In crafting “M. Son of the Century,” a restricted sequence about the rise of fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, “Atonement” and “Cyrano” director Joe Wright was trying to make an announcement. This was a more durable proposition than some might imagine, as making an attempt to wade into political discussions in movie and tv has broadly turn out to be passé in the age of Trump and different far-right leaders taking rise all through the world. Relatively than be dissuaded, nevertheless, Wright felt this was the good motive to discover a time in historical past when massive swathes of humanity turned enraptured in merciless ideology espoused by charismatic however deeply flawed males. Discussing this upcoming Sky Atlantic sequence in a current interview with Vulture, the British filmmaker defined why he felt known as to look at this era and the way he hopes to buck Hollywood’s concern of taking a stance.
“I do think Hollywood has become incredibly apolitical,” Wright stated. “I think it’s important to take control of the narrative, and we as storytellers have a responsibility to do that. I’m by no means suggesting that a piece of television can change the world, necessarily, but we can do our bit. Because in Italy and the world, there has been a false narrative spread for 75 years.”
Addressing this narrative, Wright added, “You meet people on the street in Italy, or cab drivers or whoever, and they’ll say, ‘Well, Mussolini was okay. Mussolini did a lot of good for the country, but then he fell in with this rotten apple Hitler, and that was a big shame. But until then, he was great.’ It’s a false narrative! It’s not true, and we need to counter those false narratives.”
A giant half of what makes “M. Son of the Century” totally different from the extra tepid political narratives Hollywood often places out, Wright shared, is that he was keen to discover Mussolini’s appeal and body him in such a method as to make him come off as a rock star.
“We need nuance, and nuance is something that has been lost, I think, from a lot of discourse,” stated Wright to Vulture. “Either it’s good or bad, evil or good, right or wrong. I think that’s unhelpful. Also, I think it’s underestimating an audience’s intelligence. Because people get it. People aren’t stupid. Okay, maybe a tiny fraction of people are stupid — but generally, they get it.”
Wright went on to confess how his personal curiosity in the undertaking largely got here from a spot of concern for what he noticed taking place all through society, in addition to his personal ignorance round the idea of fascism.
“I’ve been watching the rise of the far right across the world and have been very, very concerned. I remember when I was growing up, when I was a teenager in the ’80s, using this word ‘fascist’ against the police or Margaret Thatcher or my schoolteachers without really understanding its meaning or its root,” Wright stated. “When producer Lorenzo Mieli asked if I’d be interested in working with him on this, I jumped at it as an opportunity to educate myself really on the foundations of what I saw happening, what we see happening around the world now.”
“M. Son of the Century” lately premiered at the Venice Movie Competition and can air on Sky Atlantic in 2025.
