Acensbart
Excellent but underrated film
SpunkySelfTwitter
It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.
Modern Monsters
Splendidly visual, Il Divo is anything but a biopic of Giulio Andreotti, an austere and prominent Italian politician, 25 times minister and 7 times Prime Minister between 1964 and 1989. It is more of a portrait, fragmented and elusive as they best portraits are; it also offers an unique view on politics and murder during the bonfire of vanities that were Italian politics at the near end of the 20th century.The only creature that can live long and prosper in a bonfire is a salamander, and that's precisely what Andreotti (Toni Sorvillo, extraordinary) looks and acts like. Devoid of any visible emotions save for his hand motions, translated to Fanny Ardant in a transient role by his devoted secretary, the Presidente (of the Council, not the Republic, and that's the problem) "doesn't succumb to lesser vices" but ice cream. He doesn't drink anything but water, he doesn't smoke, he is not cheating on his wife Livia (Anna Bonaiuto, first seen being bored during the blueprint for the bunga-bunga parties to come, during which the Finance ministry makes a fool of himself). Prone to migraines, he toasts with aspirin and read gialli in the Senate. He is as opaque as opaque can be before it gets dark.Andreotti is by all means a survivor and a loner, a condition emphasised by his constant crossing of gigantic halls of power, in which no one or nothing can come in his way but a Persian cat with vairon eyes. He is opinionated to the point of brilliance, once telling Pope John XXIII "Pardon me Your Holiness but you do not know anything about the Vatican". He has a dry sense of humour, the mere shadow of a smile touching Sorvillo's lips when he's asked the question "Have you ever danced?", to which he answers "All my life, Madam."His entourage, presented one by one at the movie beginning, is a clique of rather shady Christian Democrats, including a cardinal nicknamed "His Healthiness". When they congregate at Andreotti's, his secretary announce them by saying "Storm clouds are gathering", an excellent definition of what is happening. They plot their next moves, wishing but failing to have the Prime Minister elected President. They exchange jokes about past Popes. Andreotti hardly smiles. In a scene stupendous for the banality with which it suggests the growing chasm between him and his wive, they just hold hands watching TV, switching from a news program to a variety show. He doesn't look at her, lost in thought; she looks at his profile for a long while, searching for the smallest trace of the man she once married. She does not find anything.Last part of Il Divo deals with Andreotti's trials and tribulations. The trial of the century opens, based on his presumed links with Mafia boss Toto Riina (Enzo Rai, scary as hell). We know the two met because the event was shown earlier in the movie. Still, Andreotti is so convincing in his denial that one doubts what he just witnessed. Was it magical realism, like the scene in which a skateboard incongruously rolls through the Senate hallway, or was it history? It's impossible to say. Andreotti is an extra-terrestrial, a very cautious turtle carrying on him the weight of political decades, and you can feel every gram of it leadening, but never weakening his stance. The movie is a f***ing masterpiece.
ironhorse_iv
For over 50 years, seven- time Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti ruled as the most fear politician in Italy. He was accused of masterminding a Mafia/Neo Fascist/ Vatican conspiracy to kill leaders in the Italian's government which includes party members, judges, and government journalists. Based on those true events, the movie follows that guideline in telling the life of the man known to the public as "the black pope', 'Beelzebub' and "Il Divo' brilliant play by Toni Servillo and directed by Paolo Sorrentino. Toni's Andreotti look like the Six Flag Guy if only he was a gangster. His rigid gestures and the cruel language of his voice and use of his word gives you reason why they call him the 'Prince of Darkness' and 'Hunchback'. Politics is everything to him, and politics means the pursuit of power. He is willing to get it in any cost. The movie is violence—but respectable with it. It's hard to say, if Giulio Andreotti did all those stuff, that he was accused of, but it's seems more truth than fiction. Just the fact that he repeated convictions for Mafia ties in the past decade, remains the title of "senator for life" shows how much power this man had. As of this writing, the man behind of the movie, is still alive, and not in jail. It's tells you a lot about politics in Italy. Thus it felt like a politically charged movie. The film fails to live up to the subtitle 'The extraordinary life of Giulio Andreotti". It's mostly focus on his so-call crimes, and accused acts with the Mafia, barely about the life of the man at all. The movie shows how he been able to get close to getting catch, but end up getting away. The movie pace is slow at times, and feels kinda wordy and philosophy. The cinematography is amazing; angle shots of some scenes may ask you, how on earth did they film it in that angle. Great use of props and locations, the use of slow movements frames and lights in the scenes is awesome! The text describing the names and job of the characters listed is a bit too small to see, would advices watching the movie with sub-titles. The background music is catchy. Mixed with the classic music, drumming, Italian pop and modern electronic music, the use of playing and stopping the music mid-through it, when something dramatic happens, and then picks up after it, is chilling. The use of background sounds like whispers, trains, tape rewinder, are well-used to depiction an inside look of the mind of the man. There seems to be a Godfather feel to the movie, to the point, that the fictional character Don Licio Lucchesi from the movie The Godfather Part III, a high-ranking Italian politician with close ties to the Mafia, was modeled on Andreotti's ties with the Mafia. Those who doesn't know anything about Italian history, will figure out in the first 5 minutes opening of the movie Il Divo that will definitive summary of Italian political history where sadly corruption and murder is the key to power. Watch the cold, detached, and analytical movie throughout, and ask yourself when finish. How does a man like this get away with murder? Not all movies, the good guys win and the bad guys pay the price for their crimes.
marcveda
A beautiful film; exquisite cinematography, locations and costumes. The acting is excellent throughout and the whole film has a fantastic soundtrack and audio mix.Il Divo is a surreal take on the real-life events of late twentieth- century Italian politics, centred on the life of long-serving politician Giulio Andreotti. For non-Italians and those unfamiliar with the subject matter, it might be best to watch the film twice and to read up on the facts of the story in between.Possibly, one of the most beautiful political thrillers ever made; dark, haunting, majestic and wonderfully bizarre.
alexmccourt
I want to see this again, to help me decide if it really was as good as I thought it was the first time round. Whod've thought that a film about a seemingly unprepossessing little Italian politician, Giulio Andreotti, could be so damn entertaining.The movie revolves around how extraordinary this man was. However, the mystery - did he or didn't he arrange all those assassinations, was he or wasn't he involved with those nasty Mafia people - was the main driver for the story. A film's plot is always the main enjoyment for me - which is why I detest those smartass reviewers who think it's OK to give the game away - and this one got a big leg up from the true -life storyline. The answer to the mystery is probably given in one seconds-long soundbite somewhere near the end of the film. I say probably because Mr Andreotti spends a fair bit of time in solo self justification and I was never sure if any of his monologues had elements of truth in them.As a piece of film making, this movie is dark, elegant and strange, as befits the subject matter. The acting performances are excellent, particularly Tony Servillo as the said Mr Andreotti. Overall, splendido.
