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Home CITY OF WOMEN -- SCREENPLAY |
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directed by Federico Fellini
City of Women, directed by Federico Fellini -- Illustrated Screenplay & Screencap Gallery FELLINI PRESENTA GAUMONT FEDERICO FELLINI With Marcello again? con MARCELLO MASTROIANNI Maestro, please ... ANNA PRUCNAL BERNICE STEGERS IOLE SILVANI DONATELLA DAMIANI e con ETTORE MANNI Soggetto e sceneggiatura collaboratore alla sceneggiatura Scenografia Costumi Fotografia Montaggio Musica di LUIS BACALOV diretta da GIANFRANCO PLENIZIO in partecipazione con FRANCO ROSSELLINI Organizzatore generale Direttore di produzione Aiuto regist Assistenti alla regia Segretaria di edizione Casting Consulenza coreografica Arredatori Scenotecnico Scultore Pitture e affreschi Operatore alla macchina Architetto Truccatore Parrucchiera Aiuti costumista Aiuto montatore Aiuto architetto Effetti speciali con SIBILLA SEDAT Le gemelle "JILL e VIVIANE LUCAS" Amministratori Ispettori di produzione Direttore di produzione 2' unita Aiuto regista 2' unita Assistente scenografo Fonici Microfonisti Assistenti montaggio "UNA DONNA SENZA UOMO E "DONNA ADDIO" Balletto delle soubrettine di MIRELLA
AGUIARO Parrucche Calzature Giotelli Tessuti Tappetti e Tessuti Transporti Piante Tappezzeria Il guardaroba del signor Marcello Mastroianni e stato realizzato da PIATTELLI cinecitta Mixage
Doppiaggio della C.V.D. Assistente doppiaggio EFFETTI SONORI S.r.L. TECHNOVISION Ufficio Stampa La voce della signora del treno e di VALERIA MORICONI SNAPORAZ: Super buns! WOMAN ON TRAIN: No. SNAPORAZ: Oh, couldn't your husbands satisfy you? WOMAN ON TRAIN: Can you? SNAPORAZ: I'd be ready in a minute. WOMAN ON TRAIN: We'll see ... SNAPORAZ: What a chest you've got! Come here. WOMAN ON TRAIN: We can always try. SNAPORAZ: Wait. What's your phone number? WOMAN ON TRAIN: Good-bye! SNAPORAZ: She's not getting away. WOMAN ON TRAIN: Not going away, going towards. SNAPORAZ: Going towards what? Do you live here? WOMAN ON TRAIN: Ah, what a wonderful
smell! SNAPORAZ: No. That is, yes. Only once.
But I have no ... WOMAN ON TRAIN: Why do you follow? SNAPORAZ: A little. But that excites me
all the more. WOMAN ON TRAIN: Not that kiss. Want a real one? SNAPORAZ: Quick ... WOMAN ON TRAIN: What me to eat you alive?
Here? One condition ... SNAPORAZ: Where'd she go? WOMEN: One and two! Two and three! Three
and four! WOMAN: Remove the furniture. It's rigid,
obtuse. MAN: Don't accept calls. Ladies, be reasonable, one at a time! WOMAN: How come couples get rooms without identification? WOMAN: There's my big bunny, honey-woney, WOMAN: Well? SNAPORAZ: Nothing. WOMAN: Hello. Nice convention, huh? WOMAN: Who can repair a tape recorder? SNAPORAZ: Excuse me, sir ... MAN: A female lady? SNAPORAZ: Keep your cool. She has boots and a Russian hat. WOMAN: He just walked in. He's right in front of me. WOMAN: Where are they going to practice
group meditation? WOMAN: Come on, you. My recorder broken
down. WOMAN: You've just heard typical
masculine sounds. WOMAN: There she is! WOMAN: Now you'll hear delicate and
harmonious sounds. WOMAN: Hey, you ... SNAPORAZ: Talking to me? WOMAN: The vagina is a shell with the
sound of the sea. WOMAN: Beaver! WOMAN: Patootie! WOMAN: Let us explore this vagina
of ours ... WOMAN: Let's find new names. WOMAN: Tongue of light! Smile of life! WOMAN: Moon-violet. WOMAN: The statues of Ancient Greece have
phalluses ... WOMAN: Where can you get that? WOMAN: And so, phallic power ... WOMAN: Even the missionary position is
socially obsolete. WOMAN: We're against penetration. It's invasion without defense! WOMAN: We want Ideal Coitus with parity between Male and Female. WOMAN: Penetration is a crime that should carry a fine of 10 million lira! WOMAN: The Feminist Movement at Columbia
University ... WOMAN: They're reactionaries! WOMAN: Fascists! WOMAN: Stop right there. I've had it!
