the protective wing of the father.

Unlucky is the man who doesn't know his limits.

Another one. What do you want?

You can go, Bianca.

Thank you.

I just met some guys.

We represent Italians who are worried

about the state of the country,

the future of the economy, the productive forces,

the safety of our families.

Bourgeois cowardice. That's what it is.

Distressed at the very thought of losing some petty comfort.

What do they want from us?

We need a dam to stem this red flood.

A dam, we believe, has to be black.

♪ Oh, come to my heart! ♪

- They want our help? - Yes.

- Those parasites? - Yes.

They want us to go against the laborers who starve,

struggling to improve their terrible living conditions,

while the landowners get fatter shamelessly?

- Yes. - Against the workers

who work 14 hours a day

to profit industrialists

who don't even bother to visit them in the factories?

- Yes! - Against all,

the weak, the oppressed, the exploited?

Against those we dedicated our lives and struggles to?

- Right. - Fucking shameless.

Why should we side with the vampires?

(INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING)

♪ The hour of battle strikes

♪ First the Black Flame

♪ That pounces fiercely

♪ With the dagger in its hand ♪

Socialists of Italy,

we solemnly promise to show

the philosophers of the reactionary bourgeoisie...

♪ Youth, youth Spring of beauty

♪ In the hardship of life Your song rings and goes!

♪ For Benito Mussolini

♪ Raise the war cry! ♪

- Open the door! - Open the door!

- Out! - Open the door!

♪ Spring of youth... ♪

Open the door!

♪ For Benito Mussolini Raise the war cry! ♪

MUSSOLINI: ...to the petty rulers of the Savoy monarchy,

the vitality of socialism is forever! Forever!

Forever! Long live socialism and long live the revolution!

Go to work!

Run, you chicken, run!

♪ When the howitzer rumbles

♪ My beautiful flag Is of a single color

♪ It's a fully black flame

♪ That flares in every heart! ♪

(VOCALIZING) Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta.

Offered, offered, offered as a gift

to my poet friends, painters,

musicians and noise-makers.

Futurists!

Tumb!

Zang, zang, zang.

Breathlessly, under bites, slaps...

Zang, zang! Whiplashes! Pic-pum-pam!

Bum!

Pam-pam-pam!

Zang, tumb tumb!

Socialists of Italy,

we promise that socialism is forever!

- It's forever! - CROWD: It's forever!

Forever!

Socialism is forever!

Traitor!

Socialism is forever!

MAN: Traitor.

Traitor!

Traitor!

CHOIR: ♪ From the dagger to the lightning flash

♪ From the bomb with a great roar

♪ All ahead

♪ All in the field

♪ Here you win or die ♪

M: Albino, my protégé.

The valiant Amerigo.

I love them. I love action and those who take action.

I love the brave, those who erupt,

who act and react.

I love who those who dare,

who lash out at the enemy with a knife in their teeth,

defying death.

My people...

My new people,

the fearful.

The awful tenderness of these used-up jackets,

the little coats,

the mediocrity of these briefcases,

shopkeepers' coats impoverished by the crisis,

petit bourgeois frightened by the chaos.

♪ For Benito

♪ Mussolini

♪ Raise

♪ The war cry ♪

- Bravo! - Bravo!

M: The choice...

The choice between two civilizations

is simple.

The bourgeoisie carries centuries-old history

of progress and achievements.

The proletariat still has only a chronicle,

of inexperience and follies.

Against conmen, socialists cowards,

imbeciles of every kind,

I raise a cry loud and clear,

long live reaction!

Bravo!

No, we're revolutionaries!

We will not move towards reaction!

We're reactionaries in order to react

to every subversive current of national life.

And we'll be revolutionaries as often as necessary

- to stir up new life forces. - (CROWD CHEERING)

- Go away! - Go, go!

We don't need extravagant buffoons.

Out!

(MOCKINGLY) Zang, zan-ta-du-tun!

Dsu-dun-eh-zan-zan-eh-tun!

Off you go, Marinetti!

Lift up your hearts!

Let's throw ourselves

- at the enemy. - Right!

Against the red beast,

may our lives be like a ram.

Let's defend our convictions.

- Let's turn fear into hatred. - (CROWD CHEERING)

Duce! Duce!

♪ Raise the war cry! ♪

MAN: Bravo!

♪ Raise the war cry! ♪

You're back?

M: It's the end of an era.

The world doesn't work the way it used to.

- But where are we going? - Be patient.

Liberal democracies are collapsing,

just a little push and it all comes down.

Doesn't matter who does it, industrialists, shopkeepers,

- poets, landowners. - Stay here.

A revolutionary is someone who makes revolution.

Come here.

MARGHERITA: Voilà.

- (ALL APPLAUDING) - New era, new headquarters.

The editor's office.

M: Thank you. Thank you.

Let's get to work!

To work.

Come on, get out!

I told you to hurry up.

The final touch, learning to fly.

Like D'Annunzio.

The poet, ace of the skies and war hero.

Superman.

