Director Joe Wright met producer Lorenzo Mieli while doing press for Cyrano in 2021. Mieli asked Wright if he wanted to direct a series about Mussolini and Wright "immediately said yes".[1] Mieli stated that Wright was chosen because he could bring an outsider's perspective to the story of Mussolini.[2] Speaking about the series, Wright stated:
I was very careful to tell the truth without being didactic, I tried to understand without sympathizing, maintaining a critical distance... Mussolini was fascinating, he seduced a nation and many others. If I hadn't shown that charm then people might have thought that all Italians were idiots. That balance was my main concern... On a more personal level it's a series about toxic masculinity, which is not something other than us, we have it within us.[3]
Sky Studios ordered the series in April 2022.[4][5][6] At the Rome Film Festival in October 2022, it was announced that Wright would direct the series with Luca Marinelli playing Benito Mussolini.[7][8][9] Marinelli was Mieli's first choice for the role of Mussolini.[10] Marinelli shaved his head and gained 20 kilograms (44 lb) for the role.[11] He also had to spend two hours in hair and makeup daily during filming.[3] Wright called Marinelli the "most naturally gifted actor I've ever met" along with Gary Oldman, who starred in Wright's 2017 biopic, Darkest Hour.[2]
Stephanie Bunbury of Deadline wrote that the series "brilliantly depicts how banal evil gets its way". She further wrote, M. Son of the Century sticks to the facts of the great dictator's life, which are extraordinary enough, but stretches those facts into surreal shapes until we feel we're in some parallel historical universe. Wright's brassy style — unlike anything he has done before — owes something to [Federico] Fellini, but a whole lot more to its subject. Because Benito Mussolini, apart from anything else, definitely knew how to put on a show."[29]
Valerio Sammarco of Cinematografo.it gave the series five out of five stars and wrote, "Whirling and pyrotechnic, Joe Wright's Sky series arrives Out of Competition at Venice81: a monstrous performance by Luca Marinelli, who breaks the fourth wall to tell us about the rise of the Duce."[30] Mauro Donzelli of Comingsoon.it also gave the series five out of five stars, calling it "a marvel" and "an extraordinary parable between the intoxication of violence and the ghosts of power".[31]
Paola Casella of Mymovies.it gave the series four out of five stars and called it "an intelligent series with a fearless script and an inspired cast" and "a work that takes the bull by the horns, tackling a slice of Italian history with great narrative breadth and immense production effort".[32]
Antonio Cuomo of Movieplayer.it gave the series four out of five stars and wrote, "M. Son of the Century is an impressive and important work, for the production values it uses and for the narrative and visual construction by Joe Wright to do justice on screen to the novel by Antonio Scurati, from which it takes inspiration. Luca Marinelli's work on the character is good, at the center of a cast that manages to offer a complete and multifaceted cross-section of the moment and the figures that brought it to life. A series that evolves in its eight episodes to leave us with important food for thought and a subtle sense of uneasiness that we struggle to shake off. As great stories can do."[33]
Chiara Guida of Cinefilos.it gave the series three-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote, "M. Son of the Century is a candidate to be the most important Italian television event of this season and perhaps also for the seasons to come, a product that unfortunately also speaks of contemporaneity and that could be welcomed even outside national borders."[34]
Marianna Ciarlante of Today rated the series 8.8 out of 10 and wrote, "Every aspect of this series is a winner, from the direction to the screenplay, from the cast to the lighting, right down to the perfect soundtrack by The Chemical Brothers. Futuristic, original, provocative and provocative, M. Son of the Century is a series not to be missed."[35]
Elisa Giudici of Gamesurf rated the series 8.5 out of 10 and wrote, "M. Son of the Century is a great serial adaptation that immediately understands that the only way to do justice to its literary source and to history is to betray it from the beginning, conversing with the current audience, making contemporary anxieties resonate in its narration, creating a charismatic, sometimes overbearing identity. It will be one of the cult series of 2025."[36]
Claudia Catalli of Wired Italia called the series "great, great cinema." She further wrote, "Starting with Wright's direction, free, impeccable and obsessively attentive to details as to convey the atmosphere, masterfully alternating fiction with repertoire, behind a meticulous work [that is] both historical and visionary. The pace is incandescent, and the notable writing work, starting from the significant Strega Prize-winning novel by Antonio Scurati and arriving at the excellent screenplay by Stefano Bises and Davide Serino, offers memorable passages, without ever falling into rhetoric and without forgetting irony (fundamental, in a story already historically tragic, dark and violent in itself)."[37]
Paolo Nizza of Sky TG24 called the series "a very powerful fiction that with an imaginative and cinematic style". He also commended the cast's performances, stating that "Luca Marinelli should be given every award available on the globe" and that "the entire cast seems inclined to excellence".[38] Antonella Catena of Style Magazine called the series "pure cinema"[39] and Gabriele Lingiardi of Badtaste called the series a "majestic work of production".[40]
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