Gli anni ruggenti

The satire of Fascism that this movie offers isn't probably the

most corrumpsive, while it shows a bunch of greedy little people. Anyway, the story chooses to look at the ridiculous side of the dictatorship. The town authorities are depicted as small, foolish corrupted dabblers. They quickly flatter the anonymous broker, then they quickly turn him out of town when they discover his identity. The idea of the plot is that Fascism and all the fascist boasts are only (tragic) rethoric: the poor people remain poor, problems are farther than ever from solution, the local influent men are the same as before Mussolini's takeover. In a word: nothing ever changes, if not to worse. The key-scene is the arrival of the real inspector. He drops his incognito down immediately, because "incognito would be an insult to the brave comrades of the province", of course he's willing to use his influence to take part in the local corruption. A special mention for Salvo Randone, one of the best Italian theatre actors, who plays the role of the anti-fascist former director of the local hospital.