You've busted my ovaries! WOMAN: I like fellatio. WOMAN: What's this fellatio? WOMAN: Try reading Catullus! WOMAN: It's only a subconscious manifestation of women's creativeness. SNAPORAZ: Oh, finally ... BOY: The kitchen's far off. SNAPORAZ: I'll take the tray. Go on, scram. Beat it. WOMEN: Cas-tra-tion! Cas-tra-tion ... WOMAN: The American woman WOMAN: Why must it be a man and a woman? WOMEN: Mas-tur-ba-tion! Mas-tur-ba-tion! WOMAN: Tahitian women have learned to
keep ... SNAPORAZ: Finally I see two smiling faces
among so many scowling women. WOMAN: The usual male commentary, huh? WOMAN: Virgin yet whore, angelic yet
diabolical. WOMAN: "The Average Housewife" WOMAN: Oh no, you're crying? WOMEN: Marriage-Miscarriage! WOMAN ON TRAIN: Thank you, you were both marvelous. SNAPORAZ: Marriage-Miscarriage ... yes,
excellent! WOMAN: There is Mrs. Small ... WOMAN: Aren't you a slave to six masters? WOMAN: That's my question too! WOMAN: Is she happy in her polyandric relationship? WOMAN: She said very happy. It's a united
family. [ENDERBREITH SMALL] Hans, Jenz, Jan, Giggi, Lars, Peter! ALL WOMEN ARE BEAUTIFUL SNAPORAZ: Go on, go on ... keep going. WOMAN: My dear sisters, I'm sixty. WOMAN: Menopause doesn't exist. WOMAN: It's he, the male, who runs out of steam! WOMAN: I spent my life teaching children
... WOMAN: Look at this beautiful leg, see
any seams or veins? WOMAN: My husband said: "You're like
climbing the Everest ... WOMAN: I'm proud of my wrinkles! WOMAN: I've no fear of aging nor of
dying. WOMAN: All women are young! All women are
beautiful! WOMEN: A woman without a man ... WOMAN ON TRAIN: I'd like to say something
... WOMAN ON THE TRAIN: Look sisters! SNAPORAZ: Go to hell! WOMAN ON TRAIN: Attention! SNAPORAZ: Excuse me ... WOMAN: Over there. That's him! SNAPORAZ: Ladies, please ... WOMAN: Sir ... SNAPORAZ: What manners! You're all mad! WOMAN: I wouldn't let him out. DONATELLA: Instead I feel like helping
him. I'm very maternal. SNAPORAZ: Skate? As a kid ... DONATELLA: You've a chance then. Give him
your skates. DONATELLA: Are you lucky? SNAPORAZ: For what? Skating? DONATELLA: That's Gabriella, every day,
she circles the rink 300 times. WOMAN: He'll end up ... DONATELLA: Come, put the skates on. SNAPORAZ: Where's the exit? DONATELLA: In front of you. SNAPORAZ: Yes. Yes. DONATELLA: How old are you? SNAPORAZ: Too old. WOMAN: Strike here, them male genital
organs. DONATELLA: I got first prize for the best
kick in the testicles. SNAPORAZ: Oh no, it's a joy. DONATELLA: Strange, isn't it? I'm a chick full of contradictions. WOMAN: Ready for "Mackarij" kick ... Go! WOMAN: Are you trying to rescue him,
Donatella? DONATELLA: Come, grandpa. SNAPORAZ: Hold on. It's thirty years since I've ... DONATELLA: Don't be so nervous.
