The Croatian filmmaker Igor Bezinović’s quirky documentary "Fiume o Morto!" spotlights the fleeting legacies that dictators leave behind, using the case of Italian poet and army officer Gabriele D’Annunzio. In 1919, D’Annunzio audaciously claimed the politically contested city of Fiume, nowadays Rijeka, transforming it briefly into an independent Italian city-state called the Italian Regency of Carnaro, with himself as the ruler. The documentary deploys more than 300 current Rijeka residents to dramatize D’Annunzio's short-lived rule, treating it with humor and irreverence.
The film is a blend of historical farce and serious insights about the long-term societal repercussions of failed dictatorships and how they can end up either romanticized or completely forgotten. The movie also highlights the cultural patchwork identity of Rijeka, an area that has been claimed by different countries over time, culminating in a diverse linguistic and demographic landscape.
The documentary also explores how the past is reinterpreted by successive generations and reveals variations in how D’Annunzio is remembered. While some view him as just a "fascist," others remember him as "a great poet and lover.” The movie involves these interviewees in reenactments of his takeover and subsequent fall from power, making use of local landmarks and a trove of 10,000 pictures taken by D’Annunzio himself.
The disparity between then and now is sharply emphasized by the limitations of the budget and the anachronistic urban setting. Nonetheless, this peculiar reenactment of history proves immersive and poignant, especially during a recreation of the five-day long "Bloody Christmas" battle that ended with D’Annunzio's defeat.
The film ends back in present-day Rijeka, where few architectural remnants of D’Annunzio's rule remain, highlighting the transient and superficial impact of dictators. However, a recently erected statue in a nearby city, Trieste, marking the centenary of D’Annunzio's rule serves as a stark reminder that the past, and how it is remembered, is complex- even in this light-hearted documentary.
