Original subtitles

November 1918 The first World War is over

The victory is celebrated

The bourgeoisie got richer during the war

War veterans live on charity

January 1919

Don Luigi Sturzo founds the Italian Popular Party

The first Italian Catholic Party

March 21, 1919 Mussolini founds the Fasces of Combat

People ask for more social justice

The first Fascist squads appear

January 1922 Livorno congress of the Socialist Party

The Communist Party is born

The Fascist violence flares up

Government and Magistracy are powerless or complicit

October 28, 1922 Fascism takes the power

with the complicity of the State bodies

April 1924 New elections, but no longer free

May 1924 The new Chamber of Deputies

THE ASSASSINATION OF MATTEOTTI

The Honorable Giacomo Matteotti asks for the floor.

He may speak.

Honorable Members...

we absolutely contest the validity of the elections

held in Italy last April.

This is a provocation!

The Select Committee on Elections

has submitted to us the validation of many members.

Now, against their validation...

we're making this pure and simple objection.

And that is...

this list of government majority...

which nominally got 4 million votes...

Even more.

...did not get them effectively and freely.

So there's the doubt...

if it has obtained the necessary percentage...

to win...

also according to your law...

two thirds of the seats.

Stop it!

What are we doing here? Shall we tolerate his insults?

You Fascists are ruining Italy!

So this is the new Italian parliament? This is a swap meet!

The elections, in our opinion, are not valid.

Buffoon!

Be quiet! Let Matteotti speak!

Firstly...

we have the explicit statement of the government...

repeated by the press and the Fascist speakers...

that these elections had a low value.

Because the government didn't feel judged by the electorate

and would have kept power by force!

Even if...

Even if...

by your own admission...

no Italian voter was free to decide!

Eight million Italians voted!

And what about the 2 million votes for minority parties?

You could've made the revolution.

If two million voted for you, the others could've done the same.

There is the armed militia.

It burns you that, doesn't it? Don't touch the Militia! (Black shirts)

A biased militia that during the elections,

- with its presence, especially... - They were Balillas (young boys).

Yes, Hon. Farinacci. Balillas voted in many places.

Only deserters voted for your party!

Where were all of you in the war? You shirker!

There is a number of facts that vitiated all phases of the elections.

That's not true! We're the best part of this nation!

Hon. Matteotti, stay on topic!

Mr. President, maybe you don't understand me...

but I'm talking about elections.

Hurray for Matteotti!

The essential prerequisite for any free election

is to allow candidates to publicly express their opinions.

In Italy, in the elections of last April, it was not possible!

Hon. Matteotti, be brief and conclude your speech.

The Hon. Gonzales, who was prevented from holding a rally in Genoa,

issued invitations for a private conference.

The Fascists entered the room and beat him to forbid him to speak!

In Naples...

at the Conference of the leader of the Constitutionalist opposition...

- Hon. Amendola... - What Constitutionalist?

He's a subversive, like you!

Evidently, the word "subversive" has many meanings.

- You're all in league! - The Hon. Amendola...

was prevented to hold his rally

because of the presence of armed corps in the city.

Yes, Hon. Mussolini! The truth bothers you!

This was our situation:

60% of our candidates weren't free to move in their electoral district.

Because of fear! You're all always scared.

We didn't think the elections were an exercise in defenseless resistance

to the physical violence of the rival...

who is in government and has all the armed forces!

Always because of fear!

Yes, fear.

As in the Sila mountains, when there were brigands...

- we were scared. - Hon. Turati, please!

Conclude, Hon. Matteotti! Don't cause fights!

If you think that it's not others who are preventing me from speaking

and it is I who's causing fights, I'll sit down and no longer speak!

Are you finished? The President of the Select Committee on Elections may speak.

What kind of manner is this?

You have to defend my right to speak.

I haven't offended anyone.

I'm just reporting facts. I have the right to be respected!

Hon. Matteotti, if you want, go on talk,

but carefully.

I demand to speak neither carefully nor carelessly,

but parliamentarily.

OK, go ahead.

Honorable Members, please!

One of the most important guarantees for a free election

is the presence in each polling station of the representatives of each party.

Well... in 90% of cases...

and in some regions, in the 100% of cases...

the whole polling station was Fascist!

You're insulting our government... our parliament!

We can't tolerate that!

Farinacci, shame on you!

Democracy is a priceless asset...

that you want to eclipse!

Servants of Moscow, stay out of our parliament!

Go to Moscow!

Traitors of the fatherland!

- Anti-nationalist! - Subversive!

You declare every day

that you want to restore the authority of the State and the law.

Do it, if you're still in time!

Otherwise you'll really...

ruin the intimate essence...

the moral reason of this nation!

Long live freedom!

Do not continue to keep Italy divided

into masters and servants.

We blame that you want to prove

that only our people in the world cannot stand on their own

and must be governed by force.

You want to make us regress!

We defend the free sovereignty of the Italian people...

to whom we pay the highest salute.

And we think we can claim their dignity...

calling for the annulment of elections invalidated by violence.

Shame on you!

Hon. Matteotti...

if only 50% of the opposition had your courage...

Thanks, Hon. Amendola.

Our battle is not lost yet. I saw it while you were talking.

I watched them one by one. They were cursing but also immobilized.

You were looking at the Fascists, I was looking at our comrades

- Have I convinced them too? - To do what?

To not give an inch to Mussolini, for Chrissake!

Comrade Matteotti, where's the text of your speech?

What text? I was forced to improvise. Didn't you notice?

Go to the stenographers.

This is a boost for our party.

- We're proud of you, Giacomo. - Then write a nice eulogy for me.

A strong speech of Honorable Matteotti

Stormy day at the Chamber of Deputies

Avanti! The newspaper of the Socialist Party

Violent discussions - The Extreme Left leaves the Chamber

The indictment by Matteotti

Il Popolo d'Italia Founder: Benito Mussolini

Insurrection

Matteotti as Nikolai Krylenko

Corriere Italiano (Fascist newspaper)

Hi, morons. Life is easy for you.

Hi.

- Amalia, my love. - Hey!

- Is the director here? - He's not seeing anyone.

For sure he'll talk to Dumini.

Amerigo, I'll wait here.

Filippelli is so conceited that it burns my ass.

Are you getting smart with me?

Remember, Putato, you're in it as well.

I rented a Lancia car at Garage Trevi on behalf of the newspaper.

My driver, Luigi, went to pick it up. He'll bring it to you.

- Hey, be careful, don't forget. - You know I'm a good driver.

Yes, but don't get me in trouble with the renter.

The newspaper always work with them.

What is it this time?

No, I don't care. It's your business.

Don't worry, I'll let you know. A journalist must know everything.

Gee...

since you put your ass in a chair, you've become easy to scare.

I also made a rhyme.

Look...

I need peanuts. Give me an advance on my salary.

Dumini... you already got your salary for June.

And the management board has cut your salary and Putato's by half.

For Chrissake!

You could've pretended at least once that you were our traveling inspectors.

You... and that no-good out there.

Hey, Filippo Filippelli, tell these things to Marinelli or Cesare Rossi.

I take orders from them, from the party.

If my salary comes from you or from the party, for me it's the same.

Sure, sure.

- When do you bring the car back? - In two or three days.

Friends come from far away.

I take them to see...

Rome... and surroundings.

It's that. Number 40.

There're two cops.

Go, Otto. Nobody knows you.

You spend too much.

- Shall we work on peanuts? - This money belongs to the party.

And do I work for Amerigo Dumini or for the party?

I'm relying on you, Amerigo. Use your brain. The others have little.

I have enough for everybody. Don't worry, Marinelli.

- Look who's here. - Taravella!

What are you doing here?

And you, Marinelli, do you let these people into your sanctuary?

Do you know this shady guy?

Amerigo Dumini. Eight murders.

June 10 16:30

I saw so many thieves condemned

I saw inhuman sentences given

Sometimes the law can't forgive

Did you recognize him? He's the one with the girl.

Tell him I need to talk to him. And straighten up your tie!

... you make me die because of your whims

You steal my heart to do whatever you want with it

And you never pay for your sin

Your theft has impoverished me

Can we go to your house?

The time for a little chat...

and give you something.

Give me something? What?

- Why did you take it? - How could I refuse it?

Then I thought it was better in your hands... than others.

OK.

I'll handle it. Meanwhile, don't talk to anyone.

- Has the French ambassador arrived? - He's always on time.