DONATELLA: You're such a dear ... SNAPORAZ: Don't pull, I'll fall. DONATELLA: Afraid, huh? SNAPORAZ: How beautiful! DONATELLA: Shall I come and get you? SNAPORAZ: It's a madhouse! DONATELLA: Come, Daddy ... SNAPORAZ: A bunch of nitwits! DONATELLA: They can't stop. SNAPORAZ: We have to get through. Let us through! DONATELLA: Look out! There's a stair! SHE VULCAN: The steps are slippery. SNAPORAZ: Of course it does! SHE VULCAN: Look what a nice bronco! SNAPORAZ: I have to get back. Where's the station? SHE VULCAN: Station? SNAPORAZ: I can't make out what she says!
SNAPORAZ: Who'll ever believe this? If
that bitch up there hadn't ... SHE VULCAN: "And with his dipper He
skimmed the pot. SNAPORAZ: Where's the station? SHE VULCAN: Makes hot bubbles inside ... SNAPORAZ: "The same rotten core." SHE VULCAN: I'm all yours ... SNAPORAZ: Signora, I took a different road this morning. There was no canal! SHE VULCAN: It's a short cut. SNAPORAZ: So who gives a damn? SHE VULCAN: Almost there. SNAPORAZ: What for? SHE VULCAN: The Stationmaster, poor thing. SNAPORAZ: Signora, where're you going? SHE VULCAN: The Stationmaster's seeds. I promised him. SNAPORAZ: This is too much! SHE VULCAN: Come, help me. SNAPORAZ: Had I known ... SHE VULCAN: Clever, Weisenheimer. You want everything easy. SNAPORAZ: Help her how? SHE VULCAN: "There was a beaver who
thought not of her beaver, poor thing. SNAPORAZ: This is ridiculous! SHE VULCAN: "Come, come, we'll gather
seeds for all our needs." SNAPORAZ: Yeah, thanks. SHE VULCAN: These stuffed cats belong to
my granddaughters. SNAPORAZ: Don't waste time, get the seeds and let's go. SHE VULCAN: It's not time for seeds,
silly cub. SNAPORAZ: Oh, this is too much! SHE VULCAN: Squeeze it for a sec then
we'll go. SNAPORAZ: Yeah, it's firm, but let's go to the station. SHE VULCAN: I've a cat down there that's
purring. SNAPORAZ: That's your business! SHE VULCAN: She's meowing. Come and
stroke her. SNAPORAZ: Take me to the station! SHE VULCAN: I need it. Where are you? SNAPORAZ: Don't oblige me to use force. SHE VULCAN: Gimme your little "knockwurst," gimme gimme! OLD WOMAN: You pig! SHE VULCAN: It's my mother ... OLD WOMAN: You monster! Come out! SHE VULCAN: I'll come out, but no kicking, Mama. Swear! OLD WOMAN: You old toad! SHE VULCAN: You swore ... you'll go to hell for that. OLD WOMAN: Go home! SNAPORAZ: She didn't do anything, really. OLD WOMAN: I'll fix her! Sweetie ... SNAPORAZ: Yeah, long live. GIRL: They'll meet us. SNAPORAZ: Who will? GIRL: Trudge, trudge, The road will never budge. GIRL: Where's Schizo? GIRL: She's going clean. GIRL: We're takin' him to the station. SNAPORAZ: The car's already a bit overloaded. GIRL: She's not comin' ... doesn't feel good. GIRL: Ugh ... it's rippin' my guts. SNAPORAZ: What's she got? GIRLS: (Laughter) SNAPORAZ: Where'll I sit? GIRL: What are you doin', sittin' on the bottle with that ass ... GIRL: Mommy struck again! GIRL: Good-bye, Snow White. GIRL: "You turn me off," he says. What? I
turn you off?" GIRL: They're comin'! GIRLS: Pussy ahead! GIRLS: The San Vincenzo junkies! GIRL: She borrowed the car again. She's far out! GIRL: Put on some sound. GIRL: What are you doing, you jerk? SNAPORAZ: Look out! Stop! GIRL: Hey, how's Big Red makin' out? GIRL: He's still makin' out. GIRL: Ciao, love ... ciao, love. SNAPORAZ: Don't be ridiculous. GIRL: You know what I got here? You don't know what I got. GIRL: Relax ... GIRL: The plane! SNAPORAZ: What are you doing? You're
going backwards? GIRL: Asshole! Gimme back my gun. SNAPORAZ: Monsters! You're all monsters! GIRL: What are you? SNAPORAZ: Well? DR. ZUBERKOCK: Stop running, my good man! SNAPORAZ: Naturally ... DR. ZUBERKOCK: You'll turn into repulsive
old hags ... SNAPORAZ: Thank you. DR. ZUBERKOCK: Typical. SNAPORAZ: It's criminal, really. DR. ZUBERKOCK: Have no fear. You're safe
in my house. SNAPORAZ: No, I'll be going. They were
