Overview

• The portrait focuses on Eleonora Duse’s final years between World War I and the rise of fascism, with Marcello rejecting a conventional biopic to capture her essence.
• Marcello says Duse did not side with Mussolini, describing her as naive in thinking she could resist fascist arrogance.
• Bruni Tedeschi says she approached the role as befriending a stranger, holding private sessions that invoked Duse and her late acting teacher.
• The film underscores Duse’s delicate resilience, with a tear on the poster highlighted by Bruni Tedeschi as a sign of fragility.
• The cast includes Fausto Russo Alesi as Gabriele D’Annunzio, Noémie Merlant as daughter Enrichetta, and a young Benito Mussolini, as Italy’s critics’ union designates the title “Film della Critica.”