- Tell Navarra to let him in. - Yes.

Fasciolo.

Did Dumini... tell you... how things went?

Absolute silence. I recommend it.

Socialist Party headquarters

Ma'am, have that report copied by tomorrow.

- It's very important. - Don't worry.

- Good day, Honorables. - Thank you.

- Well? - News?

Modigliani and I went to his wife.

He left his house yesterday at 4 pm. Nobody saw him at the Chamber.

He hasn't picked up his mail. Here it is.

His wife cries, fears the worst.

She asked us to do something.

We left a comrade at his house who will tell us if he's back.

Maybe he had a little mishap.

Don't forget what happened three years ago

in his native Polesine when he was kidnapped and beaten.

It's with men like Giacomo that they never give up...

that the Fascist beast breaks loose.

Are there the police? Why don't we call them?

Let's not build castles in the air.

I don't want to read the usual sensational titles in your newspapers.

Mr. Bertini, our newspapers never did sensational titles,

but they only denounced, when they were sure, the violence and abuses.

So you don't think it's necessary to open an investigation?

Hon. Modigliani, you're a lawyer and as you know...

on what basis should I open an investigation?

You're telling me that Matteotti has disappeared since yesterday afternoon.

- But I know nothing... - Please, Questore, listen to me well...

I came here amicably.

If I had hard evidence, I wouldn't be here like this.

Matteotti has never been away for 24 hours from home,

from his friends, from his comrades, without saying anything.

You want to convince me that it's not true.

No, I don't want to convince you of anything.

- Then why won't you open an investigation? - That's the point.

What investigation? In what direction?

Questore, I want to be frank with you. Listen very carefully.

I'm more worried now than when I came in here.

- What you're saying could be very serious. - Indeed.

I'm very surprised that you haven't yet told me

the only thing I expected from you.

Excuse me, sir. What is it?

The questioning of plainclothes policemen guarding him and his house.

Sure, this is obvious.

I'm going to ask a report tomorrow, indeed.

But... "guarding"...

is not the right word.

It was a service more for his safety

than for what you may think of.

All Matteotti's family say

that for two days there have been no more cops in front of his house.

See?

An occasional service, as I said...

to prevent some malicious person.

But did you know that the surveillance service had been interrupted?

No. You're telling me and I believe you.

The railcard of Hon. Matteotti.

A man came to us and said his son picked it up on the street...

fell from a moving car.

- What else do you know? - Nothing.

Hon. Modigliani came to me an hour ago.

He asked me to open an investigation.

They're starting to worry. They haven't heard from him in 24 hours.

Is that the way to do things? Are they dumb?

A foolishness organized by Cesare Rossi and that idiot of Marinelli.

What else have you ascertained?

Little or nothing.

Personally, I think I know many things.

Things that, as Questore, I'd rather ignore.

- Like what? - There's an eyewitness.

A guy who says he saw everything from his window in Via Mancini.

But he can't recognize anyone.

So, what are you gonna do?

I'm here to take orders. You're the Chief of Police.

Bertini, don't play hide and seek.

You know who kidnapped Matteotti.

I strongly suspect Dumini and his gang...

but as things stand at present,

we can avoid taking concrete measures.

Sooner or later the judiciary will move.

Sure, in case of harder evidence.

- Then we'll see. - Awaiting your orders, sir.

Don't just wait.

Get me every important news, minute by minute.

Come in.

- What is it? - His Excellency Marinelli.

Let him in in a moment, as soon as the Questore leaves.

Even that moron of Marinelli has an honorific title.

Questore, I'm relying on you. Be careful.

The destiny of Fascism and of our country is also in your hands.

Don't worry, Excellency, we'll do our duty, as usual.

Hi.

I was waiting for you, sir.

We found the car.

Where is it?

Come on, spit it out everything you know.

I mean... not the car.

Not yet, but its owner.

It belongs to Garage Trevi.

5512169

Are you sure?

- Is this the plate number? - Yes.

But it's a complicated number!

If this is the car of someone not involved, you'd be in trouble!

- Maybe we were wrong. - No, I wasn't wrong!

I've been a doorman in Via Stanislao Mancini for 10 years.

That car passed on the night of the 9th and on the 10th there was the abduction.

Abduction? You say it.

Who put this word in your head?

- Did you see that abduction? - No, I didn't.

The reporters said so. They found many witnesses.

What reporters?

Have you already talked...

Have you already given that number to the press before telling us?

They came to me.

I'm sure of that number.

They had a suspicious behavior. So I told my wife, "maybe some thieves".

And I wrote down the number on my calendar.

It's true, they looked like thieves.

But you wrote down that number on day 9.

So you didn't see the abduction on the 10th!

That car passed our street again on the 10th.

This has increased my suspicions.

They were going warily, slowly.

Did you tell all this to the reporters?

Did I do wrong?

Anxiously awaiting news on the Hon. Matteotti

kidnapped last Tuesday in broad daylight in Rome

Hon. Matteotti kidnapped in a car

Friday June 13th, 1924

The mysterious disappearance of Matteotti

The secretary of P.S.U. beaten and kidnapped in a car

Giacomo Matteotti disappeared

Socialist MP kidnapped in Rome

Matteotti has been missing for two days

The anxious search

How the assault happened

The disappearance of the Hon. Matteotti.

L'Avanti!

La Giustizia.

You have to piss on a car plate. Holy sh... yes!

So the dust sticks and the number can't be read.

Or don't you know that?

Marinelli, what did you tell...

those assholes? To put their signature on it?

They lost their heads. Now we don't have to lose ours.

- Let's meet in my office tonight. - OK.

Study the situation thoroughly and then let me know.

Now get out of here. I have to write a statement for the Chamber.

Not you, De Bono. Wait.

Leave us alone, for Chrissake! Is he the Chief of Police or not?

Well, De Bono...

what is the public order situation?

There're demonstrations and spontaneous strikes everywhere.

Riots in Naples.

Many areas of southern Italy are in turmoil.

In the north, the tension is strong.

Since October 1922, when we took power,

this is a completely new situation.

And the big towns? The public opinion?

- And what do people say? - You can get it from the newspapers.

Many Fascists are throwing away their badges or their membership cards.

People criticize Fascism without fear...

in public places and squares.

Italians have become courageous.

And what do they say about me?

I can't keep it from you, Benito. You're the main target.

We have to arrest someone. Dumini is too exposed now.

- What if he talks? - Do I have to take care of everything?!

It's your business.

Talk to him. Take care of this personally.

Give him what he wants.

Public opinion wants some culprits and we have to give them.

They won't let themselves be dumped that easily.

I declare in the Chamber of the Deputies...

that as soon as the Police authorities were informed...

of the long absence of Hon. Matteotti...

I myself have given orders... strict orders...

to intensify searches in Rome, outside Rome and in other towns.

And at border crossings.

We won't neglect anything to shed light on what happened...

and to arrest the culprits...

bringing them to justice.

I hope...

that Hon. Matteotti will be back soon... to parliament.

So it's true that in Rome, the seat of the parliament...

at open Chambers... it was possible to attack and kidnap an opposition MP!

While the sessions go on quietly, we don't know if he will return.

I denounce to the Chamber and our country

this atrocious and unprecedented fact!

Hon. Mussolini, you didn't tell us anything!

Resign!

The Prime Minister must speak!

You're the Prime Minister, the Minister of Interior

and the Foreign Minister. You're everything!

You're personally responsible of the fate of Hon. Matteotti!

You have to talk as head of government!

If the government is silent, it is complicit!

Hon. De Gasperi, I count on the support of the Popular Party.

We'll send Gronchi and Tupini to the meeting. Then they'll report to us.

- We already had an exchange of ideas. - Thank you.

Hon. Chiesa, will you come to the meeting?

We agree with you. The government is complicit.

The Republican Party will send Bergamo and Morea.

Remember, Hon. Amendola, it's our last chance to beat Fascism.

OK, let's not go to the Chamber anymore. Then what will we do?

They are the majority and have the quorum to do the Chamber work.

- Hon. Lussu, this is a political gesture. - And moral.

Yes, to arouse public opinion. And not only that.

We of the Sardinian Party certainly approve the order of the day...

but we want you to understand that there's a risk in this action.

Yes, there's a risk, as Lussu says.

The risk that this abstention is just an end in itself.

We'll see to it later. We have no certainties.

We Communists are for the abstention.