supposed to take me to the station. DR. ZUBERKOCK: Zuberkock, Dr. Zuberkock. SNAPORAZ: Snaporaz, my pleasure. DR. ZUBERKOCK: Sit down. SNAPORAZ: By chance ... DR. ZUBERKOCK: At rest? DR. ZUBERKOCK: Your father had a white streak of hair? SNAPORAZ: No. He was bald. DR. ZUBERKOCK: Good answer. I'm happy you're here. SNAPORAZ: This one? DR. ZUBERKOCK: With your ear. SNAPORAZ: Of course! Pardon, is the station nearby? DR. ZUBERKOCK: I dreamt of him. He said: SNAPORAZ: What greenhouses? DR. ZUBERKOCK: Quiet! SNAPORAZ: What's this? DR. ZUBERKOCK: Ah, you remember! SNAPORAZ: Typical. DR. ZUBERKOCK: Automatic vibrators, 3000
r.p.m. SNAPORAZ: Yes ... DR. ZUBERKOCK: My heart breaks when I
think that my house, over 50 years old ... SNAPORAZ: Why demolition? DR. ZUBERKOCK: Laws decreed by our new
rulers. SNAPORAZ: Yes, but I must ... DR. ZUBERKOCK: I have a fortress here! SNAPORAZ: I can't stay ... DR. ZUBERKOCK: I'll drive you back
tomorrow, wherever you like. SNAPORAZ: 3000 r.p.m. WOMAN: Let me dig him out ... WOMAN: Turn around how? WOMAN: No ... too much. SNAPORAZ: Smish! WOMAN: You had enough orgasm. Now I want
orgasm. SNAPORAZ: To come. WOMAN: Who are you? SNAPORAZ: Let's try here. WOMAN: I'll eat him! SANTE WOMAN: Oh, Mommy ... WOMAN: She was Ula Bula. She sang when she loved. SNAPORAZ: Smick, Smack, Smick, Smack,
Smick, Smack. ELENA: Want to hear them all together? The dear ladies? SNAPORAZ: Elena! You, in here? ELENA: Aren't you? SNAPORAZ: My train was stuck in the
country. ELENA: I was out. SNAPORAZ: How come? DR. ZUBERKOCK: Isban Isbarashi! 10 MILA ALL: Best wishes, Dr. Zuberkock. MAID: You find her beautiful? DR. ZUBERKOCK: Wait, my friends, before
applauding ... FIANCEE: Concentration ... MAID: Don't upset him. WOMAN: Do what? WOMAN: You'll see. DR. ZUBERKOCK: Music. WOMAN: No. DR. ZUBERKOCK: Another one. WOMAN: She does it with pearls too! FIANCEE: Are you happy? Happy now? DR. ZUBERKOCK: Ten thousand candles. I will try. WOMAN: All of them! MAN: How about those? WOMAN: Is he mad? MAN: Swine! MAID: No, it's not what you think! DR. ZUBERKOCK: Look here my friends. MAN: Because you pissed on it, you slob! DR. ZUBERKOCK: It's not that ... MAN: Then why? DR. ZUBERKOCK: Because it's time to say farewell to women. SNAPORAZ: At least tell me ... ELENA: Only you can go to parties? SNAPORAZ: Let's go away. ELENA: I get depressed at home. WOMAN: Excuse me, sir, but I'm talking to my psychoanalyst. SNAPORAZ: Go right ahead, I'm not ... ONATELLA: What are you doing here? SNAPORAZ: I'll be right here, Elena! DONATELLA: I keep everything in here. SNAPORAZ: So I see. DONATELLA: I'm her daughter. SNAPORAZ: There were two very pretty ... DONATELLA: Yes, my aunt. SNAPORAZ: The Smash Duo! What memories! DONATELLA: Naturally. SNAPORAZ: Why do you come here? DONATELLA: That's a secret. WOMAN: I feel better. Want to talk? SNAPORAZ: No, thanks anyway. DR. ZUBERKOCK: Adieu woman! ELENA: Yes, I'm drinking. SNAPORAZ: How considerate you are. ELENA: Oh, sorry ... SNAPORAZ: You shouldn't talk when you're like this! ELENA: Do you realize how empty my life is? SNAPORAZ: Elena! Elena! Quiet ... ELENA: You won't? SNAPORAZ: There's a fountain ... you'll fall in! ELENA: I'm better off alone. SNAPORAZ: Don't you think I worry about our situation? ELENA: Shed some light? SNAPORAZ: Silly, you don't know how to do it. ELENA: There may still be a chance, if you wanted. WOMAN: The police! Police! POLICE: Your Residence Permit? POLICE: A new gorilla? DR. ZUBERKOCK: Though my heart brims with desire, I say ... POLICE: Good evening, one and all! DR. ZUBERKOCK: My beautiful inspector ... POLICE: At 8 a.m. tomorrow you will report to Lt. Myrna. SHE VULCAN: Little cub! Identification, please! SNAPORAZ: What the ...? You're a policewoman? DR. ZUBERKOCK: I shot in the air. SHE VULCAN: You're a little soft. FRANCESCA: Elena! My love! ELENA: Francesca! FRANCESCA: Darling. SNAPORAZ: I'll dress myself. SHE VULCAN: Now I make a report: SNAPORAZ: Another motorcycle ride? POLICE: You're guilty of mistreating minors ... SNAPORAZ: They were minors? POLICE: Yes, little girls! DR. ZUBERKOCK: What have I signed, sweet enchantress? POLICE: The report concerning your dog's aggressiveness and subsequent
