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In the Name of the Duce
This 1993 video by Amos Gitai documents a mayoral election in Naples in which a leftist candidate is opposed by Alessandra Mussolini, a descendant of the notorious Duce. Gitai uses formal devices to argue against fascism's rebirth, as when a shot of smiling boys mouthing "Mussolini" yields to footage of a crowd whose chants of "Italy" recall fascist rallies of old; when Gitai continues the chants over shots of empty streets, he suggests the infectiousness of evil. He also juxtaposes interviews in which the rightists try to sound respectable with Jews remembering their persecutions under the Duce (one screams at night in fear a half century later), raising questions about how benign the current Mussolini really is; repeated shots in which party members block out the lens with their hands provide a metaphoric answer, suggesting the multiple obliterations perpetrated in fascism's name. 52 min. |
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