Benito (Il Giovane Mussolini in Italian) is an Italian TV miniseries regarding the story of Benito Mussolini's early rise to power^[1][2] in the Socialist International and his relationship with Angelica Balabanoff. It was made in 1993 by RTVE of Spain, Rai Due of Italy, Microfilm, and the Kirch Company. It stars Antonio Banderas as Mussolini.

Mussolini arrives in a small town in 1901 and gets a job as a school teacher; he is subsequently fired for having sex with the headmaster's daughter. This would be a common theme throughout the movie. After giving up on teaching, he works as a builder on the new University of Geneva campus building, and where a lover persuades him to become a student. This is also where he organizes his first protest after the death of a worker he knew. For this, he is nearly deported but is saved by Angelica's intervention. After getting run out of then-Austro-Hungarian Trieste, he goes back to his hometown of Forlì, where he marries Rachele. Soon he is at the forefront of the Socialist movement when he becomes the editor-in-chief of Avanti!. At this point Mussolini unites the "reds," the Socialists, with the "yellows," the Republicans in an anti-war movement. This marks the peak of his power, with the Italian left-wing politics under his control. However, he gradually loses his anti-war fervor and splits from the Socialist party altogether, turning all his allies into enemies.

• Antonio Banderas as Benito Mussolini
• Toni Bertorelli as Primo
• Valentina Lainati as Giulia Ferrari
• Ivano Marescotti as Giacinto Menotti Serrati
• Franco Mescolini as Ferrari
• Anna Geislerová as Eleonora
• Claudia Koll as Rachele Guidi
• Susanne Lothar as Angelica Balabanoff
• Luca Zingaretti as Pietro Nenni

• List of Italian films of 1993

• Benito (English), Il Giovane Mussolini (Italian) at IMDb

v t e Benito Mussolini
Head of the Government and Duce of Fascism (1922–1943) Assassination attempts · Death
Politics	Duce Fascist Manifesto Italian Fascism Spazio vitale Economic policies Racist policies Leggi razziali Manifesto della razza Fascist propaganda Model of masculinity Rome–Berlin Axis Pact of Steel
Events	March on Rome Mussolini Cabinet Second Italo-Ethiopian War Foundation of the Empire Spanish Civil War Invasion of Albania World War II Mussolini's escape Italian Civil War
Elections	1924 general election 1929 general election 1934 general election
Political parties	Italian Socialist Party (1901–1914) Fascio d'Azione Rivoluzionaria (1914–1919) Fasci Italiani di Combattimento (1919–1921) National Fascist Party (1921–1943) Republican Fascist Party (1943–1945)
Family	Rachele Mussolini (wife) Clara Petacci (lover) Ida Dalser (wife) Margherita Sarfatti (lover) Edda Mussolini (daughter) Vittorio Mussolini (son) Bruno Mussolini (son) Romano Mussolini (son) Maria Scicolone (daughter-in-law) Alessandra Mussolini (granddaughter) Rachele Mussolini (granddaughter) Fabrizio Ciano, 3rd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari (grandson) Romano Floriani Mussolini (great-grandson)
Popular culture	Television: Dwight's Speech M. Son of the Century Books: Mussolini diaries Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall M: Son of the Century Films: Benito The Eternal City Mussolini and I I'm Back The Killers of Mussolini Last Days of Mussolini Mussolini Speaks Mussolini: The Untold Story Vincere