death. SHE VULCAN: I'm sorry, but the Stationmaster is better than you. DR. ZUBERKOCK: They killed Italo! MAID: What's happening tonight, anyway? SNAPORAZ: Signorina, have you seen my wife anywhere? MAID: I've seen many wives since I've worked for Dr. Zuberkock. SNAPORAZ: A woman. MAID: The lady went to sleep. She's upstairs. MAID: Not so loud! DR. ZUBERKOCK: You see what they did to your boy? MAID: I keep thinking ... RAINA AND VESSILAS: We're not ready! SNAPORAZ: Sit down, Signora. MAID: We're here to applaud you. MAID: Come, they're dancing! SNAPORAZ: Fred Astaire. MAID: The lights went out! MAID: It's better in the dark! SNAPORAZ: And that other song that went ... MAID: We're prettier by candlelight. MAID: You dance so well ... Such class! SNAPORAZ: Remember? MAID: My son ... SNAPORAZ: Remember that actress, always wrapped in furs with sensuous
lips? LOREDANA: What a beautiful nightshirt. SNAPORAZ: But I don't want to sleep! DONATELLA: "Peel the lady ... LOREDANA: "With three apples 'neath his bed, The ugly voices took and fled." MAID: "Dream of bliss, And the Moon Maid's kiss." LOREDANA: Let's question him, girls! MAID: Are you in love? MAID: How old are you? LOREDANA: Own up, how old? SNAPORAZ: I hit fifty, but I'm still nifty. MAID: He's off to a good start! MAID: Listen to the wind ... SNAPORAZ: Thank you, that'll do. MAID: Dream, dream, pretty boy. MAID: Dream of me, the prettiest who satisfies every whim. SNAPORAZ: Good night, it's late. LOREDANA: Look at me ... DONATELLA: Good night, Daddy Longlegs. And remember: WOMAN: "Shut your eyes right away." SNAPORAZ: Choosing between you two ... DONATELLA: Good night. SNAPORAZ: Listen. ELENA: I want to make love! SNAPORAZ: But it's raining. ELENA: Shame! SNAPORAZ: Well what? ELENA: You're dead! SNAPORAZ: I'm tired. I've been traveling. MAN: It's freezing up here. SNAPORAZ: Who are you? What are you doing here? MEN: Hi there! ROSINA: It tickles! MEN: Look who's here! FISHMONGER: Take a look at this fish! SNAPORAZ: The fish lady from San Leo! MEN: She was like a dream. SNAPORAZ: Good-bye! Oh, the nurse ... NURSE: Feeling better today? SNAPORAZ: I wanted to marry her. MAN: The most breathtaking, spectacular ... MAN: Look Marcello, see what I see. SNAPORAZ: Wait for me! MEN: Ooh la-la, ooh la-la ... WOMAN: Are you that sure of yourself? WOMAN: The Ambassador has ordered my reentry. For me ... SNAPORAZ: The window on the grave! WOMEN: You're monotonous, dear Marcello. MEN: Marcello ... WOMAN: Let's go, dear boys! MEN: Hey! Good-bye ... farewell! MAN: Get my coat, Adelina. ADELINA: You're crazy. SNAPORAZ: The lights? MAN: We finished ahead of time. SNAPORAZ: Hey! Where're you going? MAN: Don't break our gonads! WOMAN: I'll close the cage! WOMAN: Poor thing. PROGRESSENCE (PROGRESSENZA) SNAPORAZ: Hello, I ... MAN: Let's take a look-see. MAN: Could he be faking it? MAN: He's too heavy, I'll crack my arm. MAN: He looks familiar. MAN: For a minute I thought ... WOMAN: Limp! MAN: I told him:
