Fiume o morte! — Rijeka, D’Annunzio and the 1919 occupationCEFR B1
13 Apr 2026
Adapted from Metamorphosis Foundation, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by Marjan Blan, Unsplash
Fiume o morte! examines the 1919 occupation of Rijeka by the Italian poet and military leader Gabriele D’Annunzio. The hybrid documentary mixes documentary evidence and comedy and is a co‑production of Croatia, Italy and Slovenia.
The film uses more than 10,000 archival photographs and hundreds of film recordings as source material. Around 100 non‑professional actors and extras dramatize events from 1919 to 1921, focusing on the sixteen months after the First World War when D’Annunzio entered Rijeka on September 11, 1919 and declared the Italian Regency of Carnaro. In November 1920 an agreement assigned Rijeka to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and Italian forces later obliged the withdrawal: legionnaires left on January 5, 1921 and D’Annunzio departed about two weeks later.
The film treats D’Annunzio as a pioneer of Italian fascism and documents his public rituals, including a revived Roman salute. It records that he brought more than 5,000 young Italians to a city of about 30,000 inhabitants and that legionnaires killed around 10 Vietnamese soldiers serving with the Allied Entente. The film also notes short visits by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and Benito Mussolini.
Fiume o morte! received wide recognition in 2025, winning 30 awards including the European Film Academy prize for best documentary, the Tiger Award and the FIPRESCI Prize at Rotterdam, and six Golden Arena Awards at Pula. It was selected as the Croatian candidate for the 2026 Academy Award but was not a final nominee.
Difficult words
- occupation — control of a place by foreign military
- archival — related to old stored records or photos
- dramatize — show events in a theatrical or acted way
- regency — period when a regent rules instead of monarch
- fascism — an authoritarian political movement and ideology
- legionnaire — a member of a military group or legionlegionnaires
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Do you think mixing documentary evidence and comedy is a good way to tell historical events? Why or why not?
- How might showing public rituals and a revived Roman salute affect viewers' understanding of the film's characters?
- Would you be interested in watching a film that uses archival photos and many non‑professional actors? Explain your answer.
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