Because at least, after two years of Fascist government...

for the first time...

the opposition parties, even non-anti-fascist ones...

Why this distinction between opposition and anti-fascist parties?

You should understand it, having been a minister of Mussolini until recently.

I don't like your tone! I don't accept lessons from Communis...

Hon. Di Cesaro, please!

Let's not argue.

Hon. Gramsci, please avoid any inappropriate disquisition at this time.

OK. The question is whether or not to approve the order of the day.

We do.

We Socialists are for the abstention from all parliament activities.

The Republican Party endorses fully and without reservation.

The Sicilian Social Democratic Party...

which I have to honor to represent here...

will join the other opposition groups...

in accordance with its political line.

Thank you, but this is not the place for...

No, please, Hon. Turati.

Here is the Hon. Gronchi, who was also in the Mussolini government...

to whom goes all our respect... He can testify...

If my soul weren't so torn...

I'd like... with a smile...

to bring you back to the point of this meeting.

I appeal not to the politician but...

to the gentleman, to the Duke Di Cesaro.

I can't refuse your appeal, Hon. Turati. And I do not add more.

If Hon. Gronchi wishes to speak...

Personally, my friend Tupini and I...

endorse the proposal of abstention from parliamentary activities.

We think that the Popular Party will agree.

This is the opinion of Hon. De Gasperi.

Well, what does the oppositions want to do by abstaining from all activities?

I think they're following the same line as Matteotti.

Matteotti? What does he have to do with it?

They don't recognize the validity of the parliament

that came out of the last elections.

If it was just that, they wouldn't scare me.

The parliament exists.

We won and we keep it.

No, they aim higher.

They want to put pressure on the Monarchy.

A paralysis of the parliament, to force the King to intervene.

No, what paralysis? They're the minority.

Meanwhile, we'll make a counter move.

What, Excellency?

We'll close the Chamber of Deputies.

We'll close it?

We're in June. It's summer.

Let's send them on vacation. All of them.

So their abstention is already over.

It lasted a day.

A move.

A move... surely.

Closing the Chamber.

Yes... sure.

Sure.

The Chamber is meeting tomorrow. I'll speak.

I'll show them that the government stands its ground...

and it won't be easy to undermine it.

I know what harsh language suits those people.

After my speech...

open the votes for the closure of the Chamber... indefinitely.

We'll reopen it when it suits us. No problem for the Senate.

Those shaky old men will never give me a vote of no confidence.

From Agnelli to Croce.

And in three days, when the King returns...

he'll find a more than normal situation.

Normal?

Il Messaggero. Breaking news.

Popolo d'Italia, Corriere Italiano and Messaggero.

- Keep the change. - Thanks.

The disappearance of Matteotti still shrouded in mystery

Hey, Sacco, Agostini! Are you here for me?

Tell me what's going on.

Am I arrested or detained?

Which of the two and why?!

Be calm and quiet.

These are the orders.

De Bono will tell you the rest.

Three generals.

Two from Militia and one from Army to arrest Dumini.

This is your intention: throwing me in jail

- After what I did for the Party. - Sit and listen to me well.

Do you want to talk to me as the Chief of the Militia?

Or as the Chief of the Police?

As a Fascist, you idiot!

Listen to me, this is very important to you too...

- if you wanna understand, otherwise... - What?

There's too much evidence against you and we have to put you in jail.

Fascism is in danger, we must save it.

You certainly want to save it. Of course, you have so many positions.

- I too want to save Fascism! - There's only one way.

Keep your mouth shout. Always deny.

But remember, you and the others, that I want to save Dumini too!

Because Fascism and Dumini are the same thing.

Meanwhile, get my suitcase out of that policeman's hands.

There's a pair of trousers inside it...

stained with blood.

- Whose trousers? - Whose?

- Matteotti's. - And you walked around...

- Commissioner! - Yes, Excellency.

You're a bunch of fools.

You arrested Dumini.

What do you have in mind, you and Mussolini?

The situation is very serious. Whoever made a mistake will pay.

What if Dumini rats that the idea came first from him?

Him who?

He doesn't understand now. "Him who"?

Do you think I'm afraid to say it?

- Mussolini! - I warn you, Rossi...

you're going down a dangerous road!

What, are you threatening now?

- Don't make me laugh. - Rossi is right.

Mussolini has been insulting us for weeks.

After Matteotti's speech, Mussolini looked like a beast.

Is it true or not, Finzi? A beast.

He asked me about Dumini. "But Dumini is jerking off"?

"When are you gonna shut those people up"?

"You're a bunch of weaklings. You're scared shitless"!

Besides, De Bono, don't play innocent with me.

You were there too at the meeting at his house.

- At the meeting? - Cut it out!

In Via Rasella, when Mussolini ordered us to create this sort of Secret Police

to punish the most ardent anti-fascists.

Were you there or not?

You were there!

And you gave us your revered consent as Chief of the Police.

You're crazy! What are you saying?

You were also being witty.

"What do we call our Secret Police"?

"Let's call it Cheka, like the Russians".

- Don't you remember? - Then there's a conspiracy against me too.

I'm not surprised by him, but you, Marinelli...

Buffoon!

I'll pull out these four hairs of yours! Quadrumvir, my ass!

- Calm down! - And I can tell you...

because it was me who recommended you for the March on Rome.

A fucking General was perfect as quadrumvir!

Oh, you're here?

I'm sorry...

were you waiting for me? I'm Tancredi.

- Mr. Del Giudice? - Yes, it's me.

- We were just waiting for you, my learned colleague. - I apologize.

Don't worry.

Shall we begin?

- You're a dactyloscopy expert. - Yes.

Open it carefully, even if I don't think there're any significant fingerprints.

Don't worry, sir.

Could you look inside too?

There are many dark stains on the seat and back.

Blood stains?

I don't know.

I don't want to steal the job from our chemical expert.

I guess this isn't the first time you've seen dried blood stains.

I see that you have already a clear picture.

I've read the statements from police report.

So did you, I guess.

Almost the entire seat cover is torn.

And the carpet too.

These seem to me the obvious signs...

of a violent fight.

Yes, a real foul deed.

Meanwhile, you can dictate a first description to the clerk.

I'll read it later, if you allow me, Mr. Tancredi.

My fountain pen broke just this morning.

- Take mine. - Thanks.

Gentlemen...

I ask you all for a special commitment.

A reconstruction as faithful as possible of evidence and circumstances.

Mr. Del Giudice, these recommendations are almost superfluous.

Why are you asking more diligence this time?

Tancredi is a Fascist.

And who did you think Crisafulli made you work with?

With a Socialist?

Crisafulli is a Fascist and doesn't hide it at all.

But he's a magistrate, the Attorney General of Rome.

He flaunts his black shirt whenever he can.

No, it won't be an easy investigation. It will be a war.

And you won't have many judges on your side, dear Del Giudice.

Not even you?

I fear for you as a friend, first of all.

As for me, I won't allow this investigation to be deflected

by political manoeuvres. It must be clear.

It was always clear to me. That's why I advised you not to accept.

You'll bang your head against a wall.

Maybe I'll break my head, but it's a hard head!

And some cracks may appear in the wall.

Give strict orders to the police force

to put an end to any general strike before it begins.

Alright.

What are the trade unions doing?

Nothing, they're discussing.

The trade unionists... I know them.

It seems that they'll call a symbolic abstention from work on 27th...

15 or 10 minutes.

Good. This must not be hindered.

On the contrary, supported.

Even the Fascist unions will have to join this strike.

It will be a demonstration of national mourning...

- non-partisan. Is that clear? - Very clear.

What about the Militia?

It's going down everywhere.

I know. Look at my waiting room.

Until two days ago, it was as crowded as a seaport.

Now it's like the central square of Forlì... at 3:00 am.

It's a landslide, Benito.

- An avalanche that could overwhelm us. - Yes...

but it can be fixed.

You said it the other day and you were right.

We have to give the public...

someone high up...

a lot higher up... than Dumini.

Well, I'll start with myself.

I'll give in the Ministry of the Interior to Federzoni,

who has the confidence of the King.

And you, Emilio, will step down as Chief of the Police.

But...

I don't think it's politically appropriate.

It would be like confessing...

You'll keep the position of Chief of the Militia.

Anyway, it's early to talk about this.

In a few days.

First I have to get rid of those two.

Who?

Rossi and Finzi.