INTERCOM: Ricitelli, Achille, alias Ricky! MAN: Go to it, boys. Guts! WOMAN: You're getting fat. WOMAN: I'll have to fine you. MAN: Honey, I called your wife and sister. I'll get your silk robe, right? WOMAN: You've been called. They're waiting. MAN: Why me? I'm no Latin lover. WOMAN: Why are you here? WOMAN: You maintain WOMAN: Why didn't you go back? SNAPORAZ: Great! I even broke my glasses. WOMAN: What's the biological difference between male and female? WOMAN: Have you ever known the real woman? WOMAN: Why do you go prying ... WOMAN: Why did you choose to be a male? WOMAN: Have you explored your feminine component? INTERCOM: Spadone, Roberto! MAN: At your service, Signor Roberto. ROBERTO: Keep it hanging, boys! MAN: Good luck. SNAPORAZ: Where do they go? What's over there? WOMAN: You tell him. Why do they go there? WOMAN: To know the ideal woman. WOMAN: Describe your orgasm! SNAPORAZ: What is this? WOMAN: Hold your arm right out. Go on. WOMAN: You're rickety. You've probably ... WOMAN: Mention a woman's name! SNAPORAZ: I don't know ... Pippo! WOMAN: Pippo? SNAPORAZ: I said Pippo because ... just like that. INTERCOM: Ring number 4! SNAPORAZ: What? I don't understand. WOMAN: The charges! SNAPORAZ: Don't kiss me. Keep away. MAN: This style's becoming. SNAPORAZ: You're annoying! MAN: You were so cute. WOMAN: He can't cook. WOMAN: Well, aren't you happy? MAN: He's surprised. You didn't expect it, huh? SNAPORAZ: Now that I'm free, I'd like to continue and see ... MAN: He wants to see. What a nut! SNAPORAZ: That's probably what you want me to do. MAN: Should I call up? WOMAN: Yes, he's here. SNAPORAZ: I knew it! And now what? WOMAN: Shake her. Break her. SNAPORAZ: Yes, I'm going. WOMAN: A precision instrument ... SNAPORAZ: What am I supposed to do up
there? WOMAN: He's really going up? WOMAN: Poor guy! SNAPORAZ: Where am I going? I'll never
make it. MAID: Finally! SNAPORAZ: Up there? MAID: Yes, up there, little boy. SNAPORAZ: Who are you? ELENA: What's eating you? THE END FEDERICO FELLINI con ANNA PRUCNAL BERNICE STEGERS ETTORE MANNI IOLE SILVANI DONATELLA DAMIANI _______________ * Obama, The Postmodern Coup, by Webster Griffin Tarpley wrote: Theories of the corporate state can be traced back to Germans like Pesch and Kettler, or to the "guild socialism" of the Englishman William Morris. An early attempt to actually create a corporate state came in 1919, with the filibustering expedition to Fiume of Gabriele D' Annunzio, the proto fascist of our epoch. D' ANNUNZIO AS SEEN BY LEDEEN The corporate state D' Annunzio attempted to create during his Fiume adventure is of double relevance to an analysis of the fascism of Project Democracy. On the one hand, D' Annunzio's 16-month tenure as dictator in Fiume was the model and dress rehearsal for Mussolini's March on Rome. On the other hand, D' Annunzio's activities in Fiume have been the subject of a lengthy treatise by the most overt and blatantly fascist ideologue of Project Democracy, Michael Ledeen. Ledeen's discussion of D' Annunzio in Fiume is to be found in his book, The First Duce. Ledeen celebrates the poetaster D' Annunzio as the founder not only of fascism, but of 20th-century politics in general, through his creation of a Nazi-communist mass movement of irrationalism: Virtually the entire ritual of Fascism came from the "Free State of Fiume": the balcony address, the Roman salute, the cries of "aia, aia, alala," the dramatic dialogues with the crowd, the use of religious symbols in a new secular setting, the eulogies of the "martyrs" of the cause and the employment of their "relics" in political ceremonies. Moreover, quite aside from the poet's contribution to the form and style of fascist politics, Mussolini's movement first started to attract great strength when the future dictator supported D' Annunzio's occupation of Fiume. (p. viii) D' Annunzio's political style -- the politics of mass manipulation, the politics of myth and symbol -- have become the norm in the modern world. All too often politicians and parties have lost sight of the point of departure of our political behavior, believing that by now ours is the normal political universe and that the manipulation of the masses is essential in the political process. D' Annunzian Fiume seems to have marked a sort of watershed in this process, and that is perhaps the explanation for the fascinating symbiosis between themes of the "Right" and the "Left" in the rhetoric of the comandante. It is of the utmost importance for us to remind ourselves that D' Annunzio's political appeal ranged from extreme Left to extreme Right, from leaders of the Russian Revolution to arch-reactionaries. (p. 202) Michael Ledeen is especially fascinated by D' Annunzio's ability to recreate an "organic" unity out of the disparate elements of modern society: "At the core of D' Annunzian politics was the insight that many conflicting interests could be overcome and transcended in a new kind of movement." (p. ix) For Ledeen, the key institutional feature of the D'Annunzian fascist order is the corporate state. The city of Fiume lies at the southern base of the Istrian peninsula, at the north end of the Adriatic Sea, across from Venice. In 1919 it was a former territory of the newly defunct Austro-Hungarian Empire under dispute between Italy and the new nation of Yugoslavia, where the town is located today under the name of Rieka. Italy, having participated in the victorious cause of the Allies, desired to annex Fiume as it had the other Austro-Hungarian port of Trieste, but the weak Nitti ministry hesitated to do so because of the opposition of France. France at that time was determined to emerge as the protector of the new states created in the Balkans by the Peace of Paris, and therefore supported the Yugoslav claim to Fiume, which the Yugoslavs saw as a key port. In order to force the hand of Nitti, D' Annunzio, starting from Venice, gathered a force of arditi, veterans of the elite shock troops of the Italian army, and seized Fiume in September 1919, demanding that Italy annex it. D' Annunzio's regime, which he sometimes called a Regency, organized acts of terrorism and piracy. In November 1920, with the Treaty of Rapallo, Fiume was made a free city. D' Annunzio refused to accept this solution and Italian troops dispersed his "legions" some time later. The Fiume expedition was a classic example of Venetian cultural-political warfare, designed as a pilot project for fascist movements and coups in the aftermath of the hecatomb of the First World War. The centerpiece of the operation was the so-called Charter of Camaro (Carta del Carnaro), the corporatist guild constitution for Fiume as an independent city, written by D' Annunzio in collaboration with the anarcho-syndicalist agitator Alceste de Ambris. The Carta del Carnaro was reminiscent of certain features of the Venetian Republic. Legislative power was vested in a bicameral legislature. One house was called the Consiglio degli Ottimi, or Council of the Best, and was elected on the basis of universal direct suffrage with one councilor per every thousand inhabitants. The Ottimi were to handle legislation regarding civil and criminal justice, police, the armed forces, education, intellectual life, and were also to govern the relations between the central government and subdivisions or states, called communes. The corporate chamber of the Fiume parliament was to be the Consiglio dei Prowisori, a kind of economic council. The Consiglio dei Provvisori was composed of representatives of nine guilds or corporations whose creation was also provided for in the document. These included the industrial and agricultural workers, the seafarers, and the employers, with 10 representatives each; the industrial and agricultural technicians, private bureaucrats and administrators, teachers and students, lawyers and doctors, civil servants, and cooperative workers, with five representatives from each group, for a grand total of 60. The Consiglio dei Prowisori was responsible for all laws regarding business and commerce. It also decided all matters touching labor, public services, transportation and the merchant marine, tariffs and trade, public works, and medical and legal practice. The Ottimi served for a term of three years, and the Provvisori for two