Me Ne Frego [I don't give a damn], was one of the mottoes of Fascism, coming originally from the writings of Gabriele d'Annunzio and employed by storm troops during World War One as a war cry for courage and daring, with the meaning, "I don't mind dying for freedom." The motto gives the title to this documentary about the influences of Italian Fascism on the Italian language. It was produced by the Istituto Luce Cinecittà, with materials from the historical Luce archives, and narrates the obscure attempt by the Fascist regime to create a new and unique language, a new “Italian” that fit the dogma of the dictatorship.

Mussolini forbade the use of dialects and the minority languages that were spoken in the regions bordering the countries to the north in favor of one language for all. Italians were bombarded by fascist propaganda and Mussolini's very frequent speeches.

The segment looks at how Mussolini patterned his fiercely nationalist rhetoric after poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, while harkening back to the glory of Imperial Rome. The song in the segment refers to Balilla, an 18th century Genoese boy. In 1746, Balilla threw a stone at an Austrian official of the occupying Hapsburg Empire, which led to the War of the Austrian Succession.

A great deal of effort went into purging foreign words from the Italian language under the fascist regime. Newspapers, magazines, and book publishers were at the forefront of the effort and were tasked with finding Italian replacements for foreign words and expressions. Many fascist-era terms have fallen by the wayside, but some succeeded and are still in use today. As an example, the word manifesto [poster] was successfully introduced to replace the French term affiche.

Mussolini continues to get rid of any traces of foreign words, and even mounts an exhibit against the use of the common formal second person singular address "Lei" (you) in favor of "Voi." See this lesson about "Voi" to get some background.

We can see that the battle against using "Lei," the common, formal, second-person form of address, was taken very seriously by the fascists. In fact they went too far when it came to a popular women's magazine called "Lei" (she, her).

What is chromotherapy? Marino, who is a chromotherapist, explains this fascinating branch of alternative medicine.

Alberto Angela, well-known presenter of historical TV documentaries, takes us on a journey to discover some of the "wonders" — both man-made and natural — of this "treasure peninsula" called Italy. The journey begins at the Royal Palace in Caserta.

It's hard to fathom the scale of this royal palace. We learn how many workers it took and how long it took to build. The grand staircase is of amazing dimensions, and, when seen from the top, our host seems like a small dot at the bottom of it.

We visit the magnificent, immense Throne Room, with its small but elegant throne, and vaulted, frescoed ceiling.

Alberto Angela takes us from the public throne room to the private chambers of the Royal Palace. In order to obtain the desired wall coverings, a whole complex was built for manufacturing silk. It's still operating today. Incredibile!

The narrator makes us aware of the vast number of people necessary to run the Palace. We visit the most intimate place in the Palace: the queen's dressing room and bathroom. It is fascinating to learn all the ways in which it was outfitted to both pamper and protect the queen.

If we thought the interior of the Royal Palace of Caserta was amazing, we should get ready for even more amazement as we go outside and see the spectacular park — a true capolavoro (masterpiece) — which Luigi Vanvitelli, architect and engineer, designed, giving water the starring role.

Exploring the gardens further, we come upon a grotto, as well as what looks like an ancient Roman site, replete with original statues. It was all part of Vanvitelli's plan.

We leave the Royal Palace of Caserta and head towards Cilento in Campania where there is a huge Benedictine monastery. When we see the term convento, we might assume it is a convent for nuns, but in Italian, un convento can be a religious community for either monks or nuns (or both).