The Bad Poet | |
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Italian | Il cattivo poeta |
Directed by | Gianluca Jodice |
Written by | Gianluca Jodice |
Produced by |
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Starring | Sergio Castellitto |
Cinematography | Daniele Ciprì |
Edited by | Simona Paggi |
Music by | Michele Braga |
Release dates |
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Running time | 106 minutes |
Country | Italy |
Language | Italian |
The Bad Poet (Italian : Il cattivo poeta) is a 2020 Italian biographical-drama film directed by Gianluca Jodice. [1] The film is inspired by the book by the Italian journalist and writer Roberto Festorazzi, D'Annunzio e la piovra fascista, first published by Minotauro in 2005 and republished by Silicio-Editoriale Lombarda in 2020. The film focuses on the last years of the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, played by Sergio Castellitto, and on his ambiguous relationship with fascism. [2]
1936. The young Giovanni Comini, a convinced supporter of the Fascist Party, was promoted to federal governor of Brescia. Shortly after his appointment, Achille Starace entrusted him with a crucial mission because of his flair for poetry: he was to get into the good graces of the great poet Gabriele D'Annunzio and spy on him for the regime. The poet had long been intolerant of Fascism, and since a new war was considered to be just around the corner, Starace feared that if a person of such popularity spoke out against the alliance between Mussolini and Hitler, popular trust would be undermined.
Comini became a regular visitor to the Vittoriale, where D'Annunzio had long since retired into exile, assisted by his faithful Luisa and Amèlie. The Vate, now old, lives in complete seclusion; lost in the memory of his past glories, he limits his public outings to a minimum and is addicted to cocaine. However, he became very fond of Comini, even though he was aware of his mission from the start; the young federal also gradually began to be fascinated by the poet.
When he learns that Mussolini is about to travel to Germany to be received by Hitler, D'Annunzio asks Comini to arrange a meeting with the Duce, so that he can try to dissuade him from his intentions. The young man tries in vain. In the meantime, Comini is having a love affair with a woman, Lina, who will kill herself following the arrest of her anti-fascist half-brother. The young federal starts to doubt fascism.
In 1937, on the death of Guglielmo Marconi, D'Annunzio was appointed ex officio president of the Accademia d'Italia; the Vate, meanwhile, began to show signs of imbalance and impatience. The poet manages to meet the Duce at Verona Porta Nuova Station, on his return from his trip to Germany. Here, D'Annunzio tried to warn the Duce of the dangers of an alliance with Hitler, but the latter ignored him and treated him with extreme condescension. D'Annunzio, distraught, ends up having a mental and physical breakdown, after which he says goodbye to his friend Comini forever, revealing that opposing the war is his duty and that he will try again when he goes to Rome to accept the post of President of the Academy. On his return, however, Comini was severely reprimanded by Starace for highlighting in his dossiers the popular impatience with the alliance between Hitler and Mussolini.
A year later Gabriele D'Annunzio died in unclear circumstances. During his funeral, attended by the Duce himself, Luisa gave Comini a peacock feather that had belonged to the Vate, as a symbol of their friendship. Comini is later demoted because of his opposition to the alliance between Hitler and Mussolini, and Luisa and Amèlie have to leave the Vittoriale forever.
The film premiered at the Aurum Museum in Pescara, on 8 September 2020. [3] It was expected to be theatrically released on 12 November 2020, but it was delayed to 20 May 2021 due to the second outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. [4] [5]
General Gabriele D'Annunzio, Prince of Montenevoso, sometimes written d'Annunzio as he used to sign himself, was an Italian poet, playwright, orator, journalist, aristocrat, and Royal Italian Army officer during World War I. He occupied a prominent place in Italian literature from 1889 to 1910 and in its political life from 1914 to 1924. He was often referred to by the epithets il Vate and il Profeta.
Duce is an Italian title, derived from the Latin word dux, 'leader', and a cognate of duke. National Fascist Party leader Benito Mussolini was identified by Fascists as Il Duce of the movement since the birth of the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento in 1919. In 1925 it became a reference to the dictatorial position of Sua Eccellenza Benito Mussolini, Capo del Governo, Duce del Fascismo e Fondatore dell'Impero. Mussolini held this title together with that of President of the Council of Ministers: this was the constitutional position which entitled him to rule Italy on behalf of the King of Italy. Founder of the Empire was added for the exclusive use by Mussolini in recognition of his founding of an official legal entity of the Italian Empire on behalf of the King in 1936 following Italy's victory in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. The position was held by Mussolini until 1943, when he was removed from office by the King and the position of Duce was discontinued, while Marshal The 1st Duke of Addis Abeba was appointed Presidente del Consiglio.