As he says,

life is beautiful,

and must be lived magnificently by a man remade by freedom.

(ENGINE SPUTTERING)

The engine! It's losing speed!

- What? - We must land!

The engine is down! We must land now!

Take over the controls, for God's sake!

The controls are stuck!

They're stuck?

(SCREAMING)

Rachele! Rachele!

RACHELE: (IN ROMAGNA DIALECT) Stop it!

Daddy needs to rest!

The crash didn't kill me,

but this ball-breaking situation will!

It's certain.

No real man can stand being with his family

for more than seven days in a row.

Can you give me a coin?

- A coin? - I don't have any.

- Can you give us a coin? - Stop it!

MARGHERITA: I must talk to him. RACHELE: He's resting.

She's here?

RACHELE: The doctor said he needs to stay in bed.

I'm awake, Rachele! I'm awake!

- Mrs. Sarfatti. - Editor.

- How are you? - I have thick skin, you know.

I heard there's something urgent.

Rachele, please.

Rachele.

Fine then.

Benito, no. Not here.

Why not? I'm at death's door and you reject me.

How long since your wife changed these sheets?

- (GROANS) - (MARGHERITA CHUCKLES)

It's stuffy in here.

So the urgency wasn't an excuse to see me?

The Prime Minister has resigned.

Nitti, the Slug?

Crushed by the crisis and his inability to restore order.

That's great news.

Wait.

The King has replaced him with...

Who?

The Honorable Giovanni Giolitti.

(APPLAUDING)

I'm afraid of nothing and no one.

I'll stop the violence, whether it comes from

socialists or fascists.

I'll spare no one.

Order will be restored.

80 years old, a life-long deputy,

five times head of government.

Giolitti is no coward like Nitti.

Giolitti is an old fox.

He's diabolical, like a magician.

He's an old liberal whore.

And like all old whores, he knows the job.

(IN ROMAGNA DIALECT) Some people are idiots!

They deserve to be thrown out the window!

It's not easy.

He's 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds.

- Who does? - Giolitti!

Don't change the subject.

(IN ROMAGNA DIALECT) I'm talking about the lady!

Rachele!

What's gotten into you?

Benito?

(IN ROMAGNA DIALECT) Where are you going?

The doctor told you to stay home!

Don't care about the doctor!

Don't wait up for me, I'll be late!

One day he'll come back and he won't find me.

Benito.

We need to go to press, we have to take a position.

Benito.

(MUFFLED) We need to go to press,

we have to take a position.

"We welcome the return of Giolitti

as the only statesman able to bring social balance

and restore internal order."

(CHUCKLES)

Is that what you really think, sir?

Of course not, you jerk.

Social balance and order would be our ruin.

We need chaos.

Chaos, fear, hatred.

He'd actually be capable of restoring calm.

It's just that until we understand

what Giolitti will do next,

let's be prudent.

He's so intelligent.

Ideally, we need to understand it

as soon as possible.

When I kill him, it will be a slow, painful death.

Come on! We've got a paper to print.

And send in Ms. Ceccato.

Did you send for me, sir?

Come here. Close the door.

- I need to... - I must tell you something

M: What?

It's yours.

How do you know it's mine?

I've only done it with you.

Good girl.

Now we'll fix everything, all right?

No?

I want to keep it.

You want to keep it?

Family.

Remember, nothing's more important.

(IN ROMAGNA DIALECT) What happened?

Aren't you feeling well?

Huh?

(IN ROMAGNA DIALECT) It's a difficult time.

Thank you for your patience.

We fascists are firmly determined...

Firmly determined... We fascists...

We...

We will spare no excess. None.

(DOOR OPENS)

The Prefect is waiting for you, Mussolini.

Mussolini.

Prime Minister Giolitti greatly appreciated

the sober and balanced position taken by your newspaper.

Good, that's what I'm here to talk about.

I guessed as much.

But I'd like to do it with the Prime Minister.

That is impossible.

His Excellence is extremely busy.

Right now he's negotiating

a pact between industrialists and strikers.

Well...

About that, I wanted to say to the Prime Minister

that we fascists are ready to respect order and legality.

But should the Government's attempt

to curb the excesses of socialist extremists fail...

Well...

we would spare no excess to fight the Bolshevik deviation.

No excess will be spared.

None.

That is what office workers, shopkeepers,

even those who own a tiny plot of land ask of us.

This is what the manufacturing class,

the industrious and devoutly Christian fatherland ask of us.

I will pass that on.

Mmm.

(PHONE RINGING)

Yes?

(PERSON CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY OVER PHONE)

Very well.

The Governments' first attempt

"to curb socialist excesses," as you say it,

has been successful.

In exchange for the restitution of the factories,

wages will be raised.

The revolution traded for a bowl of lentils.

Together with the promise of worker control...

and profit-sharing.

A promise you'll never keep.

Take care of yourself, Mussolini.

Cesare!

- ...the date... - Cesare!

All right. Thanks, bye.

What?

I had a nightmare, Cesarino.