- My resignation? - It's a tactical necessity of this moment.

This crime was born from this table!

And you'll have to take full responsibility

I will.

Not today, at the right time.

The day of claiming responsibility will come.

Maybe of the self-defense.

Read it.

The letter of your resignation as Prime Minister's Spokesperson.

And my reply...

by which I accept, thanking you for your work.

We're publishing them today.

You're scared.

I know you well.

No one has been closer to you than me in these years.

And not for nothing, they say I'm your gray eminence.

So be careful, I won't get dumped so easily!

You shouldn't take it this way.

How am I supposed to take it, by thanking you?

Should I give you the Roman salute, click my heels and walk away?

And where?

To get arrested for a crime whose responsibility is all yours?

No, Mussolini, no. I have weapons to defend myself.

I know things...

that could get you out of that chair in 24 hours!

You hear me?!

Be well, Rossi.

Let Hon. Finzi in.

And bring me another coffee.

... the usual young agitators...

Leave me alone! What do you want?!

Move!

Excuse me, let me through.

The assembly of party representatives, veterans

and non-fascist Turin political tendencies,

found that in the murder of Giacomo Matteotti

is involved the entire Fascist government,

demands the resignation of Mussolini!

You can't! Mr. Gobetti, I order you to shut up!

And it asks the deputies of the minority,

the only ones to be legitimately elected by the popular will,

to convene themselves to insure the public order and a new government!

Turin June 20

Long live Socialism!

Hurray for Matteotti!

A phone. Where's a phone?!

There is an anti-fascist demonstration under the prefecture.

Let's go to the prefecture! Yes, let's go there too!

Let's make our opposition to Fascism heard!

This demonstration is forbidden! Mr. Gobetti, call off your men!

My men? We've nothing to do with slaves.

You're the one giving orders.

You can also arrest me and it would be the third time.

- Mind what you say! - Are you arguing with a cop?

Get away. Are you crazy?

Come on, get them away!

Get them away, come on!

Come on, let's get him out of here.

Come on!

Arrest them!

Clear out!

Arrest those hooligans!

Take the arrested people to the police station.

Matteotti was only a Social-Reformist. Let's not forget it.

You mean it wasn't worth having your head smashed for a Social-Reformist?

Matteotti was a modern, coherent and lucid politician.

He wasn't an improvised Socialist

who makes revolutionary speeches with a tie on the courtyards

to get the votes of the farmers.

HANG MUSSOLINI His May 30 speech was a coincidence?

If the anti-fascism want to regain credibility,

it's necessary that some of us leaders get killed.

This had become Matteotti's dominant thought.

And he was right, because in these days

a young, new, strong and uncompromising anti-fascism is emerging.

General strike, yes.

Because we believe that only by involving the working and peasant class,

this political drama can be resolved.

Hon. Turati.

I'm of the opposite opinion of Gramsci.

I'd like to warn the working class.

Yes, in these days they must feel the powerful urge to begin to breathe.

They could react to provocations and take the bait.

No! They have to try not to breathe for a few more months.

We Popular think that this situation is still evolving.

Politics is one thing, reckless action is another.

The spontaneous strikes and demonstrations of recent days

in Naples, Rome, Genoa and many other places,

prove that the working class is animated by a desperate will to fight.

The truth is elsewhere.

You're afraid of the working class.

- Who? - Let's speak clearly.

You and we have different goals.

You want to overthrow and destroy national institutions.

We want to save them from Fascism.

Your politics would lead the Monarchy, and therefore the army,

to openly take sides against us.

Your moderatism disarms the working class

and helps the plans of the puppet Mussolini and his puppeteers.

- Hon. Amendola, please. - One moment.

Hon. Vella asks to speak for the Socialists.

Comrade Gramsci, I agreed with you the other day,

I too thought that we shouldn't disown the recent spontaneous strikes,

but your proposal for a general strike is absolutely unrealistic.

So we invite you to withdraw it.

Your inertia and passivity have only one effect:

to revitalize Fascism!

Fascism is already over.

It's you, with your intemperance, who give it life and new pretexts.

Come to order, please!

You want to campaign for your party,

by criticizing us, Unitary Socialists, and your Maximalist comrades.

Proposing a general strike against Fascism is not campaigning!

So we declare you...

that if you're firmly determined to reject our proposal...

we'll address it on our own to the peasants and workers!

Does this mean that you're leaving the opposition committee?

Hon. Turati...

this seems to be your most intense and clear desire.

We won't go away to fulfill it...

but only because with you, so-called constitutionalist opposition,

a fight against Fascism is not possible.

Too many ambiguities are hindering it.

We're leaving...

because, once again, with your behavior...

you have shown...

that the only force that can fight Fascism...

and crush the reactionaries, is the working class.

Amen.

This time the Hon. Gramsci forgot to mention the peasants.

- We finally got rid of this Communist. - This is not Mussolini's parliament.

We have to keep working. A serious task is facing us.

Now let's go back to the agenda.

The points on which we must agree from now on are two.

The disbandment of Fascist militia. The restoration of law and order.

By what means we can achieve these goals?

You know Gobetti's agenda which was voted by our parties in Turin.

At least he explains the way:

the Aventine (secessionists) must proclaim itself the only parliament.

Hon. Vella, I believe... and not only I...

that the unanimous will expressed here and the voice of public opinion,

are more than enough to restart

that constitutional mechanism that has always governed our political life.

A government crisis wanted by the King.

Is that your hope, Hon. Amendola?

Mine is more than a hope, Hon. Vella.

I read about the Congress of the War Invalids in Rijeka.

A little discontent, but nothing in particular.

Yes, Your Majesty...

but the Hon. Viola is the President of the Veterans Association.

The Hon. Delcroix is the President of the War Invalids Association.

Fighters, not invalids. Yes, sure.

The "fighters", Your Majesty, gathered in Assisi,

and it seems they came out against the Mussolini government.

First they love him and almost force me to appoint him.

And then they want to put him down.

Is it necessary to receive them?

It's a delegation of the Congress... Many medals of honor...

Fighters, which means soldiers.

... asks to Your Majesty, maximum guarantor of the Albertine Statute,

a reparator intervention that brings back to Italian people

those freedoms for which...

in the shadow of the Tricolor flag and to the cry of "Savoy"...

the soldiers of Risorgimento and Vittorio Veneto shed their blood...

and sacrificed their young lives.

Italy...

that became united and great thanks to them...

waits and hopes, only from the King...

above the discordant factions...

that certainty and dignity be restored to civil life...

as well as our democratic institutions...

and the nobility in the beloved face of our Country...

before the community of the nations.

Fine words, Hon. Viola.

I expected no less from you, nor from these valiant ones.

Homeland love, this is the foundation.

I will soon go to Rome, to the Quirinal Palace.

I'm sorry you had to come all this way. I'd have received you there too.

The urgency of this situation presses us.

Sure.

I'm here for the hunting.

Do you know our estate in San Rossore?

Come and see.

You know, Honorable...

My daughter this morning...

hunted two quails.

I've already said that I've nothing to declare.

And you all insist with these interrogations!

Does the President know?

- Is he aware of what you're doing? - Sit down, please.

You mean the President of the Council of Ministers, His Excellency Mussolini?

My God, we didn't tell him.

But, to justify ourselves, the executive power in Italy

is in charge of governing and the legislative one is in charge of judging.

The two powers are autonomous. Or, at least, they're supposed to be.

Go ahead, judge. I like to learn things.

As long as I'm wrongfully imprisoned, I'll have nothing better to do.

OK, then we'll read you an article published

in Il Popolo d'Italia after Matteotti's speech.

Clerk, please read.

"Hon. Matteotti gave an awfully provocative speech

"that deserves something much more tangible

"than the epithet rogue pronounced by Hon. Giunta".

I haven't read it.

I know by heart what Mussolini might write.

Sometimes I read it, sometimes not, but...

I know him very well...

also in person.

And Giovanni Marinelli...

Administrative Secretary of the Fascist party...

- do you know him? - Sure.

And Cesare Rossi, the Prime Minister's Spokesperson?

Him too, of course.

- And Filippo Filippelli? - Filippelli?

The director of Il Corriere Italiano? I work there.

You know everybody.

You may also know...

General De Bono, who has just resigned as Chief of Police.

What? He resigned?

- Why? - It's you who know him...

what do you think?

And Albino Volpi...

Aldo Putato, Giuseppe Viola, Amleto Poveromo, Filippo Panzeri...

