A new eight-part series by MUBI chronicles the ferocious rise of the Italian dictator. While the show is a bit too eager to make Mussolini entertaining, the story it tells couldn't be any more timely.

In 1937, when Benito Mussolini, then Italy’s fascist leader, opened Cinecittà, a sprawling film complex in Rome, his government adopted a variant of a slogan first ascribed to Lenin: “Cinematography ...

The director jams as many moving parts, camera tricks, and maximalist flourishes he can fit into his portrait of Italy’s descent into fascism. It’s appropriately mesmerizing. Photo: MUBI Spoilers ...