The television series «M. The son of the century “, taken from Antonio Scurati’s bestseller novel, has received great attention to his bold and detailed portrait of Benito Mussolini and the rise of fascism in Italy. However, despite the enthusiastic reviews and the applause of critics, the series has not yet found a distributor in the United States. According to director Joe Wright, this difficulty is indicative of an American film industry which, although politically committed to an individual level, tends to avoid content considered too controversial.
A portrait of Mussolini and its disturbing parallels with this
The series, played by Luca Marinelli in the role of Mussolini, highlights how the taking of the dictator’s power was not inevitable, but the result of a series of choices and compromised by several political actors. Wright stresses that one of the objectives of the series is precisely to warn against the repetition of such dynamics in contemporary politics.
The director said he wanted to accentuate the current relevance of history, and some elements of the show explicitly recall today’s political landscape. For example, Mussolini, in a moment of the series, pronounces the phrase “Make Italy Great Again”, an evident reference to the famous slogan of Donald Trump. According to Wright, the similarities between Mussolini and Trump are manifold, in particular the use of populist rhetoric, the contempt for democratic institutions and the ability to manipulate popular consensus.
Today’s Hollywood and the fear of political debate
Despite the strong potential of «M. The son of the century “, no American network or streaming platform has decided to buy their distribution rights. Wright revealed that a large streaming company, while appreciating the product, considered the content “too controversial”. This raises a worrying question: when has anti -fascism become an uncomfortable topic for the American market?
The US cinematographic industry, despite having very politically busy personalities, prefers to avoid projects that could generate controversy. The fear of alienating a part of the public, in particular the one close to the positions of the former Trump president, seems to have played a decisive role in the failure to acquire the series.
In this regard, Wright told the Financial Times: “There was a streamer he said: ‘We love the show … however, it’s a little too controversial for us’. Wait for a moment, When did anti -fascism become controversial? This really shocked me, because our grandparents and great -grandparents fought to defend us from fascism. Has their sacrifice also become controversial »?
A series of strong visual and narrative impact
From a stylistic point of view, «M. The son of the century »stands out for An innovative and experimental aesthetic, with registral choices that break the patterns of traditional historical narrative. Wright introduced modern elements, such as a techno soundtrack and English -language inserts, just to make the story more accessible to an international audience. However, with the election of Giorgia Meloni to the Prime Minister Italian, the director has decided to keep the dialogues of the series entirely in Italian, to guarantee greater understanding by the Italian public. “The morning after his election, I entered the studio and I said: I want every single Italian to understand every single word,” Wright told FT.
The danger of historical removal
The difficulty in finding an American distribution is not only a commercial problem, but also cultural. Wright fears that, avoiding to face the past, you end up ignoring the lessons it can offer. Mussolini, says the director, was able to seduce not only Italy, but also the rest of the world. In the same way, fascism has never defined itself clearly, remaining a fluid concept that changes according to political circumstances.
In an era in which democracies are under pressure and authoritarian tendencies re -emerge in different parts of the world, “M. The son of the century »offers a precious look at how regimes can take hold. Failure to distribute in the United States raises important questions about how much the entertainment industry is willing to address these issuesand how much the public is ready to confront history to prevent it from repeating.
