DIFFICULT YEARS

by Luigi Zampa (Anni difficili, Italie, 1948, 1h53, vostf)

starring Umberto Spadaro, Massimo Girotti, Ave Ninchi, Delia Scala, Milly Vitale

In 1930s Sicily Aldo Piscitello, a lowly municipal clerk, is ordered by the mayor to join the Fascist Party, on pain of losing his job. Undecided, he is encouraged to comply by his wife and daughter who support Mussolini. So he joins up and dons the black shirt, while events gather pace leading little by little to the fall of the regime.