Before you knew everybody, now you don't.

I've already said that I don't wanna answer.

Know that you'll meet them soon. They're here in Regina Coeli with you.

Let me tell you that the last ones mentioned

and you, Amerigo Dumini, are all accused...

of associating in order to kidnap and kill Matteotti

and of carrying out that criminal purpose

with premeditation and full awareness on the afternoon of June 10

on Lungotevere Arnaldo Da Brescia at 16:30.

This is not a question and you don't have to answer it.

We have formally notified you of the indictment

on which the inquiry against you and the aforementioned men will be based.

Take him to the cell.

Mr. Filippelli...

you have said serious and accurate things

about the responsibility of Dumini and the other defendants in your statement.

Are you ready to repeat them in a direct confrontation with Dumini?

Dumini asked me for a car...

for personal use.

He also mentioned Putato.

And I got him a car at Garage Trevi,

where the newspaper usually rents them.

But... on June 10...

- in the evening... - The evening of Matteotti's kidnapping.

- Do you remember? - Absolutely.

They came to me at the newspaper...

he... and Putato.

- They told me roughly... - No, not roughly.

You must remember as accurately as possible.

- I'll repeat almost to the letter. - What are you writing?

Why are you wasting ink?

- It's just the talk of a journalist. - Shut up, Dumini!

What's the matter? Do you suddenly feel like talking?

So?

"There's been a mess today..." they told me.

"and needs to be fixed somehow".

"Matteotti is dead".

"Mussolini had made us understand that we had to punish him after his speech".

"So, today..." said Dumini, "me and some friends...

- "instructed by Marinelli and Rossi..." - You idiot!

Do you realize what are you saying? You're making this up, idiot!

Yes! You told me about the kidnapping near his home!

Matteotti was screaming and resisting,

so you killed him immediately, inside the car!

You dirty swine.

- Shut your ugly mouth, you rat! - Dumini!

Let him talk.

Then, if you like, you can tell me your version.

"We have to get rid of the car which is all stained with blood".

- That's what you told me! - Watch out, you and your family!

Mussolini has 300 guns of Fascists ready to do anything.

If he wants, he could come in here too!

Clerk, get on record, word for word, his threats!

Take them back to their cells.

You talked too much and ruined my plan.

We have to fear our people, not them! Do you get that, idiot?!

- Guards, take them away separately! - You have to!

Follow the rules!

OK, let's assume you're right.

- You who? - You alone.

And those who believe that Matteotti was the victim of a conspiracy.

A conspiracy? A direct order came on high.

Whatever you want.

But... put your cards on the table.

We have to agree on certain points.

Every time you name deputies, ministers and...

And the Prime Minister, Hon. Mussolini.

- You didn't expect that, did you? - No.

Frankly no.

That's what I want to discuss with you.

According to the Statute, a minister can't be judged by the courts.

Only by the Senate, as High Court of Justice...

If you want to declare that we have no jurisdiction...

- I'm not with you. - I don't want to.

I'm just thinking out loud and honestly, believe me.

Yes, we can't judge ministers.

So I want to know how you intend to deal with this.

Do we have enough evidence

to issue an arrest warrant against Cesare Rossi and Giovanni Marinelli?

Two top Fascist hierarchs not covered by any immunity.

Are you ready to sign these warrants tonight,

without notifying your chief, the Attorney General?

You're using a tone that I don't understand and don't admit.

Why? I have to notify Crisafulli.

What's wrong with this?

Don't play naive, Tancredi!

If we arrest the Administrator of the Fascist party

and Rossi, former Mussolini's Spokesperson,

it will be a real blow for the Fascists.

Crisafulli would do anything to stop us.

- Yes, but how? - I don't know.

But I know he's very influential

and he can do lots of things to make my job harder.

I suppose...

you've already had the two arrest warrants prepared.

Commendatore Marinelli, you got some visitors.

Let them in.

Good evening.

Are you Commendatore Marinelli?

Yes.

And who are you?

I'm sorry to meet you in this sad situation,

but I have to execute... this arrest warrant.

But... I'm the administrator of the Fascist party.

Besides... I fell sick in these days.

There must be a mistake.

I'm a member of the Fascist Grand Council, you know.

I learned of Marinelli's arrest from the newspapers.

We decided it late last night.

And Rossi is at large. They haven't found him yet.

The Administrator of the Fascist party...

and the Prime Minister's Spokesperson.

Who or what is your target?

You're ruining the entire justice system.

Use a bit of caution, for God's sake!

We handle a very delicate instrument.

Justice is not just a technical matter.

This could be subversivism. And I'm not the only one who thinks so.

Don't you see how many colleagues no longer greet you?

Try to walk down the corridors of this palace.

Or have you gone blind and deaf?

Take me off this case, sir.

Yes, so the scandal will increase.

I'm speaking in public interest.

You don't realize what's happening in Italy.

You're living on the moon!

Del Giudice is an old man...

but I can't understand you.

However, if you should issue an arrest warrant against the government,

let me know first.

May I ask you this favor, Tancredi?

Or it sounds too pretentious for an Attorney General?

Good evening, Mr. Del Giudice and Mr. Tancredi.

Good evening.

- This is... - I'm Cesare Rossi.

I know there's a warrant for my arrest.

I'd like to turn myself in but the warden disagrees.

Gentlemen, forgive me, but I've never had a similar case before.

Regina Coeli is not a hotel.

I can take prisoners only by Judicial Police.

Don't worry, warden.

We'll fix it.

I didn't expect to make a case by coming to Regina Coeli.

But here... frankly speaking...

I feel safer than in any police station.

Anyway, my memoir... I want to let everybody know...

is already in the hands of someone who will know how to use it, if necessary.

Dear Donati, do you see how I spend my days?

I'm already retired at 53.

Don Luigi, you can do still a lot for the Popular Party.

All the newspapers write that Don Sturzo is still leading the party,

but it's not true.

Even though you keep looking for me for advice.

No, no. A party is headed only

by occupying a chair in an office with the sign "Secretary".

When does De Gasperi arrive?

We thought it best not to come together.

They might see us knocking on the same door.

At most they'd think I'm here. You're exaggerating.

If Mussolini knows that you're in Rome...

Here is de Gasperi.

- Good day. - Hi.

No, the Chamber was not to be left. You all had to fight there.

This criticism is addressed to me.

But everyone knows I'm just a replacement party secretary.

Even if we thought we'd stay in parliament,

I wouldn't have the authority to decide that.

It'd take the real secretary. You.

I don't wanna hear these words.

Our Party can act and be led even without me.

Hopefully, Don Luigi, but one thing is certain:

last year Mussolini obtained from the Vatican your exclusion as secretary.

And today you live in Rome almost clandestinely.

Many things will happen.

The move we're preparing will unleash again the wrath of the Fascists,

but on the other side of the Tiber, in the Vatican,

thunder and lightning will explode to incinerate us.

Three Kings Tavern

I'll bring you a honest wine...

I hope these people are too.

It's sensational that we'll publish an interview with Turati in Il Popolo.

I read the draft.

Won't you propose any changes?

No, why?

You have to save your ideas, as we have ours.

A new coalition government between the Socialist and Popular parties...

doesn't mean that you must stop being Socialists and we Catholics.

I'll show my approval with an article in Il Popolo

and in some important rallies.

And even Don Sturzo will take a position.

Don Sturzo?

Really?

And the Vatican?

It's not easy for our friends at the Vatican to talk tough

in a moment as delicate as this.

If they don't, they'd be considered on the side of Matteotti's killers.

Well, you know them better than I do.

For me, they're capable of everything.

But, as an inveterate atheist, I may have some prejudices.

Let's hope.

Comunardo.

Look...

No, not this one. Bring some of your own bottles.

We have to celebrate.

So something important happened?

Which comrades are these?

Excuse me, but I don't know you.

New allies.

Catholic friends.

Have you heard this one?

With the entrails of the last priest

We'll hang the last King

No offense, but I think this is the greatest song in the world.

I was sure he'd say one of his jokes.

As you can see, politics is not difficult just for us.

Indeed. You have Pius XI...

and we have Comunardo.

You... who are a famous journalist...

what do you think about this interview with Turati?

A Donati's scoop or a political move by Don Sturzo?

You're taking it too lightly! We need a law on the press.

We have to get rid of their dirty newspapers and beat them!

When are you going to do that?