years. A third legislative body was prescribed, formed through the joint session of the Ottimi and Provvisori: This was called the Arengo del Carnaro, and was to deal with treaties with foreign states, the budget, university affairs, and amendments to the constitution. The Provvisori were chosen by nine corporations. Membership in one of these corporations was obligatory for all citizens, and was posited in the Carta del Carnaro as an indispensable precondition for citizenship. The article on corporations states that "only the assiduous producers of the common wealth and the assiduous producers of the common strength are complete citizens of the Regency, and with it constitute a single working substance, a single ascendant fullness." (Ledeen, p. 166) D' Annunzio's corporations are horizontal, similar to the estates, and are not organized according to vertical branches or cycles of economic activity, as Mussolini's corporations were to be. The Carla del Carnaro provides for a 10th corporation, which seems to have been reserved for geniuses, prophets, and assorted supermen. D' Annunzio's conception of the corporation is almost tribal, as the text of the constitution shows. He stipulated that each corporation was to "invent its insignia, its emblems, its music, its chants, its prayers; institute its ceremonies and rites; participate, as magnificently as it can, in the common joys, the anniversary festivals, and the maritime and terrestrial games; venerate its dead, honor its leaders, and celebrate its heroes." (Ledeen, p. 168) The executive power was normally vested in seven rectors or ministers (including foreign affairs, treasury, education, police and justice, defense, public economy, and labor). For periods of emergency, it was provided that the Arengo could appoint a dictator or comandante for a specified term, as was the custom in the Roman Republic. There was also a judiciary, with communal courts (Buoni uomini, or good men), a labor court (giudici dellavoro), civil courts (giudici togati, or judges in toga) a criminal court (giudici del maleficio), and a supreme court called the Corle della Ragione, or court of reason. For Ledeen, D' Annunzio assumes the status of Nazi-communist prophet of the mass irrationalism of the 20th century. For Ledeen, the Carta del Carnaro sums up the "essence of European radical socialism." From the point of view of Ledeen's universal fascism, D' Annunzio is located in the same tradition as the classics of Marxism and historical materialism, since his writings conjure up the Karl Marx of the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. The young Marx, like many other heirs of Hegelianism, had been engaged in the search for a way to end human "alienation," and D' Annunzio saw the structure created by the Carta as a means of organizing a society in which human creativity would blossom in a way rarely seen in the story of mankind. It is by no means accidental that he employed the language of the Communes [Italian city-states of the 1200s] in his new constitution, for he wished to recreate in the regency of Fiume the ferment of activity that had produced the Renaissance. He hoped that this constitution would produce a new, unalienated man." (Ledeen, pp. 168-9) In reality, D' Annunzio was a degenerate monster, a coprophile, pervert, and psychopath -- qualities that may have helped to determine Ledeen's compulsive affinity for this hideous figure. The Venetian operative D' Annunzio, the "John the Baptist" of fascism in this century, must bear a great share of the responsibility for opening the door to the Nazi-communist chamber of horrors in the epoch during and after the First World War. Ledeen's commitment to the creation of a universal fascist yoke has found its appropriate organizational expression in Project Democracy.
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