Directed by Renato De Maria, “Robbing Mussolini” takes us back to one of the most catastrophic eras in human history. The film is set in the year 1945 when the Allies were on the brink of winning World War II. The film says that it is based on a somewhat true-ish story. It means that the makers have taken inspiration for the characters from real people and then weaved them into a fictional narrative, surrounded by the true history of that era. Benitto Mussolini did have a gold reserve in reality, and he did try to escape to Switzerland when the war was about to end. We don’t know if a gang actually planned to rob Mussuloni’s reserve or not, but we do know that almost all the Italians had given their belongings to contribute to the war fund. Later, they came to know that their leader was only serving his agenda and had no intention of fighting for their cause.
Spoilers Ahead
Isola Plans To Rob Mussolini
World War II was going to end, and the Axis powers knew that they were going to lose the battle. There was a situation of chaos, and Pietro Lamberti, who liked to be called Isola, knew that he could take advantage of it. Isola was a thief and a con man who operated in Milano, Italy. He wanted to start a new life with the love of his life, Yvonne. He knew it couldn’t be possible unless and until they moved out of the country. Yvonne used to work at Cabiria, a local club. The Secretary General of Italy, Achille Borsalino, had taken a liking to her. He was married to a woman named Nora Cavalieri, but that didn’t stop him. Sometimes Yvonne felt like a concubine, but she had no option other than to serve Borsalino. She knew that he wouldn’t let her go away and would also kill anybody who tried to come into her life. He had warned Isola to also stay away from Yvonne, though Isola still kept meeting her secretly. Isola smuggled illegal goods in the town and had met a few people from the Italian resistance movement, who needed his service. Isola saw an opportunity. He could provide them with arms and ammunition and, in return, get the money, which would enable him to escape with Yvonne. Isola was not a revolutionary. He was not an anarchist. He was just a thief who was trying to get enough money so that he could start a new life. Isola met Ahab and his anti-fascist resistance fighters and gave them the consignment of weapons. Just when they were about to leave, the Fascist forces arrived, and Isola wasn’t able to take the money. He was somehow saved by Marcello, who was, all this time, keeping an eye out. They went to their safe house. Marcello intercepted a message from the Italian Ministry that night. He gave the coded message to Amedeo, who was their third partner. Amedeo tried to decode the message, but he wasn’t able to figure out what it was exactly. Then he suddenly got an idea. He realized that the code could be referring to specific pages and words of the weekly children’s magazine named “Corrriere dei Piccoli.” He gave the message to Isola, who realized what it meant. Benitto Mussolini and his top officials were planning to flee to Switzerland with all the gold that they had taken from the people of Italy for the last 20 years. The gold was stored in the black zone, one of the most secure locations in the town. It was heavily guarded at all times, and it was almost impossible to penetrate it. But Isola wanted to do the impossible. He wanted to trespass inside the facility and steal all the gold. He knew that they wouldn’t need to earn even a single penny in their lives if they were able to plan a successful heist.
Isola Builds His Team Of Anarchists
In the film “Robbing Mussolini,” we saw that almost the entire fascist force was posted inside the black zone. Isola knew that they would need specialized people to breach the fortress. Isola said that he only needed three more people in addition to the already existing means, i.e., Marcello, Amedeo, Yvonne, and Isola himself. Isola said that first and foremost, he needed a featherweight. A person who was swift and agile. Secondly, he needed an expert bomber, and lastly, he needed an expert driver. The plan was that the agile person would climb to the top of the Siren Tower and simulate an American raid. He speculated that once the people would hear the siren, there would be chaos in the whole facility. To make the soldiers believe there was an actual raid happening, Isola wanted the whole place to be rigged with TNT explosives. Isola knew that as soon as the soldiers heard the explosions, they would run to seek shelter and that when they would block their entrance and confine them inside the bunker. They would then take all the gold and escape the facility without any hassle. Marcello knew of a person named Molotov, who was an expert bomber. Aemdeo knew of a girl named Hesaa who was athletic and had great combat skills. Giovanni Fabbri, the winner of the Mille Miglia, a car race competition, was an expert driver, and Isola knew that no one could do the job better than the hero of the Nurburgring. But there was one problem that still needed to be solved. The fascist forces had caught Molotov, and they were going to hang him publicly. Isola, Marcello, and Fabbri freed him from the clutches of the fascists and gave him a second life and a cause to fight for. Molotov and Marcello knew Isola’s father, Michele. The three of them were very good friends and once, had fought together for a cause they believed in. Marcello and Molotov were men of honor. They were not in it for the money. They respected the association they shared with Isola’s father. There was not much left in their lives to look forward to. They had lost everything, and they were not scared of dying.
