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Reviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
Il DIVO Though visually and technically dazzling, Il Divo is a not entirely successful depiction of one of Italy’s most important and controversial political figures, seven-time Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. (The title refers to the Latin Divus Julius, “Divine Julius” or Caesar, one of Andreotti’s many nicknames, which also include Beelzebub and Moloch.) Andreotti’s public image has long been tarnished by accusations of corruption, assassinations, troubling liaisons with the Vatican, and collusion with the mafia and other underground power groups, including the mysterious P2 Lodge. Director Paolo Sorrentino traces Andreotti’s life from roughly the early 1980s to the mid-1990s, when he was put on trial for the accused mafia connections, among other crimes, and was later convicted, then acquitted, of all charges. Sorrentino rolls the dice that audiences will be enthralled by the saga of this power broker, but one of the problems here is the incredibly Byzantine nature of Italian politics, which the director seemingly has difficulty balancing with the narrative. In this, the film is comparable to the recent The Baader Meinhof Complex, although the latter fares much better than Il Divo. Both films sent me devouring books and other primary sources on these topics into the wee hours, something I would strongly recommend in both cases to secure a more complete picture of historical facts, persons, and events. The crimes of radical terrorist groups figure in the two films. In this case, it was both Andreotti and Italy itself that would forever be haunted by the 1978 kidnapping and murder of former Prime Minister Aldo Moro by the Red Brigades, who shot Moro to death after the government, then led by Andreotti, refused to negotiate with the terrorists. This inaction could be seen as Andreotti’s most heinous, or at least, most egregious personal and professional betrayal, a point which the film repeatedly hammers home. To call Andreotti stoic, cynical, and calculatedly enigmatic would be a massive understatement, but there’s no call for Tony Servillo’s overplaying him as a kind of half-mute, somnambulist Charlie Chan who stiffly floats through the film in the most irritatingly mannered and self-consciously way possible. As with Andreotti’s alleged crimes, we come away from the film feeling we don’t know the “real” Andreotti any better, although perhaps this is deliberate. Yet some insight surfaces, such as his delicate exchange with loyal right-hand man Franco Evangelisti (Flavio Bucci), who exclaims that life “isn’t only politics,” to which Andreotti retorts “There’s nothing else but politics.” Otherwise, Il Divo often perplexes viewers by becoming a confusing and abstruse blur of quick cuts and flashbacks, weighed down with too much background information. What does impress, however, are the considerable talents of its cast, particularly Anna Bonaiuto as Livia, Andreotti’s long-suffering but faithful wife; gorgeous camera work by Luca Bigazzi; production design and special effects that are simply breathtaking; and a dynamic score that ranges from ’80s pop to Sibelius to Beth Orton and back again. The film’s overall sound design is equally impressive. If only Sorrentino could have reconciled the conflict between style and substance, Il Divo might’ve been a masterpiece on the order of The Godfather. As it is, it remains a visually sumptuous if often bludgeoning and frustrating attempt at a post-modern political thriller/biography. The DVD
extras feature an illuminating making-of documentary; an interview
with Paolo Sorrentino, who relates the logistical difficulties in
bringing Andreotti’s story to the screen—a palpable atmosphere of fear
almost killed the project; a somewhat extraneous featurette on the
special effects; and a handful of brief deleted scenes.
Scott D. Briggs
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