Well, we should step on everyone's toes, in your opinion?

The heads, not the toes!

Farinacci, don't you see we're still alone?

After the vote in the Senate, a little less.

But I've earned that, with my politics.

And not with the one you talk about in your newspaper, in Cremona.

But this is not the spirit of Fascism.

I'll bring you my action squad from Cremona, my "La Disperata",

and we'll make a clean sweep.

The second wave, the definitive one.

- And all this foolish talk will end. - No, it's not time yet.

This move by Turati and Don Sturzo

must be resolved in another way.

Uh! An alliance between Socialists and Catholics.

If it's true that Sturzo is in Rome, I'll go find him.

I'll teach him a lesson and he'll run away.

Then I'll go to Turati and this will end.

Listen, there are some Catholic Action circles

that are very active.

- Recreational or religious activities. - You told us to leave them alone.

Let's give them a few hits.

Without blood, not even a drop. Just a few bruises.

But most of all, wipe out their headquarters!

Pius XI is very fond of his Catholic Action circles.

He will get the message.

And then there's Gasparri, that Cardinal from Le Marche.

I know how to handle him.

You know what they say in Rome?

Better to have a dead in your house than a man from Le Marche at your door!

What do you need Gasparri for? He's an old man.

This time it's up to him to help me.

I've already compromised myself many times for him.

I saved the Bank of Rome last year.

Now it's time to get paid back.

Count, here is His Eminence.

No, Count, kiss my hand later.

Let me get off.

You look well, Eminence.

It might be true that getting your belly moving is good for your health.

Well, what did that "chief gangster" say?

- He sent me... - No, Count Santucci, I know.

He said, about this violence in the headquarters of the Catholic Action,

- that he knows nothing. - That's right, Eminence.

And you believe that?

Nothing happens in Italy without Mussolini's say so.

Daggers and sticks never move by themselves.

He sends you his most heartfelt apologies.

He sounded very sincere.

Of course, a great actor. Those who don't know him fall for it.

But I was born among farmers and breeders.

- I saw him a couple of times and it was enough. - Oh my God!

No, I'd like to keep this secret more than you, Count.

Didn't you tell someone?

Maybe you wrote in your diary that Mussolini and I met at your house.

- Eminence! - I trust you, Count.

Come along. I'm sweaty, I'll get changed.

- Well, what does Benito want? - A disavowal.

A strong disavowal of this crazy alliance

between the Catholic party and atheist Socialism.

Easy, easy.

In short, we must excommunicate the Catholics and bless the Fascists.

Dear Santucci...

when I see Mussolini moving towards a conservative government,

I certainly can't regret the old parliamentarism.

Fascism, anti-fascism... It's a controversy we don't care about.

We want something else:

to erase the memory of the Breach of Porta Pia.

The dispute between the Vatican and the Italian state must be buried.

And Mussolini is the right undertaker.

Providence certainly uses weird tools sometimes...

to do the good of Italy.

Is this also the opinion of the Pope?

Let's be patient and be calm.

This is His wish.

Get ready for many toasts, Excellency... with a lot of vodka.

That's what I need.

But are there any possibilities of doing business with these Bolsheviks?

- Maybe. - I confess that I don't give a damn.

I accepted their invitation because I'll enjoy to meet the Soviet ambassador

after the insults I sent to Lenin... both alive and dead.

How will they take it in the Fascist movement?

Those who haven't taken it well are the Italian Communists.

They sent letters of protest to Moscow

for this official invitation to the leader of Fascism.

Newspaper articles, debates between them.

Good. Anything goes in a moment like this.

July 11

Come here, Trapani.

Don't stop. Come on, go.

Dig!

Come on, search!

Dig!

Hey, Conti!

Conti, come here immediately.

- Me? - I need you.

You have to witness.

Come here. I found the corpse of Matteotti.

August 16 Quick! And bring your shovel.

- Get that shovel. - I'll get it right away.

There's the corpse of Matteotti.

He's buried here, near the coal bin. My dog found him.

- Where? - Here, near the coal bin.

Come.

Lieutenant, who's the Sergeant who found the corpse?

That one, sir. You see him? Sergeant Caratelli.

- Thank you. - Not at all.

Mr. Del Giudice, Here's the Sergeant who found...

Is that you?

How was the body found?

I was walking with my dog.

He stopped here...

and started sniffing, digging. And I immediately saw...

Have you been here other times before this morning?

No, I've been on leave for a few days.

From June 10th until today, August 16th, you...

never went home? Have you always been on duty?

I don't remember.

Let me think.

Where do you live?

Here, not far away. More or less one km.

OK, thank you.

Please wait.

Clerk, write down all the details.

So he'd have been here...

for more than two months...

at a depth of about 30 cm.

No, this is not an isolated place. The State Road is 50 meters away...

and they found him only now.

Well... this whole thing's a little weird.

Here's the roadman, sir.

- He and Caratelli found... - No, I didn't.

I was working on the road when Caratelli's son called me.

Caratelli's son?

Yes, the son of the keeper of this property.

That Sergeant is the son of the keeper of this property?

Of course, sir. Everybody knows Caratelli here.

He found the corpse.

I was working and he told me to bring a shovel to dig.

OK, you may go.

Scagnetti, call me Dr. Massari and that Lieutenant.

Lieutenant, Doctor, the judge wants you.

Dr. Massari, I think the only solution is to transport

his poor remains to the cemetery in Riano...

and start the autopsy there with the necessary care.

- Do you agree? - Yes, sir.

Excuse me, sir, but this will take more time.

Morbid curiosity about his corpse will increase.

It could be dangerous for public order. People are coming even from Rome.

I appreciate your zeal, Lieutenant...

and I'm pleased with the happy coincidence that a police sergeant

found Matteotti's remains.

Eh, if Caratelli had been sent on leave a month or two earlier...

we'd have found that poor body in different conditions.

Was Matteotti stabbed or not?

Those poor remains can't tell us anymore.

The corpse of Matteotti found in a bush 22 km from Rome

The corpse of Matteotti found in a scrubland near Rome

The corpse of Matteotti found in Riano

From Quartarella scrubland to the cemetery of Riano

The corpse of Matteotti torn to pieces and thrown into a pit

Matteotti was outraged both alive and dead

Opposition parties raised their heads after the body was found.

This is my proposal.

Let's make a great monument to poor Matteotti.

We, Confederation of Industry, will pay for it,

but let's not talk about him anymore.

- Il Corriere della Sera is anti-fascist now. - Yes.

We're not even able to shut up our newspapers.

When it's time, we'll take care of Il Corriere too.

It's time to say stop.

General Confederation Of Italian Industry

The stock market is down again, the workers are in turmoil...

there's even talk of a crisis in the Mussolini government.

In my opinion the King won't send Mussolini away.

If you from Milan agree, we could send a delegation to Rome.

Yes, we agree. There will be no objections.

Since you're the president, you could go to Mussolini with Pirelli and Conti.

Three is more than enough.

Why not Agnelli, if it's his proposal?

His? Ours.

It's not necessary for all to go.

The important thing is to speak clearly to the Duce.

If he's truly a man of government, he must prove it now.

Otherwise we'll fire him.

The problem is no longer the Reds. They don't matter anymore.

The problem is the stability of the government.

To have a strong government you have to end crises and opposition.

We must get rid of everyone.

Turati, Giolitti, Amendola and all the other politicians.

Enough of this democratic freedom nonsense.

We must be careful to target the institutions.

What institutions?! We need Fascist squads.

Do you remember the occupation of factories in 1920?

Without the blessed truncheon, the unions would now rule our factories.

Olivetti has also arrived from Turin.

So we'll hear what Agnelli thinks.

We are optimistic in Turin.

Italy is poor. People have to scramble for a living.

Politics is a luxury.

Let them talk a little now,

but then they'll keep quiet and for a long time.

So what will you, Conti and Pirelli tell the Duce?

We'll talk to him straight.

The marriage of interests between us and Fascism won't be dissolved by us.

After all, the marriages of interests are the most successful.

And you know why? Because there's order in the family.

- What is it? - Your doctor, Excellency.

No, I don't want. Send him away. Make an excuse for me.

But you made this appointment yourself.

Can you do your job or not, Navarra?

- Navarra. - Yes, Excellency?

- Get the stenographer in there. - Right away.

To Prefect Palmieri of Turin.

Gobetti is continuing to write sharp articles...

in La Rivoluzione Liberale. Period.