Gardone Riviera is a town and comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It is situated on the western shore of Lake Garda. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia.
Achille Starace was a prominent leader of Fascist Italy before and during World War II.
The Italian Regency of Carnaro was a self-proclaimed state in the city of Fiume led by Gabriele d'Annunzio between 1919 and 1920.
D'Annunzio University is a public research university located in Chieti and Pescara, neighbouring cities in the region of Abruzzo, Italy. Established in 1960 as a higher education institute and named after writer and poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, it was officially recognised as an independent university in 1965 by Minister Luigi Gui.
Squadrismo was the movement of squadre d'azione, the fascist militias that were organised outside the authority of the Italian state and led by local leaders called ras. The militia originally consisted of farmers and middle-class people, who created their own defence from revolutionary socialists. Squadrismo became an important asset for the rise of the National Fascist Party, led by Benito Mussolini, and systematically used violence to eliminate any political parties that were opposed to Italian Fascism.
The National Fascist Party was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian fascism and as a reorganisation of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The party ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 when Fascists took power with the March on Rome until the fall of the Fascist regime in 1943, when Mussolini was deposed by the Grand Council of Fascism. The National Fascist Party was succeeded by the Republican Fascist Party in the territories under the control of the Italian Social Republic, and it was ultimately dissolved at the end of World War II.
The Vittoriale degli italiani is a hillside estate in the town of Gardone Riviera overlooking Lake Garda in province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It is where the Italian poet and novelist Gabriele D'Annunzio lived from 1922 until his death in 1938. The estate consists of the residence of D'Annunzio called the Prioria (priory), an amphitheatre, the protected cruiser Puglia set into a hillside, a boathouse containing the MAS vessel used by D'Annunzio in 1918 and a circular mausoleum. Its grounds are now part of the Grandi Giardini Italiani.
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who was the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922, until his overthrow in 1943. He was also Duce of Italian fascism from the establishment of the Italian Fasces of Combat in 1919, until his summary execution in 1945. He founded and led the National Fascist Party (PNF). As a dictator and founder of fascism, Mussolini inspired the international spread of fascist movements during the interwar period.
Arrigo Minerbi was an Italian sculptor.
Renato Ricci was an Italian fascist politician active during the Mussolini government.
Quando c'era lui... caro lei! is a 1978 Italian comedy film written and directed by Giancarlo Santi. It is a satirical recount of the Italian fascist era.
Harukichi Shimoi was a Japanese poet, translator and writer. Shimoi lived in Italy for many years and was an important promoter of cultural exchange between Japan and Italy.
Giordano Bruno Guerri is an Italian historian, writer, and journalist. He is an important scholar of twentieth-century Italy, in particular of the Fascist period and the relationship between Italians and the Catholic Church.
The Gabriele d'Annunzio Birthplace Museum is located at 116 Corso Manthoné in Pescara and was declared a national monument in 1927. Since December 2014, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities has managed it through the Polo Museale dell'Abruzzo, which became the Regional Directorate of Museums in December 2019.
The Pact of Pacification or Pacification Pact was a peace agreement officially signed by Benito Mussolini, who would later become dictator of Italy, and other leaders of the Fasci with the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and the General Confederation of Labor (CGL) in Rome on August 2 or 3, 1921. The Pact called for “immediate action to put an end to the threats, assaults, reprisals, acts of vengeance, and personal violence of any description,” by either side for the “mutual respect” of “all economic organizations.” The Italian Futurists, Syndicalists and others favored Mussolini’s peace pact as an attempt at “reconciliation with the Socialists.” Others saw it as a means to form a "grand coalition of new mass parties" to "overthrow the liberal systems" via Parliament or civil society.
Riccardo Gigante was an Italian irredentist and Fascist politician, who played an important role in the history of Fiume during the interwar period and the Fascist era.
Maria Hardouin of the Dukes of Gallese D'Annunzio, princess consort of Montenevoso was an Italian noblewoman, wife of Gabriele D'Annunzio.
Giovanni Comini was an Italian politician, who served as member of the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations, and federal secretary of Brescia for the National Fascist Party.