The Survivor
Posted on: November 2, 2009
Comments Off
Il Divo, a film by Paolo Sorrentino. 2008
2008 was a very good year to be at the Cannes Film Festival. Among many excellent films, such as Waltz With Bashir; Synecdoche, New York; A Christmas Tale; and Adoration, Il Divo stands out. It’s about a real person, his actual life, told with speed, cunning and a measured rawness that made me think of Coppola’s The Godfather, but with better camera work. Il Divo is a rare film, exciting, visionary, all of a piece, a world unto itself and true to that world.
Based on the life of Giulio Andreotti, one of the most powerful politicians in post-war Italy, Il Divo is a movie of sharp, often stunning contrasts. Andreotti, played with mesmerizing, uncanny understatement by Toni Servillo, is the calm eye of the storm, while death, destruction and endless palace intrigue whirl around him.…
[More...]