I ask you to make life hard... very hard...

for this stupid and presumptuous intellectual.

Period.

I await your prompt report on the measures taken.

Signed, Mussolini. Go, send it and bring me a copy.

- Excellency. - What is it?

- Hon. Carlo Delcroix. Do I let him in? - No!

Navarra.

Yes.

He should stay outside. He's lacked courage lately.

And now he's returning to the fold... the super-maimed of Italy.

Mr. Mittone, come here, I'm done.

- Please, don't make mistakes. - Yes, soon and well.

Sooner we print the newspaper out, the sooner the Prefect will seize it.

- And we'll print out another one. - It's useless.

They're raising their heads.

- How much paper do we have? - We still have a lot.

Someday the Fascists will come here and blow everything up.

It's useless. An useless job! It's too late.

"The seconds have the duty to..."

To?

"... to accurately verify

"the opponent's reputation".

This way you'd never have duels.

What is it? Are you talking to yourself?

You got a letter.

An important letter.

Why didn't you give it to me?

I hid it, because you didn't even say hello to me.

Are you fooling me?

Third guard, fourth guard... lunge!

You're mad! I've always said it.

I dare you to say that again.

Let's be serious.

- Did you read the papers this morning? - Yes, the hunt continues.

And more and more fierce.

They were looking for a pretext against me and they found it.

Delcroix, a man who uses his decorations and disabilities to make demagogy.

Should I've said something or not?

"Dear Gobetti...

"I categorically exclude that your words, moral abortion,

"were referring to Delcroix..."

"I exclude this abhorrent interpretation also because a few weeks ago,

"when we met in the Turin Library,

"you spoke to me about politics and the work of Delcroix,

"without saying any disrespectful word about our glorious mutilated".

Glorious? A bomb went off in his hand.

Shut up, woman! You haven't read Colonel Gelli's code of chivalry.

What do you know about glory and honor?

- You wealthy mammal! - Mammal for sure, but wealthy...

"Use this letter as you see fit. Sincerely yours, Benedetto Croce".

Illustrious Senator...

- I forgive your vote for Mussolini... - I don't.

... and I feel that the time of your anti-fascist redemption is approaching.

- Where are you going? - Back to the printing house.

Again? Have you received many of those cards?

You mean duels? A lot.

I'll make d'Artagnan die of envy.

What if you find someone really skilled...

- who makes a hole in your belly? - It can't be.

By now I handle the sword like the pen, even better.

Would you have expected it? Bye.

- But you just got home. - You're forgetting Croce's precious autograph.

I have time to insert it in the next edition of the newspaper.

Bye.

Are you Piero Gobetti?

Sure.

There's a friend of yours down here who has to ask you something.

A friend?

Are you sure?

Was it you who insulted the war invalid, Hon. Delcroix?

I just wrote an article to disprove his political...

Then you will no longer write these articles!

- Dirty swines! - Stay out of this!

5 September

- Comrade Gramsci? - Yes.

Come in or you'll get wet.

Nice to meet you, I'm Romolo.

- But the meeting is at home? - Yes.

We're in San Lorenzo. Even those who aren't with us don't snitch.

Don't worry.

Throw the pebble, come on.

Come on!

- Cheers to our party. - Cheers!

Cheers to Lenin, who's still alive for me.

Cheers to the new secretary of our party,

comrade Gramsci, here tonight.

And comrade Bordiga in Naples.

We made this proposal to the constitutional oppositions.

We must end the usual losing strategy of the Aventine...

with statements of principle... manifestos...

press campaigns and no concrete action...

but proclaim ourselves as anti-parliament.

I mean, a real working parliament...

and organized...

where operational decisions can be made.

At least, we could pass laws.

So the King will be at a crossroads.

Either he's with Fascism...

or with the real representatives of the Italian people.

This proposal was rejected by the other parties.

They reject everything that we Communists propose.

But tell me why...

we Communists have to go back in parliament with the Fascists.

I have a proposition.

Let's send them a deck of cards so they can play poker.

- Yes, good idea. - What do we care about the parliament?

I'd go to parliament if there was a government of workers and farmers.

- But not before. - Right.

Sorry, comrades, I'm on shift at the plant, I'll start shortly.

- Tell me everything tomorrow. Bye, Romolo. - Bye.

- Comrades! - Bye.

Rosa.

Your coat is all wet.

Take it off, comrade, so we'll dry it out.

Rosa, hang it up.

Let it dry and then come back here. Don't be afraid.

- Who, me?! - Just kidding. You're a good comrade.

What comrade? I'm your wife!

OK, we understood the reasons... maybe.

But tell us... who bothers to go back to parliament alone

to read our statement?

- Uh? - He will.

- I hope you trust Repossi. - Of course.

Do you think he'll go there to make a deal with Mussolini?

We must also discuss the problem of vigilance.

Sure, we must organize ourselves differently for a new political action.

We must opt for the underground struggle. There's nothing else to do.

But there's a danger that our party...

Hey, they're slow on the uptake but are good comrades.

Those who remain Communists these days are certainly good.

Tell me one thing... Repossi knows me, you can talk to me...

I even shot some Fascists on the day of the march on Rome...

- does our party thinks of guns? - Of course...

but the Fascists took them all.

We faced this problem too late, we must admit it.

And now the solution seems very difficult.

- Let's not forget that. - Bye.

- ... the only solution. - Bye.

Bye.

That little guy has a lot of guts.

He's so bold.

Count, are you still friends of Don Sturzo?

He's... retired... in Cassino.

He no longer has a say.

Alibert Lane...

at the Brothers of the Christian Schools.

That's where your Don Luigi is hiding.

What if some blackshirt finds him...

plotting here, a stone's throw from me?

Is it possible that that reckless man no longer has a friend...

who can make him see reason and advise him?

- Advise him to leave? - Sure, to escape.

He's a priest, a holy man.

- Would you force him to leave Rome? - Not Rome.

Italy.

He's the only obstacle between the Chair of St. Peter...

and the Italian State.

This a very serious request, Excellency...

but it's not for me to judge.

Count Santucci, I need to know if I have friends in the Vatican or not.

And I need to know right now! Not in a month or a year.

Think about yourself too.

This opportunity may not come again.

In a year, a month or even sooner...

you may find someone else in my place.

The usual Liberal and anti-clerical? Amendola? I don't know.

Maybe a Socialist like Turati, friend of Don Sturzo.

Or even a Communist, a Bolshevik. Is it convenient for you?

I'll inform those concerned, Excellency.

- Don Luigi, everything is ready. If you want... - OK.

- And your books? - I've already sent them in a while.

Donati, don't worry. There's nothing left.

After all, there were few things.

We've already said goodbye.

I'll meet the other friends in Turin and then...

Big things coming, Don Luigi. I have evidence against De Bono.

I'll publicly denounce him in our newspaper.

We must have him judged and condemned by the Senate.

Dog doesn't eat dog. A senator never condemns another one.

What should we do? The Aventine is awaiting a decision from the King.

You have to escape this way. Our Party is confused.

Can we trust the judiciary?

Matteotti's trial will never take place or will be a farce.

I want to denounce De Bono and ask for his indictment.

The Senate will have to decide and this will be a huge political fact.

Tell me something, Don Luigi.

Those who leave have no advice to give to those who stay.

May God protect you all.

25 October

Long live Mussolini!

Long live Dumini!

Down with the anti-national judges!

We want a judiciary that defends national interests!

I'm Judge Tancredi. I have to go up to Mauro Del Giudice.

- Who is it? - Tancredi.

Oh, it's you, sir. I'll open up.

- Good evening, sir. Come in. - Good evening.

You know the way, go on inside.

- May I? - Who is it?

Tancredi? Oh, my dear Tancredi.

Did those rowdy people bother you?

No. More importantly, how are you?

Well, a goddamn constipation. Bad luck.

Would you like a cup of coffee? Vincenza.

- Vincenza! - No, thanks.

It's the second night they come here to make a noise.

Seems a little longer tonight.

- But I'm happy to see you. - You shouldn't be.

As soon as I talk to you, you'll understand.

What happened?

I think...

we're done with the Matteotti case.

Tancredi...

explain to me.

Giuseppe Donati, Director of Il Popolo...

has filed a formal complaint against Sen. Emilio De Bono...

former Chief of Police

and former Commander of the Fascist Militia...

for aiding and abetting in a series of political crimes...

including the murder of Matteotti.