The gang needed certificates and authenticated IDs to enter the facility. Amedeo and Hesaa were given the responsibility of forging them. In addition to this, the RSI stamps were being procured by Yvonne. Isola realized that the only way to get the explosives was to take back what he had sold to Ahab. The consignment was kept in the basement of a villa in Brianza. The villa belonged to Marquis Serbelloni, a director who was well connected with the who’s who of society. Marquis Serbelloni was throwing a party at his villa that night, and Borsalino and his wife, Nora, were also going to be there. Isola and his gang were able to procure the arms and ammunition from the villa. Meanwhile, Borsalino told Yvonne about his plan to flee to Switzerland and coerced her to come with him. Borsalino had told his wife that their relationship was over and that he didn’t want to live with her anymore. Borsalino took Yvonne to the black zone and showed her the gold that was kept there. She saw the tight security, and she got very scared for Isola. She knew that anybody who tried to breach the perimeter would not go out of it alive. She was pregnant with Isola’s baby, and she didn’t want him to put his life in danger. She had dreamt of a beautiful future with him, and his mission was somewhere, putting it in jeopardy.
The fascists got to know about the safehouse where the gang was conducting their business. They conducted a raid there, and Marcello and others had a near escape. Borsalino tried to kill Isola in the club when he came to know that he was still meeting with Yvonne. Borsalino was fuming with rage as a petty thief had the audacity to oust him from his position of authority in front of everybody and enter into a brawl with him.
‘Robbing Mussolini’ Ending Explained : Is Isola Able To Steal The Gold? Is Achille Borsalino Dead Or Alive?
Towards the end of the film “Robbing Mussolini,” we come to know that Leonida, Borsalino’s right-hand man, was secretly working for Borsalino’s wife. Nora came to meet Isola and to strike a deal with his gang. The idea of backstabbing her own husband had come to her when, a few days back, she had decided to meet Yvonne to ask her to end her affair with Borsalino. But instead, she found Isola there, who used to come and meet Yvonne in the greenroom secretly. She got to know about their plan to rob the gold that was kept in the black zone. She then rigged their safehouse and got to know about each and every detail. She knew that Isola had a good plan and that she could also come aboard and reap the benefits. She makes an offer to split the gold, where she gets to take half of it. Isola knew that he had to agree to the terms as otherwise, it was possible that she would tell Borsalino about it. And moreover, it didn’t feel like a bad deal. There was a huge amount of gold, and even if they got half of it, it would have been sufficient. Yvonne made it very clear that she couldn’t be a part of the suicide mission and see the father of her child die. Before leaving, Yvonne gave them the RSI stamps that they needed on their IDs, to enter. Isola and others hijacked a military truck and entered the black zone.
Borsalino had kidnapped Yvonne, and he had planned to drug her and take her to Switzerland, if she didn’t wish to come willingly. Just when he was about to inject her, a phone call came, and he was told that some unknown soldier had brought a prisoner to the black zone. When Borsalino heard about the name Pietro Lamberti, he told the officer in charge to hold him until he came there. But before he could leave for the black zone, Nora arrived at the scene and killed him. Her husband had never treated her fairly. And she deemed it fit to kill him and take what she believed was rightfully hers.
Molotov sacrificed his life but made sure that Isola and others were able to accomplish what they had set out for. Hessa also got shot, but a metal cigarette holder that was given to her by Amedeo saved her life. When they loaded the gold into the truck, Nora arrived on the scene with Yvonne. She told Isola that she had no intention of splitting the gold and wanted everything for herself. She had Leonida and her men by her side, and Isola and the others were compelled to put down their arms. Ahab came as a blessing in disguise, and the two forces started firing at each other. Nora was still able to get away with the gold. Isola felt disheartened as he felt that his mission had failed, but Fabrri told him that they could still make it. There was a car that was still in their possession. Fabbri did what he did best: he raced the car, and for the first time, Isola witnessed why he was called the hero of the Nurburgring. Nora had got a head start, but Fabbri was able to catch up. Isola killed Leonida and jumped inside the truck, which was carrying the gold and in which Yvonne and Nora were sitting. Fabbri outdistanced the truck and then took a turn. He started coming from the opposite direction and was almost going to collide with the truck when the driver turned the wheels. The truck fell into a nearby lake.
Isola and Yvonne were still alive. Nora, too, swam to the other end and, without being seen and escaped through the woods. The gold lay at the bottom of the lake. Fabbri was hopeful that they would eventually find a way to take it out of the lake. Isola, on the other hand, didn’t care much about it. He had the love of his life sitting beside him. The war was over, and the Axis forces had surrendered. Achille Borsalino and Benito Mussolini were dead. Isola and Yvonne knew that they could start a new life without any fear, and they looked forward to whatever the future had in store for them.
“Robbing Mussolini” is a 2022 Action Thriller film directed by Renato De Maria.