I saw the end.

A disaster.

The apocalypse.

Social peace.

I threatened to intensify our actions,

the Prefect didn't bat an eyelid.

They made us do the dirty work, now they'll tame the socialists.

- The end! - But that was to be expected.

Slow, painful.

It all adds up.

In the elections,

- we'll have to... - Elections?

(IN OTHER LANGUAGE) The die is cast.

Giolitti just announced them.

It's clear, right?

He wants to capitalize on what he's achieved.

He'll make a long list of all the anti-socialist forces.

Nobody's more anti-socialist than me.

Right.

If we make it onto that list...

Side with Giolitti?

It's the only way, Benito.

In the next election,

those who fear the socialists

will vote for those who can beat them.

He'll take my new people.

Or for us, it'll end up like last time.

A handful of votes,

jail...

Giolitti is not like the Slug Nitti.

Giolitti will leave you behind bars.

Going to bed with the old liberal whore.

Assuming the old whore wants it.

Tell Giolitti that, in the elections,

the fascists are ready

to side with the traditional parties against the socialists.

All on the same list.

Well, Mussolini, you make it sound easy.

I assure you, it's not easy.

Nor for the traditional parties. You understand?

You have a reputation

that's somewhat questionable.

Hypocrites! They used us and now they turn up their noses a us.

Your violence is embarrassing.

We're violent whenever it's necessary.

Our violence is...

chivalrous.

That's it.

- (GROANS) - (FASCIST HUMMING TUNE)

And explain to the Prime Minister,

if he wants to eradicate violence,

the best way is to allow a force like ours

to exercise its vitality in institutional settings.

It's convenient for all.

In politics, as in life,

you don't marry for love.

If we're kept out of Parliament,

a force like ours, with no legal outlet,

has no alternative.

Is that a threat?

It's a simple prediction.

Those who aren't in Parliament

have to make themselves heard outside.

Yes.

You don't marry for love, but you must get along,

at least in the house.

Fiume, for example.

What about Fiume?

Well, it's an illegal occupation.

The government can't tolerate it.

If the urgent need to dislodge D'Annunzio arose,

what would the fascists do?

"My dear Commander,

the long silence has neither dimmed my voice,

nor weakened my devotion.

But we now need...

...to specify our objectives,

advance, move people and orient the national consciousness."

Again, he can't do anything but specify, distinguish, quibble.

There are two battleships out there, eight destroyers,

so many artillery garrisons and he babbles.

Write, comrade Samurai, write.

"Absent and frigid companion..."

Fuck! If only once he could refrain from being offensive.

"Here, they prepare to commit the crime,

are you and your men ready to storm the police headquarters?

To storm the prefectures?"

What am I supposed to storm?

Storm what?

Just surrender, instead! Don't get yourself killed.

Surrender! People don't even know where Fiume is.

Just ask them!

Crazy old man.

Let me save you.

You know what D'Annunzio is for me.

Yes.

- A father. - A thorn in your side.

Now you have the chance to pull it out.

When I look at myself now, know what I see?

The man I hated as a boy.

Giavazzi!

Giavazzi!

Yes?

- Giavazzi. - Sir.

Let's write about

that vile attack on Fiume and D'Annunzio.

Headline, block letters: "The crime."

Strapline: "All Italy, rise up!

There are dreams, ideals and symbols

a man must not sacrifice.

Because without dreams, symbols and values...

THE CRIME Italy must rise up!

...a man is simply a nobody."

He assured me.

Calling for revolt, rising up, screaming one's indignation.

Appearances.

He's just keeping up appearances.

But without lifting a finger.

For a man to become a man, he must kill his father first.

(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)

Here we are, alone again.

Alone against everyone.

With our solitary courage.

The dream of a better world dies with us.

ELECTION NIGHT 16 MAY 1921

- So? - The socialists have won again.

And we...

And we?

RACHELE: One.

Two.

Three.

A triumph!

MAN: Shut up!

RACHELE: Twelve...

Rachele.

A triumph.

A triumph, Rachele.

I'm one of the ten most voted for at the national level.

National level, Rachele!

I'm number one in Milan!

Holy shit, I'm number one in Bologna too.

We're bringing 40 deputies to Rome!

Forty!

This will be the best time of our life.

Remember that.

You're going to Rome?

Of course.

With her?

Going on about this again?

GLORY BY BENITO MUSSOLINI

M: The scene is majestic.

The King's throne overlooks the chamber

which begins to fill with newly elected deputies.

And for the first time in the history of the Kingdom,

it welcomes us.

The sons of the new century.

The fascists.

MAN: Welcome.

Good day, everyone.

Yes, I was coming by...

M: Giolitti, the giant.

He thinks he's tamed us, but he's only legalized us.

He let us in where we shouldn't have been let in.

Here they are, the socialists.

I'm like an animal, I can smell times ahead.

And it doesn't matter how, but my time has come.

Who gives a damn if I've become the man I hated as a boy?

I am a consistent animal.

I've betrayed everyone.

Even myself.

(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)