It'll be all over the papers in the morning.

So they'll take away every document of our investigation...

to pass them to the Senate.

Come in, Excellency.

Please, go ahead.

9 December

We were waiting for you, Mr. Del Giudice.

Sit down, please.

I assume you already know that last December 7th

the Senate was in session as High Court of Justice

to judge Sen. De Bono.

Have a seat, please.

The Senate examining Committee

has decided to listen to you first.

About what, Senator?

About your investigation into the Matteotti case, obviously.

I'm terribly sorry, Senator...

but I can't give you any information about this investigation.

The law forbids it.

But it's the President of the Senate examining Committee who's asking you.

Procedural laws do not provide for exceptions...

not even for the Prime Minister.

Sen. Persico, President of Court of Appeal in Rome...

Judge who has a higher ranking than mine...

con confirm that this is the law.

You could have asked him before you called me, Excellency.

If you'll excuse me...

Judge Mauro del Giudice...

I see that you care deeply for your investigation.

How long do you think you can still keep it with your tricks?

I'm just trying to do my duty...

until the last.

Matteotti crime: a State crime.

Cesare Rossi's memoir explicitly accuses the Prime Minister

The Fascist government must resign

How the system that led to the killing of Matteotti worked

The indictment of Cesare Rossi against Mussolini

Mussolini and the Cheka in Rossi's memoir

The text of Rossi's memoir

Mussolini, dark leader and inspirer of the gang at the government palace

The confessions of Cesare Rossi

The Duce, direct instigator of serious acts of violence

Rossi's memoir on the responsibilities of the State crimes

The serious revelations of the former Prime Minister's Spokesperson

Cesare Rossi's memoir.

Breaking news from Il Corriere della Sera.

Breaking news from Il Corriere della Sera.

Il Corriere calls for the resignation of Mussolini.

Read Il Corriere della Sera.

Long live Mussolini!

Let's burn the subversive newspapers!

Stop making compromises or we'll repudiate you!

Ask the prefect of Florence.

10,000 black shirts are occupying that city.

And this is just the beginning.

Then you too...

like Il Corriere della Sera, want my resignation.

We wanna get rid of subversives and anti-nationals of every political color!

We wanna make a clean sweep!

This means that if you don't free Dumini and the others, we will!

If you don't realize that first of all

you're the leader of the Fascist revolution and then the Prime Minister,

our Party will continue without you, but you won't, without our Party!

What are these, threats?

- They just seem confused ideas. - It's the will of the Fascist squads.

Men who have always risked and paid in person!

We've been the squads for 4 years!

And I'll tell you more...

they're all ready for the second march on Rome...

but for real, this time!

Tell me when you're done talking.

- Do you want to discuss with us or not? - Yes...

but between "camerati"...

and not between drunks!

In three days the situation will be clarified in every aspect.

I can't tell you more.

Rossi's memoir is a bomb. The government will blow up.

It really made a big impact.

Mussolini's responsibilities emerge clearly.

- Stop! - Look at this.

The last gasps of the beast.

That memoir was a bomb we should have dropped before.

See the reaction of those rogues?

Sometimes I think we may have been wrong not to mobilize the masses.

No, for heaven's sake, we did the right thing.

Crisis must be resolved within the constitutional sphere.

Now the danger is if someone commits provocative actions.

As those young men of "Italia Libera" might do in Florence...

or, even worse, the Communists.

The Monarchy can't stand them and you can see why.

They already talk about Constituent Assembly or Republic.

Is that your strategy now? The dissolution of parliament?

A blank decree, undated, but already signed by His Majesty.

It's enough for me to have it available. I might not even need it.

A similar decree has never been issued in our history.

Do you think the King is afraid of this?

Yes, because you're invading his powers.

This delegation is too broad.

Basically, you could dissolve the parliament whenever you want.

It's like the King signs you a blank check.

The Vatican, the industrialists, the landowners...

gave me their support.

"Mr. Savoy" must give me a definitive answer now.

The gentlemen of Il Corriere della Sera are shouting for my resignation,

but they don't have an army to give orders to.

Only the King can force me to resign!

But he didn't do it yesterday...

he won't do it today...

and not even tomorrow.

Then he must let me govern as I want!

Is that clear? Yes or no?

Hon. Suardo...

I'd like to know why he didn't tell me personally this morning...

I mean the Prime Minister.

Your Majesty, the situation is getting worse by the hour.

The opposition's behavior exceed all levels of tolerability.

And the Fascists are exasperated.

I'm well aware...

of the difficulties...

and dangers of this situation.

And also of the merits of those who do so much to keep it under control.

No one can say that I...

- didn't support these efforts. - Your Majesty...

blood will flow in the Chamber of Deputies

if a choice is not made between defeatists and patriots...

between Fascists and anti-fascists...

between Italians and traitors.

Tell the Prime Minster that I'll sign that decree.

But I want to give it to him personally...

so I expect him to come here right away...

to decide how to inform the Italian people of this unprecedented act.

January 2, 1925

January 3

Article 47 of the Statute says...

"The Chamber of the Deputies has the right

"to accuse the Ministers of the King

"and to bring them to face the High Court of Justice".

I formally ask...

if in this Chamber, or outside it,

there's someone who wants to make use of Article 47.

My speech will then be very clear.

Gentlemen, I'm the one...

who is raising in this hall the accusation against me.

It has been alleged...

that I have founded a "Cheka". Where? When? In what way?

Nobody could answer.

They say that Fascism...

is a horde of barbarians camped in our Nation,

a movement of bandits and marauders.

Someone brings up the moral question.

But we know the sad history of moral questions in Italy.

But after all, gentlemen...

"who would search for butterflies under the Arch of Titus"?

Well, I declare here...

before this assembly...

and before all the Italian people...

that I take, I alone...

the political, moral, historical responsibility...

for everything that has happened.

If misquoted sentences are enough to hang a man...

bring a pole and a rope!

If Fascism has only been castor oil and truncheon...

and not a proud passion...

of the best Italian youth...

the blame is on me.

If Fascism has been a criminal association...

I'm the leader of it.

Dear Anna...

the last cards of a terrible game are being played.

Mussolini denies the existence of a secret state police

and, at the same time, he takes the historical, political, moral...

but not penal responsibility.

The rhetoric of the "proud passion"

is used to deceive the good people,

to reassure the killers and to intimidate the judges.

After all the other violence,

the announced suppression of the free press will complete this coup d'etat.

There's also talk of the arrest of all those of the Aventine secession.

How long will last this scandalous ignominy

that puts us below any civilized nation?

If we live long enough to see a new era,

perhaps we'll be proud of ourselves for a battle

fought only by standing up in the midst of a general surrender.

Turati, when he wasn't in Milan,

used to write every day to his beloved Anna Kuliscioff.

"The grand old man", in December 1926,

with the help of Carlo Rosselli, Ferruccio Parri,

Sandro Pertini and others,

secretly left Italy in an adventurous escape.

He died in Paris on March 29, 1932.

Piero Gobetti...

brilliant heir to the Italian Liberal tradition...

died on February 15, 1926, in exile in Paris.

The sudden illness that killed him at the age of 25,

was the direct consequence of those beatings

that worsened the condition of his heart,

already tired by a nerve-wracking political and cultural struggle

that he began 8 years earlier, at the age of 17.

On 8 November 1926,

Parliamentarian Antonio Gramsci was arrested and sentenced to 20 years

by the Special Tribunal.

7 years of Fascist prison destroyed him.

He died in Rome, in April 1937, at the age of 46.

Asked to leave Italy by a high Vatican personality,

who provided him with a passport and an amount of money,

Don Luigi Sturzo left for London on 25 October 1924.

He returned to Italy in 1946,

after 22 years of exile.

Giovanni Amendola...

already attacked in Rome before the killing of Matteotti,

in July 1926, near Montecatini,

was lured into an ambush and severely beaten by the Fascists.

The consequence of this second attack was his death,

occurred the following year in France,

where he was hiding, exiled and disappointed.

A mock trial was organized in Chieti in 1926 for the killers.

The Matteotti investigation was taken from Del Giudice and Tancredi

and given to more compliant judges.

Defended by Farinacci,

Dumini and the others were released less than two years after the murder.

You want to make us regress, said Matteotti.

And Italy regressed.

The Fascist era, which lasted 20 years, brought the nation to ruin.