Following the end of World War I, the Allied forces (Italians, French, Americans, British...) enter the city of Rijeka (Italian: Fiume). Austria-Hungary dissolves, Italy gains Istria, but the status of Rijeka on the border remains uncertain. On 12 September 1 9 1 9, Italian poet and ultra-nationalist Gabriele D'Annunzio unilaterally gathers hundreds of volunteers and crosses with 26 trucks into Rijeka, claiming it for Italy. However, since the left-wing government of Italy at that time refuses to annex Rijeka, fearing a clash with Yugoslavia, D'Annunzio declares himself as the governor of Rijeka, enjoying in parties and cocaine. Thousands of Italian volunteers flock to Rijeka to form his private army. Following the Treaty of Rapallo, Rijeka is supposed to become the Free State of Fiume. Since D'Annunzio refuses to accept the treaty, on 24 December 1 9 2 0 Italian soldiers invade Rijeka, defeat the local army and chase away D'Annunzio. In 1 9 2 2, Benito Mussolini becomes the dictator of Italy. Two years later, he annexes the Free State of Fiume.
Documentary-docudrama "Fiume o morte!" is a chronicle of one of the most bizarre and surreal episodes from not only the Croatian, Italian, but also European history: the case of Italian ultra-nationalist Gabriele D'Annunzio who, on a whim, spontaneously invaded Rijeka after World War I with his volunteers, claiming it for Italy—but Italy refused to annex it, which led to an almost 1.5 year long standoff, where D'Annunzio led the city as a private property. The director Igor Bezinovic films on real locations, elegantly blending in staged scenes and archive footage: in one of the most genius moments, the scene of actors playing D'Annunzio and his followers holding a speech on a balcony of a building, the camera zooms out into a wide shot, revealing an empty location, but then cuts to the black-and-white photo of that identical place from 1 9 1 9, with hundreds of people in the crowd cheering at D'Annunzio. The opening scenes show a hand holding a photo of old bridges of Rijeka from a hundred years ago, and then lowering said photos to reveal real life locations today.
Bezinovic also mixes delightfully quirky humor and metafilm touches: D'Annunzio is played by six actors (!), each at one point of the film, whereas even bloopers are allowed (an old woman pats and comforts the fever-struck D'Annunzio lying in bed, but then both actors randomly burst into laughter at speaking out these absurd theatrical lines; an extra playing D'Annunzio's soldier at Korzo is addressed by a random grandma, who tells him the soldier outfit "doesn't suit him" and that he should "dance with a girl in a disco" instead). The first half is very amusing and educational, showing D'Annunzio as a sort of proto-fascist (in one archive footage, he is even seen giving a Roman salute; Benito Mussolini visited him for one day in Rijeka), but, unfortunately, the movie runs out of steam and becomes dull after a while, and is definitely overlong with its running time of 113 minutes. "Fiume o morte!" certainly needed a better editor, since several scenes are superfluous and could have been cut (interviewing actors reading out for the audition; soldiers singing; guys playing on the beach...). Despite its overstretched tone and some questionable idiosyncrasies (why does the narration suddenly switch from Croatian to Fiuman Italian?), "Fiume o morte!" is still a valuable film spotlighting one of the most ironic historical lessons, since D'Annunzio is a symbolic forerunner to the failure of fascism in itself.
Grade:+++
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