Robbing Mussolini

There's nothing so wrong with this movie that it ever becomes unwatchable, but there isn't really a good reason to watch it, either. It starts off fine, but as it went on, I became increasingly restless. The number of derivative and predictable plot elements really started to pile up, and the pacing felt off.

The worst part, I thought, was that they didn't really do much with the premise. This is an Italian movie set during the end of World War II, and they barely even used that setup. It could have been set in the United States during the Civil War or Prohibition, and there probably wouldn't need to be many changes.

The characters were likeable, though, and it hits all the notes that you expect a heist comedy to hit.

Stealing from Il Duce at the end of the Second World War is an interesting premise. In this film set in Milan in 1945, a gang of Italians who hate the fascist regime plan to take back (or steal if you wish) the loot that Mussolini has stolen from Italians. How do they get it, they need a plan to get into the warehouse that hides the treasure. So starts a lot of double dealings and treachery.

A decent cast helps in this implausible story and it's also filmed very well, with a great Italian soundtrack too. Although set at a serious time in modern history this film doesn't take itself too seriously and has it's comedic moments. Though not perfect it has a lot going for it, worth a watch if you love Italy.

This is, in many ways, Renato De Maria's Italian version of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. It is a historically based piece of film fiction where the premise involves the use of Mussolini and the Italian Fascists as the basis for the story. A group of men discover a plan by Mussolini to flee Italy with his his country's riches as the war is coming to a close. The plot is to steal the gold and escape pic h and free men. The movie is well scripted, shot, and directed. The cinematography and costumes are very good. The acting is good. Matilda de Angelis, the star of HBO's The Undoing, is very good in this. The film is good and I love that so many war films focus on Germany and Hitler, but this one uses Mussolini and the Italians as a focal point. While it is good, it is not as compelling, well filmed, or well scripted as a Tarantino film. That is okay. Many films do not.

The main issue of this movie is that it tries way too hard to be cool, and never feels spontaneous.

I mean, what's the point of the female lead singing covers of songs released decades after the events in the movie? Super distracting and doesn't fit at all. Cringe all over.

General lack of self awareness plagues the whole film, and in its search for coolness often takes itself too seriously.

I struggle at figuring out who the intended audience was. Older generations would find it too "modern", the younger ones would only be reminiscing the movies which clearly inspired this one, doing similar things but better. I can only recommend it if you are die hard fans of the genre.

This is a fun movie if you don't take it too seriously. Without question, it borrows from all kinds of other movies. The characters are more like caricatures than rounded characters. The main plot involves a heist of gold and other treasures hoarded by the Mussolini regime to fund his war campaign when they were still allies of the German Nazis. The story takes place during the last days of the Second World War, just prior to Mussolini's dethronement.

The movie features elements you may recognize: Among the good guys: the heist organizer, the sharp-shooter, the alluring young lady, the acrobat, the code-breaker, the race-car driver, and the anarchist.

Among the baddies: the sadistic fascist officer, his wife, a washed-up Hollywood-type actress, and his henchman.

The settings: an officer's palace, a hideout, a militaristic compound with its prisoners and hoard of treasure.

Pietro Lamberti is the amoral entrepreneur who has been trying to sell arms to different militaristic factions with albeit mixed results. His code breaker, Amedeo, intercepts a transmission that Mussolini's hidden treasure might be lifted and taken to Switzerland by one of his high-ranking officers. They know they're going to lose the war, so why not take the money and run? Pietro decides, instead of trading in arms, maybe they can steal the gold.

In true Ocean's 11 style, we hear Pietro's voice-over as he describes the different people he wants to recruit for the heist. Each has a brief scene which tells us who they are, more or less. Sound familiar? There's even a scene which is a throw-back to Sergio Leone's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly".

True to these kinds of movies, Federal Secretary Borsalino, a sadistic high-ranking officer in Mussolini's regime, runs the Dead Zone. The Dead Zone is a military complex where not only the gold is stashed but where prisoners, both political and military, are incarcerated, some awaiting execution. Borsalino is having an extra-marital affair with a young singer, who also happens to be the lover of Pietro! He is planning to take the gold and the girl no less for himself.

His estranged wife, Nora Cavalieri, is a throw-back to Old Hollywood, but now her career is on the skids because she's older and can no longer play young female characters. She also knows about the gold and the younger woman.

The result is an entertaining and enjoyable fantasy flick where all the different nutty characters interplay. A few twists and turns make the story a bit unpredictable. And as I said at the beginning, if audiences don't take it too seriously, it's 90 minutes of entertaining cinema. Is it based on a true story, as implied? Probably not.