Vincere

Spoiler alert!

Dictator Benito Mussolini's wife Ida, abducted and beaten by officials, lies in a hospital bed. One of the officials says, "She's crazy. We could write 'paranoia syndrome.'" (1:02)

Awakening Ida asks where she is. A male voice (Dr. Cappelletti?) Answers, "In the hospital at Pergine." She replies, "In the madhouse!" (1:03)

In answer to a female patient's sarcastic remark, a nun orders her, "Shut up, or I'll tie you down." The patient replies, "We are already!" The nun threatens, "I'll put you in straight jackets... I'm not joking. I'll put you in isolation." We see other disturbed patients in beds in the large ward. (1:04)

Ida in the hospital. (1:10)

"Venice -- San Clemente madhouse:" a group of nuns and men wheel Ida, restrained in a camisole and strapped to a gurney, through an arcade. (Psychiatrist?) Dr. Cappelletti orders them to place her in "observation." (1:14)

On an outing with nuns and other patients by the side of a river: Ida seals a note inside a bottle and throws it into the water. Dr. Cappelletti tries to convince her to cooperate and bide her time, arguing that her aggression might be counterproductive. (1:16)

A nun uses a volatile anesthetic (chloroform or ether?) on a gauze pad to subdue Ida before placing her in a camisole and wheeling her into an isolation room where we see her still strapped to a gurney. Later a group of men accompanied by nuns seated across from her at a desk ask Ida simple questions such as, "How many eyes does a man, or a woman have?" She also correctly provides the date. She is placed under "judicial interdict for mental illness." (1:25)

Ida with other patients outdoors at the hospital. (1:37)

Ida in the hospital. A nun comes into her room, pours a liquid into a cup, adds liquid from a dropper, and hands the cup to Ida. But after reading a letter to Ida from her son, the nun drinks from the cup herself and begins removing her habit in order to help Ida escape from the hospital. (1:47)

Ida's son Benito, now a grown man, in a psychiatric hospital. (1:57)

camisole | psychiatrist | psychiatric hospital