The vainglory of peacocking despots is captured with sardonic wit and homespun creativity in this clever re-staging of a crackpot coup attempted by the Italian poet, aviator and fascism early-adopter, Gabriele d’Annunzio. Croatian filmmaker Igor Bezinović establishes early on that this is a pocket of military history that not many people know of, including the residents of Rijeka (née Fiume), a dinky port city that became a disputed territory in the post-World War One carve-up of Europe. He wanders around with his microphone asking locals and tourists if they know who d’Annunzio was, and it takes a fair few blank-faced “guhs?” before he finally receives some vague acknowledgement of his controversial subject.
Stories about far-right takeovers seem like they would be especially pertinent in today’s climate as one of the world’s superpowers is having its having its democratic roots tested to the extreme, yet it proves that this type of aggressive political opportunism, mounted by entitled men who just happen to look like freaks, is common to say the least. All of which is to say, these stories are always relevant, sadly.
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What’s interesting in this specific case is we discover that d’Annunzio did not have the support of the Italian government in his endeavours, so this was essentially a solo mission aided by a rag-tag gathering of “legionnaires” picked up on the way. Fiume o morte! explores the dangerous, empowering nature of fascism, and how certain forms of aggression would seem fair game under a régime that rules by such inhumane edict.
Bezinović’s plan for this film is to bring the complex machinations of the coup and its immediate fall-out to life, with members of the local community mucking in and playing all the key roles. Aside from it feeling like a worthwhile community project which allows residents to reconnect with the roots of their landscape, the film also operates as an allegory for the creation of collective art and how we must turn the perceived flaws of our collaborators into advantages.
Part of the fun of Fiume o morte! is watching how the locals slink into their roles and gain confidence as things move forward – some eventually going all-out to achieve dramatic authenticity. This connects to the fact that Fiume itself, under d’Annunzio, had become a haven for artists and radicals to hone their craft, and the film gains a radical edge in the fact that Bezinović accepts the leaders invite, but with view to criticising rather than celebrating his actions.
